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Tool steel

High hardness and stiffness, abrasion resistant.

Tool Steel in CNC Machining

Tool steel is a group of carbon and alloy steels specifically developed to withstand high mechanical loads, repeated impact, abrasion, and elevated temperatures. It is commonly used in CNC machining for components that require high hardness, wear resistance, toughness, and dimensional stability.

Tool steel grades contain different combinations of carbon, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, tungsten, and other alloying elements. These additions allow different grades to provide specific combinations of hardness, toughness, wear resistance, and hot-work performance.

Tool steel can be machined in annealed conditions and then heat treated to achieve the required hardness and strength. It is widely used for molds, dies, cutting tools, punches, inserts, fixtures, and precision industrial components.

Available Tool Steel at Elite Mold Tech:

Price

$$$

Lead Time:

< 10 days

Wall Thickness:

0.75 mm

Tolerances:

±0.125mm (±0.005″)

Max Part Size:

200 x 80 x 100 cm

Available Grades:

D2 Tool Steel, A2 Tool Steel, H13 Tool Steel

D2 Tool Steel

D2 is a high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel known for excellent wear resistance, high hardness, and good dimensional stability during heat treatment. It is commonly used for dies, punches, cutting tools, blades, and wear-resistant components.

Tensile Strength, Yield (MPa) 1900

Fatigue Strength (MPa) 700

Elongation at Break (%) 2

Hardness (Brinell) 217 - 255

Density (g/cm³) 7.70

A2 Tool Steel

A2 is an air-hardening tool steel that provides a good balance of toughness, wear resistance, and dimensional stability. It is widely used for punches, dies, forming tools, shear blades, and precision tooling components.

Tensile Strength, Yield (MPa) 1860

Fatigue Strength (MPa) 700

Elongation at Break (%) 3

Hardness (Brinell) 200 - 250

Density (g/cm³) 7.86

H13 Tool Steel

H13 is a chromium-molybdenum hot-work tool steel designed to maintain strength and hardness at elevated temperatures. It provides good thermal fatigue resistance and toughness, making it suitable for molds, dies, extrusion tooling, and high-temperature applications.

Tensile Strength, Yield (MPa) 1380

Fatigue Strength (MPa) 600

Elongation at Break (%) 10

Hardness (Brinell) 180 - 220

Density (g/cm³) 7.80

Surface Finishing Options for Tool Steel

CNC machined tool steel parts can undergo various surface finishing and treatment processes to improve hardness, wear resistance, corrosion protection, appearance, and service life.

As Machined
Polishing
Grinding
Black Oxide
Electroless Nickel Plating
Nickel Plating
PVD Coating
Nitride Treatment
Passivation
Sand Blasting
Brushed Finish

Pros and Cons of Tool Steel CNC Machining

Tool steel provides excellent hardness, wear resistance, toughness, and dimensional stability, making it suitable for demanding tooling and industrial applications. However, its hardness and heat-treatment requirements can make machining more complex and expensive.

Excellent Wear Resistance: Tool steel can withstand repeated contact, abrasion, and mechanical wear in demanding applications.
High Hardness: Many tool steel grades can achieve high hardness after heat treatment, making them suitable for cutting and forming applications.
Good Dimensional Stability: Certain grades maintain accurate dimensions during heat treatment, which is important for precision tooling.
High Strength: Tool steel provides strong mechanical performance under high loads and repeated use.
Heat Resistance: Hot-work grades such as H13 can maintain useful properties at elevated temperatures.

Difficult to Machine After Hardening: Hardened tool steel requires specialized tooling and machining methods.
Higher Material Cost: Tool steel is generally more expensive than mild steel and other general-purpose materials.
Heat Treatment Required: Many applications require heat treatment to achieve the desired hardness and wear performance.
Tool Wear: Machining harder tool steel can accelerate cutting-tool wear and increase production time.

Description

Application

CNC machining produces parts with excellent mechanical properties, accuracy and repeatability from metal and plastic. 3-axis & 5-axis CNC milling available.

Strengths

Excellent mechanical properties,High accuracy & repeatabillity

Weaknesses

Greater geometry restrictions than 3D printing

Properties

Lead Time

< 10 days

Wall Thickness

0.75 mm

Tolerances

±0.125mm (±0.005″)

Max part size

200 x 80 x 100 cm

CNC Machining Metals, Tool steel

Tool steel D2 | 1.2379 | X153CrMoV12-1 – Annealed state

Property Value Mechanical Properties Ultimate tensile strength 758 – 860 MPa Yield

CNC Machining Metals, Tool steel

Tool steel A2 | 1.2363 | X100CrMoV5-1- Annealed state

Property Value Mechanical Properties Ultimate tensile strength 670 – 710 MPa Yield

CNC Machining Metals, Tool steel

Tool steel O1 | 1.2510 | 100MnCrW4 – Annealed state

Property Value Mechanical Properties Ultimate tensile strength 640 – 720 MPa Yield

CNC Machining Metals, Tool steel

Tool steel A3 – Annealed state

Property Value Mechanical Properties Ultimate tensile strength 700 MPa Yield strength 340

CNC Machining Metals, Tool steel

Tool steel S7 | 1.2355 | 50CrMoV13-15 – Annealed state

Property Value Mechanical Properties Ultimate tensile strength 640 – 670 MPa Yield

CNC Machining Metals, Tool steel

Tool steel H13 | 1.2344 | X40CrMoV5-1 – Annealed state

Property Value Mechanical Properties Ultimate tensile strength 690 MPa Yield strength 330

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