Tool Steel Product Guide
Tool steel refers to a variety of carbon and alloy steels that are used to make tools. They have many uses because of their hardness, resistance to abrasion, and their ability to hold a cutting edge.
A-2 Tool Steel
A2 is a very popular grade of cold work tool steel. It has better wear resistance and toughness than O1 plus the dimensional stability offered by air hardening qualities. The properties listed below very depending on the heat treat process. All material supplied in the Annealed state.
| A-2 Tool Steel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Properties | Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi | N/A |
| Yield Strength, psi | N/A | |
| Hardness (Depends on Heat treat) | ||
| Chemistry | Carbon (C) | 1 |
| Manganese (Mn) | .6 | |
| Chrominium (Cr) | 5 | |
| Molybdenum (Mo) | 1 | |
| Vanadium (V) | .25 |
THERMAL PROCESSING: Guidelines – Use Good Judgment
FORGING:
Preheat to 1200/1250°F before raising to forging heat of 1850/2000°F, do not forge below 1650°F. Cool slowly to avoid cooling cracks; anneal after forging.
ANNEALING:
Heat slowly to 1550/1600°F and soak prior to cooling at a maximum rate of 40°F per hour to 1000°F (cooling rate below 1000°F is not critical). Typical annealed hardness is 201/235 HB.
STRESS RELIEVING:
Heat to 1200/1250°F and hold 1 hour minimum at temperature. Cool in air.
HARDENING:
Preheat at 1450°F. Austenitize at 1725/1775°F for 20 minutes for small tools to 45 minutes for large tools. Air cool as evenly as possible; as quenched hardness is usually 62/65 HRC. Temper immediately.
TEMPERING (Drawing):
Temper at 350/1000°F immediately after the tool has cooled to 120/150°F. Double tempering is suggested. Allow the tool to cool to room temperature before the final temper.
| Tempering Temperature °F | Approximate Hardness, HRC | Tempering Temperature °F | Approximate Hardness, HRC |
|---|---|---|---|
| AQ | 63/65 | 700 | 57/59 |
| 350 | 61/63 | 800 | 57/59 |
| 400 | 60/62 | 900 | 57/59 |
| 450 | 55/61 | 1000 | 56/58 |
| 500 | 58/60 | 1100 | 49/52 |
| 600 | 57/59 | 1200 | 42/45 |
O-1 Tool Steel
O1 tool steel is the original oil-hardening, “non-shrinking” tool steel. O1 is a general-purpose tool steel which is typically used in applications where alloy steels cannot provide sufficient hardness, strength, and wear resistance. All material supplied in the Annealed state.
| O-1 Tool Steel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Properties | Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi | N/A |
| Yield Strength, psi | N/A | |
| Hardness (Depends on Heat treat) | ||
| Chemistry | Carbon (C) | .9 |
| Manganese (Mn) | 1 | |
| Chrominium (Cr) | .5 | |
| Tungsten (W) | .5 |
THERMAL PROCESSING: Guidelines – Use Good Judgment
FORGING:
Heat to 1800/1950°F, do not forge below 1550°F.
ANNEALING:
Heat to 1400/1450°F and hold 1 to 4 hours depending on part size, cool at a maximum rate of 40°F per hour to 1000°F (cooling rate below 1000°F is not critical). Typical annealed hardness is 183/212 HB.
STRESS RELIEVING:
Heat to 1200/1250°F for 1 hour minimum at temperature and cool in air.
HARDENING:
Preheat at 1200°F. Austenitize at 1450/1500°F for 10 to 30 minutes. Quench in oil to an expected hardness of 63/65 HRC.
TEMPERING (Drawing):
Temper at 350/500°F for an hour at temperature to approximate hardness of 62 to 57 HRC. Usually, when greater toughness is required than can be obtained by tempering above 500°F, it is customary to use a shock resisting tool steel such as PACIFIC S7.
| Tempering Temperature °F | Approximate Hardness, HRC | Tempering Temperature °F | Approximate Hardness, HRC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 | 63/65 | 600 | 55/57 |
| 350 | 62/64 | 700 | 51/53 |
| 400 | 61/63 | 800 | 48/40 |
| 450 | 60/62 | 900 | 44/47 |
| 500 | 58/60 | 1000 | 40/44 |
D-2 Tool Steel
D2 is the most wear resistant of the commonly available grades of tool steel. It is deep hardening and has very low size change during heat treatment. Because of its inherent wear resistance; D2 has a low machinability rating when compared to other standard alloy tool steel grades. The high chromium content gives it mild corrosion resistance in the hardened condition. All material supplied in the Annealed state.
| D-2 Tool Steel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Properties | Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi | N/A |
| Yield Strength, psi | N/A | |
| Hardness (Depends on Heat treat) | ||
| Chemistry | Carbon (C) | 1.5 |
| Vanadium (V) | 1 | |
| Chrominium (Cr) | 5 | |
| Molybdenum (Mo) | 1 |
THERMAL PROCESSING: Guidelines – Use Good Judgment
FORGING:
Preheat to 1200/1300°F before raising to forging heat of 1850/2000°F. Stop forging at 1700°F. Cool slowly after forging.
ANNEALING:
Heat slowly to 1600/1650°F and hold at temperature 1-1/2 to 6 hours depending on part size. Cool at a maximum rate of 40°F per hour to 1000°F (cooling rate below 1000°F is not critical). Typical annealed hardness is 217/255 HB.
STRESS RELIEVING:
Heat to 1250/1300°F for 1 hour minimum at temperature and cool in air.
HARDENING:
Preheat at 1500°F before raising to an austenitizing temperature of 1825/1875°F; soak 15 to 45 minutes at temperature before cooling in air to harden.
TEMPERING (Drawing):
Temper immediately after the tool has cooled to 120/150°F. Double tempering is suggested (after cooling to room temperature from the first temper).
| Tempering Temperature °F | Approximate Hardness, HRC | Tempering Temperature °F | Approximate Hardness, HRC |
|---|---|---|---|
| AQ | 62/64 | 800 | 57/59 |
| 400 | 59/61 | 900 | 57/59 |
| 500 | 59/61 | 1000 | 56/58 |
| 600 | 58/60 | 1100 | 48/55 |
| 700 | 57/59 | 1200 | 40/45 |
W-1 Tool Steel
W1 A water hardening 1% carbon alloy, this grade is used when a simple heat treatment is more important than either wear resistance or high dimensional stability during heat-treating. W-1 rod has many general metalworking applications, but does not provide a normal tool life equal to O-1 Drill Rod in diameters smaller than 1/2” usually will harden throughout, but larger cross sections will exhibit a hardened case and tough core.
| W-1 Tool Steel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Properties | Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi | N/A |
| Yield Strength, psi | N/A | |
| Hardness (Depends on Heat treat) | ||
| Chemistry | Carbon (C) | .7-1.5 |
| Vanadium (V) | .1 | |
| Chrominium (Cr) | .15 | |
| Molybdenum (Mo) | .1 | |
| Manganese (Mn) | .1-.4 | |
| Silicon (Si) | .1-.4 | |
| Nickel (Ni) | .2 | |
| Tungsten (W) | .15 | |
| Copper (Cu) | .2 |
Alcobra Metals states that all technical data is for comparison purposes only and is NOT FOR DESIGN. It has been compiled from sources we believe to be accurate but cannot guarantee. Please consult an Engineer.