H-11 is a chromium containing die steel used for high quality valve spring wire for high performance race car engines. It can also be used for high quality cold heading wire for the fastener industry. In the annealed condition, it is readily machinable and takes an excellent polish. The H-11 wire provided by HSA is vacuum melted.

Applications

Valve springs
Fasteners
Because H-11 is a die steel it has many applications in die casting, forging, heading and extrusion.
HSA can provide in cold drawn wire, shaved for seam free and defect free material.

HIGH SPEED STEEL (HSS)

High Speed Steel generally contains large amounts of alloys such as molybdenum, chromium, tungsten, vanadium, and cobalt with sufficient carbon to provide excess alloy carbides in the final heat treated structure. These grades can be easily hardened to a range of 64 – 70 Rockwell “C”. Maximum hardness is attained through secondary hardening after tempering. Aside from its hardness, one of the most important characteristics of high speed steel is its ability to retain this high degree of hardness at elevated temperature.

High Speed Steel Grades

HSA provides the following grades of High Speed Steel in wire and bar:

M-1: One of the earliest and most simple of the high molybdenum HSS. It has an exceptional balance of toughness, wear resistance, and red hardness. It is especially suitable for a large variety of cutting tools. It is readily machinable, hardens uniformly to a high hardness, and possesses excellent cutting qualities. While it is possible to obtain high levels of hardness, its relative toughness is nearly equal to that of M-2.

M-2: Is a high molybdenum HSS that has also been a standard for a number of years. It has extremely high toughness coupled with good hardness, wear resistance and red hardness. Its balance of properties lends itself to a wide and diverse range of applications from taps and general cutting tools to dies, rolls, punches and other general purpose tools.

M-7: Is a modified molybdenum high speed steel containing more carbon and vanadium than grades M-1 and M-2, and includes a small addition of nitrogen. This makes it possible for M-7 to attain a greater hardness and faster heat treat response. It is ideally suited for special cutting tools where wear resistance and red hardness are required for maximum cutting efficiency.

M-42: Is a high cobalt steel that finishes to a very high red hardness and has excellent cutting hardness. Due to its lower vanadium content, the grindability is relatively good in spite of the high hardness levels which can generally be obtained. Because of its unique combination of properties, this grade has gained broad acceptance in the aerospace industry for machining superalloys and other difficult high strength alloy compositions.

M-50: Is an intermediate type high speed steel of the molybdenum-chromium-vanadium variety. M-50 is recommended for applications involving moderate cutting conditions, such as wood working tools where toughness properties are most important and there is less of a need for red hardness than is typical of standard high speed steel.

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