Tool Steel Supplier

What is heat treating?  Simply defined, it is the controlled heating and cooling of steel in order to enhance certain mechanical and physical properties.  We could go into a deep metallurgical explanation, but you would probably fall asleep, or get easily distracted by all the extra research you would do on tempered martensite or retained austenite.   Heat treating is a commonly misunderstood topic, we hope to guide you in understanding some of the basic processes that will hopefully lead you to ask the right questions about the materials you select and the processes you specify in order to build the best tool you can build. The following is a list of some basic processes that should be considered with any tool steel heat treatment: Stress relief… Why? It reduces dimensional distortion Preheating… Why? Minimizes thermal shock Hardening temperatures and times… Why? Proper temperature and times are critical in producing the desired properties. Quench m...

In this article, we would like to discuss the elements that make up tool & high speed steels. What do these elements do to provide the mechanical and physical properties we need for our applications? The most common elements are the following: CARBON (C): this is the most basic alloying element which enables steel to harden. Carbon combines with the other elements to form hard, wear-resistant carbides. MANGANESE (Mn): controls hardenability in alloy cold work steels. SILICON (Si): improves toughness in the shock resisting steels group. Added to hot work steels to raise critical points and reduce scaling tendencies. Added to O-6 & A-10 to form graphite. CHROMIUM (Cr): controls hardenability and is added for abrasion resistance and hot hardness. TUNGSTEN (W): provides red hardness and hard wear resistant carbides that are harder than chrome and iron carbides. Also used to improve hardenability in tool & high speed steels. Combines very well with molybdenu...

Basic properties that cutting must posses are: Tool material must be at least 30 to 50% harder than the work piece material. Tool material must have high hot hardness temperature. High toughness High wear resistance High thermal conductivity Lower  coefficient of friction Easiness in fabrication and cheap Different elements used in cutting tool materials and their properties are Element Properties Tungsten Increases hot hardness Hard carbides formed Abrasion resistance Molybdenum Increases hot hardness Hard carbides formed Improving resistance Chromium Depth hardenability during heat treat hard carbides are formed improving abrasion resistance some corrosion resistance Vanadium combines with carbon for wear resistance retards grain growth for better toughness Cobalt Increases hot hardness, toughness Carbon Hardening element forms carbides Different cutting tool materials used for cutting operations in practice are high carbon steel, high speed steel, non -f...