Tool steel toughness comparison

O1 provides good wear resistance and toughness sufficient for standard tool and die applications making it a suitable choice for tooling with good tool life and econimcal production. In situations that require greater size stability during hardening, A2 should be considered. Some common applications include: bending dies, trimmer dies, perforators, broaches, blanking dies, forming dies, gages, cutting dies, bushings, forming rolls, knives, drawing dies, and embossing dies.

M2 tool steel is the most commonly used grade of the high speed category. It is a molybdenum tungsten grade with excellent toughness, wear resistance and red hardness, making it preferable in applications where it is exposed to high heat condition from high machining speeds.

M2 tool steel is generally suitable for use in applications specified for T1 high speed steel. Some applications include: drill bits, reamers, taps, gear cutters, lathe tools, broaches, boring tools, forming rolls, inserts, punches, milling cutters and end mills.

This results in a sharper cutting edge that lasts longer, even when being used to machine high-hardness and hard-to-machine alloys in heavy duty and high production applications. M42 tool steel can be heat treated to a hardness greater than any other high speed steel and achieves the highest level of red hardness making it ideal stainless steels or any other hard to machine grades. This material has been hardened to Rc. Typical uses include milling cutters, broaches, taps, drill bits, reamers, punches, saws, knives, and thread rolling dies.

S7 tool steel is a shock resisting grade with superior impact properties combined with high toughness, machinability and size stability during heat treating. S7, D2 and A2 tool steels are usually always through hardened in vacuum furnaces to preserve clean, smooth surface profiles. Proper heat treatment is vital to tool steel performance. Without it, critical industrial tools like punches, forms, blanks or shears could not successfully perform their repetitive work.

We take a diagnostic approach when someone comes to us with a tool steel challenge. Our metallurgists, who are well-versed in S7, D2, A2 and other tool steel properties, ask a lot of questions, including:.

We can help diagnose the problem based on what we learn. You may need a slight design change. You may need to use a different tool steel with tolerances that better match your application. You may need to consider alternate manufacturing processes. Our introductory guide to heat treating can help you learn more about how we achieve that mission.

If you have more questions about how to address a tool steel challenge at your facility, contact us now. It is written is an easy-to-understand format for designers, engineers, buyers, students, production planners and anyone that is interested in learning more about tool steel. You have questions and you want answers. You will receive pages of valuable tool steel information providing you with the resources necessary to produce high-quality tooling for your application.

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Sign up for our newsletter here. Knife Steel Comparison Chart This is a comparison chart that compares the toughness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance of 8 grades of steel suitable for knifemaking. Are your extensions cords underpowered? Don't use wimpy power cords.