Known for their distinct hardness, tool steels are used to make cutting tools including knives and drills, as well as to create dies that stamp and form sheet metal. Though selecting a tool steel may seem straightforward, the process requires tradeoffs &#; making the task an art as well as a science. Choosing the optimal tool steel grade will depend on many factors, including:
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Tool steels are available in a wide range of grades, based on their composition, the temperature range in which they were forged or rolled, and the type of hardening they have undergone. The AISI-SAE general purpose grades of tool steel are O-1, A-2, and D-2. These standard grade steels are considered &#;cold-working steels,&#; that can hold their cutting edge at temperatures up to about 400°C. They exhibit good hardness, abrasion resistance, and deformation resistance.
O-1 is an oil-hardening steel with high hardness and good machinability. This grade of tool steel is mainly used for items like cutting tools and drills, as well as knives and forks.
A-2 is an air-hardening steel containing a medium amount of alloying material (chromium). It has good machinability along with a balance of wear resistance and toughness. A-2 is the most commonly used variety of air-hardening steel and is often used for blanking and forming punches, trimming dies and injection mold dies.
D-2 steel can be either oil-hardened or air-hardened, and contains a higher percentage of carbon and chromium than O-1 and A-2 steel. It has a high wear resistance, good toughness and low distortion after heat treating. The higher carbon and chromium levels in D-2 steel make it a good choice for applications requiring a longer tool life.
Other tool steel grades contain a higher percentage of different types of alloys, such as high-speed steel M2, which can be selected for high-volume production. A variety of hot working steels can maintain a sharp cutting edge at much higher temperatures of up to °C.
Before selecting a tool steel grade, it&#;s important to consider which type of tool failure is most likely for this application by examining failed tools. For example, some tooling fails due to abrasive wear, in which the material being cut wears down the tool surface, though this type of failure is slow to occur and can be anticipated. A tool that has become worn to failure needs a tool steel with greater wear resistance.
Other types of failure are more catastrophic, such as cracking, chipping, or plastic deformation. For a tool that has broken or cracked, the toughness or impact resistance of the tool steel should be increased (note that impact resistance is reduced by notches, undercuts, and sharp radii, which are common in tools and dies). For a tool that has deformed under pressure, hardness should be increased.
Keep in mind, however, that tool steel properties are not directly related to each other, so for instance, you may need to sacrifice toughness for higher wear resistance. This is why it&#;s so important to understand the properties of different tool steels, as well as other factors such as the geometry of the die, the material being worked, and the manufacturing history of the tool itself.
A final issue to consider when selecting a tool steel grade is cost. Cutting corners on the choice of material may not result in lower overall production cost if the tool proves to be inferior and fails prematurely. A cost-benefit analysis should be undertaken to ensure that the tool steel material chosen will provide the performance required.
Industrial Metal Supply offers a variety of shapes and sizes of tool steel bar in O-1 and A-2 grades.
Tooling is a key component of any manufacturing project, both because they are a significant investment and a considerable influence on the overall quality of the manufacturing results. Tooling durability and longevity will depend on the application and the tool steel used to create the tooling. Below we take a dive into two different types of steel commonly used for tooling &#; tool steel and powder metal.
Choosing the right steel for your tooling will depend on several factors, including the conditions it will endure. Some questions must be answered to determine which will work for your application. Does it need a sharp edge? What type of heat treatment is required? Does it need to be abrasion resistant? Does it need to withstand impact? Will it be used at high speeds? Will it be used at high or low temperatures?
Tool steel refers to carbon and alloy steel used to make a wide variety of tooling. The alloying elements give them the necessary properties required for various applications. In general, tool steels offer a fairly high material hardness, toughness that makes it resistant to breaking or chipping, wear resistance, abrasion and erosion resistance, and good thermal properties. It comes in different grades that have their own properties that are impacted by the percentage of each alloy.
A-grade is air-hardened tool steel that respond well to heat treatment. They have great wear resistance and toughness. D-grade is a cold working steel with higher carbon content than W-grade but offers wear resistance and toughness. O-grade is an oil-hardened, cold-working tool steel. This versatile general-purpose steel has great abrasion resistance and high toughness properties. S-grade is shock-resisting, low-carbon tool steel with high toughness. It is resistant to shock at low and high temperatures. W-grade is water hardening and contains low-cost high-carbon steel with high hardness and fragility. It isn&#;t suitable for high-temperature use.
