Tool steel is one of the most popular types of steel. Generally speaking, it is an alloy of iron with carbon, although sometimes manganese, chromium, nickel, copper, tungsten, titanium and molybdenum can also be found in it. Of course, it is used to make various tools, m.in. because it is very hard and durable. Thanks to this, it is an extremely unusual material Resistant to intensive use, wear and deformation, and is additionally characterized by high resistance to impact resistance.
The most commonly used are tool steel for the production of tools for forming or machining. In addition, more and more often you can meet with the practice of casting from tool steel such elements as turning knives, drills and cutters. It is worth noting, however, that it is mainly used in production and industrial plants, because working with this raw material requires appropriate training and solid practical foundations that result from experience.
What to keep in mind when buying tool steel?
Tool steel is only an intermediate product that will be transformed into target tool elements. However, the durability of the final product will depend on its quality, so it is very important to know what to look for when buying.
First of all, tool steel must stand out high degree of hardness, impact strength and abrasion resistance. Besides, it is good to verify whether it is definitely ninsensitive to deformation and wear. Steel that does not meet these characteristics will actually be useless in the manufacture of tools. Products made of such steel will break and be quickly exploited, which may make their production unprofitable.
Depending on the use of later tools, attention should be paid to other steel characteristics. For example, those used for temperatures above 250°C must be particularly resistant to thermal fatigue and temperature distortion.
