Steel Alloys
Steel comes in numerous alloys offering a wide variety of properties. A few alloys are listed below.
Steel 12L14 is known for it's excellent machinability resulting in improved surface appearance.
Steel 4140, a.k.a. “chrome-moly” has good fatigue, abrasion, and impact resistance. 4140 is readily formed and machined in its annealed state and can be heat treated to increase toughness and wear resistance. 4140 is good for crankshafts, gears, axles, and shafts to name a few uses.
Steel 4130 is similar to 4140, but has better weldability and formability. 4130 is often used to meet military specifications and for demanding structural applications.
O1 tool steel has a good combination of machinability and resistance to wear and abrasion. It is often used in punch and die tooling plus cams, bushings, guides, and gauges.
D2 tool steel has great wear and abrasion resistance. D2 has high hardness and is commonly used for long-run dies and blanking, as well as shear blades, burnishing tools, and gauges.
Steel 1018 has good weldability and slightly better machinability than the lower carbon steels. 1018 is a common cold-rolled steel with good strength and some ductility. It is similar to A36 but has a better surface finish.
Steel A36 is a common hot-rolled steel. A36 has a rougher surface than cold rolled steels. A36 has lower yield strength than 1018 and hence is easier to bend. A36 is more difficult to machine than 1018.
Steel 1008 has good formability and comparatively high strength. 1008 has a very good surface finish.
For knives and other blades very high carbon steels are generally used including:
1080, 1085, 1090, 1095 and 6150.
