Machining Hardened Steel

High speed machining hsm of hardened die steels should not be feared but embraced.

Machining hardened steel.

Typical materials that are hard turned are 5120 steel 62 rc 1050 steel 62 rc 9310 60 rc and 4320 steel 60 62 rc. High speed milling of hardened die steels was second choice at 49 percent. There are several components of the process which include. First choice cbn grade designed to deliver stable and predictable tool life while machining case and induction hardened steels with light to medium interrupted cuts chamfered component edges.

The term hardened steel is often used for a medium or high carbon steel that has been given heat treatment and then quenching followed by tempering the quenching results in the formation of metastable martensite the fraction of which is reduced to the desired amount during tempering this is the most common state for finished articles such as tools and machine parts. However machining hard steel with small tools taking fast light cuts is not the way many shops are accustomed to machining these parts. First choice for external and internal machining of small and slender components. Since then it has gained more acceptance in the industry.

1 the following observations from the engineering research center for net shape manufacturing erc nsm at the ohio state university may be useful to shops contemplating getting into high speed milling. The effective utilization of the. Many people feel that hard metal machining is a black art but with a few basic principles it is not only profitable but also a straightforward machining process.