Special Purpose Tool Steel

We stock specialty alloys as well as several tried-and-true tool steels. Each has unique properties that make them the steel of choice for several applications.

A-7 Modified is a chrome-modified version of A-7. It is extremely wear resistant, which makes it ideal for brick molds, sand slingers, shot-blast liners, and extrusion tool applications. The high vanadium content results in large, hard carbides that aid in resistance to surface abrasion. It is not well suited for slitting or cutting applications because of the large carbides.

Cru-Wear is a cold-work, air-hardening tool steel that is heat-treatable to 60–65 HRc. It has a good combination of toughness and wear resistance and can be considered an upgrade to D-2. Typical applications include industrial knives and slitters, thread rolling dies, wear parts, shear blades, and blanking dies. Cru-Wear is a registered trademark of Erasteel.

H-13 is classified as a medium-chrome, hot-work tool steel. It contains more vanadium than most H-series tool steels, which gives it better wear resistance. H-13 is a deep-hardening alloy that can be cooled in air after heat treating. It has excellent strength and resistance to thermal fatigue, which makes it ideal for extruding aluminum and magnesium. H-13 excels in cold-work applications as well because of its hardenability and wear resistance. Other applications include hot shear blades, forging dies, and mandrels.

L-6 is a low-alloy, special-purpose steel that contains small amounts of chromium, molybdenum, and nickel. It is a versatile alloy characterized by increased toughness compared to other oil-hardening grades. L-6 is commonly used in punches, dies, and cold-forming tools.

5. O-1 is a general-purpose tool steel that is quenched in oil after hardening. O-1 has high resistance to wear at normal temperatures because of its high carbon content. Typical applications for O-1 include dies and punches used in trimming, drawing, blanking, and forming.