Materials database

Shock-resisting cold work tool steel (AISI S1) with tungsten and high silicon for exceptional toughness and impact resistance. Oil hardening. Achieves 52-60 HRC. Very good dimensional stability during heat treatment. Used for blanking and stamping dies for sheet up to 12mm, cold piercing punches, shear blades, pneumatic chisels, coining tools, woodworking tools, and ejectors. The premium choice where impact resistance is more critical than maximum wear resistance. Also known as 60WCrV7 (older DIN designation).

Universal cold work tool steel with high carbon and manganese. Oil hardening (AISI O2). Excellent dimensional stability during heat treatment, good wear resistance, and high hardness up to 63 HRC. Easy to machine in annealed condition. Used for blanking and stamping tools, precision punches, shear blades, thread chasers, reamers, measuring gauges, woodworking tools, and cold forming dies. Equivalent to AISI O2.

Air-hardening cold-work tool steel. Combines good wear resistance with excellent dimensional stability during heat treatment (minimal distortion). Used for punching/blanking dies, forming tools, shear blades, gauges, and precision tooling where low distortion is critical.

Crucible Particle Metallurgy stainless cold work steel — virtually identical to Böhler M390 and Carpenter CTS-204P. 1.9% C, 20% Cr, 4% V, 1% Mo. The highest corrosion resistance of any PM tool steel while maintaining 58–62 HRC hardness and outstanding edge retention. Considered the current benchmark for premium stainless knife steel. Also used for plastic injection mold cavities (mirror polish + corrosion resistance) and food processing cutting tools.

Premium high-carbon high-chromium cold-work tool steel with vanadium and molybdenum. Air-hardening with minimal distortion. Superior wear resistance and edge retention. The global benchmark for cold stamping dies, blanking tools, shear blades, and forming tools.

Modified D2 cold-work tool steel developed by Daido Steel (Japan). Refined Cr-Mo-V composition with higher tempering temperature capability gives ~2x the toughness of standard D2 at equal hardness (62-63 HRC). Used as D2 replacement for progressive dies, blanking tools, and cold forging where chipping is a problem.

Oil-hardening cold-work tool steel. Good balance of wear resistance, toughness, and machinability at moderate cost. Very predictable heat treatment response. The standard choice for hand tools, gauges, jigs, fixtures, taps, reamers, and general precision tooling.

Air-hardening medium-alloy cold work tool steel, known as AISI A2. 5% Cr provides good through-hardening and excellent dimensional stability during heat treatment — minimal distortion compared to oil-hardening grades. Hardened to 57–62 HRC. Good combination of wear resistance and toughness — tougher than D2 (1.2379) at similar hardness. Used for blanking dies, trimming dies, forming tools, gauges, shear blades, coining tools and precision components requiring minimal distortion.

High-carbon high-chromium ledeburitic cold work tool steel — AISI D2. 12% Cr + 1.5% C forms massive M7C3 carbides giving outstanding wear resistance and cutting edge retention. Air-hardening with minimal distortion. Lower toughness than H13. Used for blanking/stamping dies, thread rolling dies, cold forming tools, slitting cutters, and wear parts. Also popular as high-end knife steel.

High-performance cold work tool steel with 12% Cr for exceptional wear resistance and good toughness. Air or oil hardening. The most widely used high-alloy cold work steel for demanding stamping and forming applications. Achieves 58-62 HRC. Used for blanking dies, punching tools, cold-forming dies, thread rolling dies, deep drawing tools, and industrial knives for heavy-gauge sheet. Similar to AISI D2 but with optimized V content.

High-carbon high-chromium cold-work tool steel. Excellent wear resistance and dimensional stability after heat treatment. Used for blanking and forming dies, drawing mandrels, gauges, shear blades, and thread rolling dies. Not suitable for impact loading.

Nickel cold-work tool steel with exceptional toughness from ~4% Ni content. Excellent through-hardenability, polishability, and impact resistance. Used for plastic injection molds (high-gloss), embossing dies, scrap shear blades, punches, cutlery dies, and bending tools.