A2 is an air-hardened chromium alloy steel. This multi-purpose steel offers good toughness, intermediate wear resistance, and excellent dimensional stability in heat treatment. Tooling applications include dies, punches, shear and slitter blades, knurling tools, and more.
A8 is an air-hardening tool steel that offers a combination of very good toughness, intermediate wear resistance, and excellent dimensional stability in heat treatment. A8 is often chosen for punches and dies that operate in the 55-60 Rockwell C hardness range.
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Caldie is a chromium-molybdenum vanadium alloyed tool steel, which provides a combination of high toughness, good wear resistance, and dimensional stability on heat treatment. It is used in tooling that requires good chipping and cracking resistance and good wear resistance.
D2 is an air-hardening, high carbon, high chromium tool steel offering exceptionally high wear resistance properties. It provides an effective combination of wear resistance, toughness, and tool performance for a number of tooling applications, including rolls, punches, and dies for blanking, forming, trimming, and thread rolling.
D7 is an air-hardening, high carbon, high chromium tool steel with added carbon and vanadium for exceptional abrasion-resisting qualities. It was developed especially for applications involving extreme abrasive wear.
H13 is a 5% chromium, ultra-high strength air-hardened steel with higher content of molybdenum and vanadium. This combination provides a combination of excellent toughness and high wear resistance. It is often used in hot work tooling with applications such as inserts, cores, and cavities for dies, ejector pins, and nozzles.
M2 is a tungsten-molybdenum high-speed steel that offers good red hardness, toughness, and wear resistance. Tooling applications include drills taps, end mills, reamers, lathe and planer tools, broaches and boring tools, and more.
O1 is a general-purpose oil-hardened steel that offers good abrasion resistance and abundant toughness for a wide variety of tool and dies applications.
S7 is an oil or air-hardened, shock-resistant steel that offers very high impact toughness and high strength, along with medium wear resistance. Its applications include various dies, chisels, punches, rivet sets, and shear blades.
W1 is a water-hardened tool steel with a high carbon content that allows for a keen cutting edge. It offers moderate wear resistance. It is often used in various dies, drills, punches, taps, reamers, wood knives, embossing taps, and more.
Powder metals (PM) or PM high-speed steels are alternatives to conventional steels. Metal powders are the base materials for these steels. Through powered metallurgy, the powders are pressed into the desired shape and sintered (heated) to bond the material to produce the desired qualities, such as high-temperature strength, high-wear resistance, and toughness. Crucible particle metallurgy (CPM) is a powdered metallurgy process developed by Crucible Industries. Common PM steels used in tooling include:
CPM 1V tool steel is a high alloy, medium-carbon tool steel that exhibits high impact toughness, extreme heat resistance, and moderate wear resistance. It should be considered for blanking dies, cold and hot forging punches, gear rolling dies, shear blades, and sizing dies.
CPM 3V is an air-hardened tool steel that exhibits high impact strength and good wear resistance, providing maximum resistance to breakage and chipping. Blanking and sizing dies, shear blades, cold and hot forging punches, powder compaction tooling, and other tooling are made from it.
CPM 9V is an air-hardened tool steel that exhibits very high wear resistance, impact toughness, and heat resistance. Its durability is lower than other hot work tool steels. It is used in applications where resistance to thermal fatigue cracking is important, such as plastic injection feeder screws, non-return valves, shear blades, and forging dies. It has improved toughness compared to 10V.
CPM 10V is an air-hardened tool steel that exhibits high wear resistance and high impact toughness. Offer better wear resistance than high-carbon, high-chromium die steels.
CPM 15V is a cold work tool steel that provides unmatched wear resistance and provides longer tool life than 10V. It is also an alternative to sintered carbide in applications where solid carbide fractures or for intricate tool designs that are not possible with carbide.
CPM Rec M4, or PM M4, is a high-speed tool steel that provides a combination of high wear resistance with high impact toughness and bend strength. It is commonly used in form tooling, punches, broach inserts, taps, and header tooling.
Vanadis 4 Extra is a versatile tool steel manufactured by Uddeholm that offers a combination of ductility, wear resistance, and toughness. It is especially suitable for applications where adhesive wear and chipping are the primary failure mechanisms.
At Pivot, we work with a variety of steel and other materials to deliver tooling you can count on. With shorter lead times and competitive pricing, we can provide the high-quality, high-precision tooling you need to get the job done. Contact us to discuss your tooling requirements.
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