Summary of Performance Features
52100
High carbon, low alloy steel with superior fatigue strength. Widely used in “crush cutting” converting operations due to capacity to retain compositional integrity while undergoing constant compression/release cut dynamics. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
420 Stainless Steel
High quality martensitic stainless steel that provides good corrosion resistance, strength, and hardness relative to the family of stainless grade steels. Widely used in food processing and medical tooling applications due to durability in corrosive environments. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
440C Stainless Steel
High carbon, high chromium stainless steel capable of the highest hardness and mechanical properties of all grades in the stainless family. This grade has moderate corrosion resistance, excellent wear resistance, and high strength, making it a material of choice for ball bearings and valves, as well as food and medical applications. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
A2 Cold Work Tool Steel
Air hardening tool steel that provides a combination of good wear resistance and toughness. Its low price relative to other grades of tool steel and wide availability in a variety of forms make it a very effective material selection in a broad array of cutting and tooling applications. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
S5 / S7 Cold Work Tool Steel
The S series are air-hardening tool steels specifically designed for shock resistance, offering toughness to withstand chipping and breakage in high-impact applications. Gains in impact resistance are balanced by sacrifice in wear and corrosion resistance. It is not readily available, often resulting in higher batch costs and supply chain delays. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
D2 Cold Work Tool Steel
High carbon, high chromium tool steel that provides excellent wear resistance from sliding contact with other metals and abrasive materials. It is a common, cost effective material upgrade in converting applications that require increased abrasion resistance and is widely used in molds and dies. Its high chromium content provides corrosion resistance suitable for use in many food processing/packaging environments as well. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
M2 High Speed Tool Steel
Our most commonly used tool steel, M2 provides excellent performance in all operations where a general-purpose high-speed steel affording good wear and hot hardness properties are desired. It is a readily available and cost-effective solution in a broad array of cutting applications. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
M4 High Speed Tool Steel
A high vanadium, high carbon steel that affords excellent hot hardness and wear resistance qualities. It is designed to afford maximum performance working with abrasive materials. It is significantly more expensive and less broadly available than M2, limited primarily to bar form. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
M42 High Speed Tool Steel
A premium high-speed steel designed for superior hot hardness and excellent wear resistance. It offers a very high hardenability, and its high cobalt content affords superior durability in high heat, heavy duty, large volume cutting applications. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
CPM3V (Crucible Particle Metallurgy) Tool Steel
A powdered metal tool steel designed to provide high toughness and wear resistance properties without substantially sacrificing impact resistance. It can be used in a broad array of chopping, slitting, and cutting applications where chronic breakage and chipping are encountered in other tool steels. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
CPM9V Tool Steel
A powdered metal tool steel that provides excellent wear resistance in combination with good toughness. CPM9V would be an appropriate selection for applications in which improved toughness (as compared to CPM10V and other high-speed steels) is balanced by the need for improved wear resistance (as compared to D2 and other cold work tool steels). (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
CPM10V Tool Steel
A versatile tool steel that provides extremely high wear resistance in combination with relatively high impact toughness due to the fine grain size and small carbides of its microstructure. The exceptional wear resistance and comparatively high toughness make it an excellent (and more affordable) substitute to carbide in applications where tool breakage is a demonstrated issue. (Crucible Tool Steel and Specialty Alloy Selector / Hudson Tool Steel Corporation)
