Tool Steel Forged Parts
Tool Steel Forgings
Tool Steels, such as A2, D2, S7, O1, O6, A10, H13, M2, and S5, are groups of steels of a very special nature used for many applications in the fabrication and forming of other metals. They are used, among other applications, as cutting tools, blanking dies, deep drawing dies, other molds, tap and die sets, cold heading tools, hot forging tools, shear blades, drills, and die casting dies. They are used to machine metal parts that have been formed by other means, hot or cold. In fact, they are found anywhere that metals are formed or finish machined, especially in CNC machines and metal lathes.
Tool steels need to be hard and abrasion-resistant. As such they are of necessity high carbon – most are around 1% carbon – and contain alloying elements that are important for hardenability and for carbide formation. They are divided into classifications that include water hardening, oil hardening and air hardening steels, that are further categorized as hot work, cold work and high-speed tool steels, the latter renowned for high red hardness and wear resistance, and a deep hardening ability. Tool steels are made with chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten to form carbides, making the surface resistant to deformation while maintaining sharp cutting edges at high temperatures experienced during the cutting forces and high friction temperatures of machining.
The processing of tool steels, from melting, degassing, and cooling, through final shaping, and machining, explains their high cost and value. Temperature and reduction during forging, cooling from forging, and probably most important of all, heat treatment and quenching from hardening, must be carried out to exceptionally strict standards. Non-destructive testing throughout is a must.
The person who runs the tool room in any metal fabricating operation is one of the most important people in the business. This person has input into the design of the tooling used in the fabricating operation, for example, to ensure no adjacent drastic changes in section, or no sharp corners. These will cause trouble in heat treatment. There should be no excessive stresses applied to tools in service. These factors are all under the eagle eye of the person responsible for the tool room.
Common Tool Steels
Apart from defects that result from the melting and solidification processes – center voids, segregation, or inclusions, for example – the biggest problems in tool steel production result from faulty heat treatment. These include wrong choice of hardening temperature, too high or too low, incorrect cooling medium, and/or tempering conditions. Tool steels should be tempered while still warm from quenching.
The high costs of tool steels are due initially to their alloy contents, but just as importantly to the absolute necessity to take great care at each stage of processing. If non-destructive testing reveals internal defects, then, in most cases, the material will be scrapped. Heat treatment is the territory of the heat treater who makes an art of heating, soaking and quenching, and the person who will ensure the best performance of tool steels for their end use.
All Metals & Forge Group takes great pride in maintaining one of the most stringent ISO9001, AS9100 quality systems in the open die forging and seamless rolled ring industry. It begins with learning the customer’s end use, required forging surface condition, mechanical properties of the specified material and alloy, forged shape, heat treatment, delivery need, and competitive price, coupled with forging soundness proven by ultrasonic testing, and care in packing goods to arrive in pristine condition at the customer’s desired location. Every step is monitored by the quality system at AMFG and continuously improved.
AMFG performs rough machining to within 3mm of finish dimensions to reduce the CNC cost at the customer’s machine shop for all the forged shapes the company produces. The rough machine surface condition is 250 RMS so that proper quality testing can be performed on each part – the AMFG standard.
The company can perform finish machining to within .001 of an inch for final tolerance and 64 or 32 RMS surface finish. This level of quality and precision is unique in an industry where other company’s parts are often delivered black, as forged, or with a rough machined surface of 500 RMS without the internal or external steps and dimensions to reduce machining costs.
From inquiry to invoice, All Metals & Forge Group quality is managed and not assumed. Whether the need is for one part, an entire project, or a production run, AMFG delivers.
U.S. 1 (973) 276-5000 • 1 (800) 600-9290 • Canada 1 (416) 363-2244
Fax: 1 (973) 276-5050 • Sales@Steelforge.com
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In the U.S. 1 (973) 276-5000 / 1 (800) 600-9290.
In Canada 1 (416) 363-2244.
Email us at sales@steelforge.com.
