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Composition & hardness of High Speed Steel by type.
Metal cutting tools made from high speed steel will operate to temperatures of approximately 700°C, much higher than that of high carbon steel which soften at around 220°C.
| Steel type | --- Composition % ---- | Hardness (VPN) | Typical uses | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Cr | W | V | Mo | Co | |||
| 18% tungsten | 0.68 | 4.0 | 19.0 | 1.5 | --- | --- | 800-850 | Low quality alloy, seldom used. |
| 30% tungsten | 0.75 | 4.7 | 22.0 | 1.4 | --- | --- | 850-950 | General purpose workshop cutting tools. |
| 6% cobalt | 0.8 | 5.0 | 19.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 6.0 | 800-900 | Heavy duty cutting tools. |
| 12% cobalt (super HSS) | 0.8 | 5.0 | 21.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 11.5 | 850-950 | Cutting tools for machining of high tensile materials. |
High Speed Steel (HSS)
High speed steel (HSS) is used in high speed cutting applications, and is used to manufacture tools such as taps, dies, twist drills, reamers and other cutting tools such as saw blades.
It is has several advantages over carbon steel which is also used in these applications.
The materials used to produce the alloy of high speed steel include tungsten, chromium, molybdenum and cobalt, the composition of the different grades of HSS can be seen in the table above.
High speed steel differs from carbon steel because it is able to retain its hardness and therefore its ability to cut at much higher temperatures, carbon steel tools typically begin to soften at around 220°C, wheras HSS can still operate at temperatures around 700°C.