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Steel grades

A more detailed look at some of our steel grades and their characteristics.

Steel
Grade
Comparable Standard
AISI / JIS
Hardening Delivery Hardness
HRC
Characteristics Applications
ASSAB Steel
IMPAX
718S
P20 Modified Prehardened 31-36 Pre-hardened type, high purity with isotropic microstructure
contains 1.0% Ni
High quality mold inserts, best suitable for plastic molding of
PA,POM, PS, PE, PP, ABS.
IMPAX
718H
Prehardened 36-42
EM38 Prehardened 38-44 Good polishability, texturing, EDMing and machinability.
Homogenous hardness
Suitable for plastics injection mold, extrusion die and rubber
mold
STAVAX S136 420, ESR Through hardened 50-52 High purity, high polishability to mirror finish, with good
corrosion resistance and low distortion after heat treatment.
High quality mold inserts with mirror surface finish and good
corrosion resistance, anti-corrosive cooling channel, best suitable for
plastic molding of PVC, PP, EP,PC, PMMA, machine parts for food processing machinery.
STAVAX S136H Prehardened 31-36
STAVAX S136 SUP 420, ESR Through Hardened 50-52 Corrosion resistance and toughness are better than S136 Suitable for big plastic mold with high precision requirement
STAVAX S136H SUP Prehardened 31-36 Corrosion resistance and toughness are better than S136H
POLMAX 420 (ESR+VAR), Optical Grade Through hardened 50-52 Ultra-high purity and extremely low segregation by double
remelting process (ESR+VAR). Excellent polishability to attain optical requirement. Good corrosion resistance and low distortion after heat treatment
High quality molds for Lens, Optical Products, compact discs
and medical applications
CORRAX S336 Special Precipitation Hardening Stainless Steel Age Hardening 32 Excellent corrosion resistance, extremely good dimensional
stability during ageing, good weldability
Injection molds for corrosive plastics, rubber, medical and
food industry and plastic parts with complicated design.
ELMAX Special Powder Metal Through Hardened 50-52 High wear resistance. High corrosion resistance. High
compressive strength. Less distortion after heat treatment.
Suitable for plastic molds with the requirement of both high
corrosion resistance and wear resistance. Suitable for plastic molds for engineer plastics with additives such as glass fibers and/or fire retardent. molds for electronic encapsulation. Componen
168 (Ramax S/Ramax 2) 420+S Prehardened 36-41 High machinability. High corrosion resistance mold base with the requirement of high strength and corrosion
resistance. Plastic molds with corrosion resistance but do not require high surface finish requirement. Suitable for fixtures in electronic industries.
ORVAR 8407 H13, MICRODIZED + ESR Through Hardened 50-52 Hot work tool steel with high toughness and good high
temperature strength
Die casting, extrusion, cold hobbing, mold for PA, POM,PS, PE,
EP plastics
CALMAX 635 High wear resistance multi-functional tool steel Through Hardened 50-52 Extremely high toughness and high wear resistance, good
hardenability and weldability, good flame and induction hardenability to HRC56-60, with harden layer up to 5mm thickness.
High strength plastic mold and compacting die, suitableable for molding of fibre-reinforce plactics.
VANADIS 10 High performance powder
metallurgical cold work tool steel
Through Hardened 50-52 Extremely high wear resistance, sufficient toughness with very
high compressive strength and high dimensional stability during heat treatment.
High speed stamping of E.I. core and lead frame.
SSAB Steel
Toolox 33 Prehardened 30-36 Suitable for
tools and engineering components. It possesses good dimensional stability
after machining
High quality mold inserts, best suitable for plastic molding of
PA,POM, PS, PE, PP, ABS.
Toolox 44 Prehardened 44-50 Suitable for
tools and engineering components. It possesses good dimensional stability
after machining
The high steel cleanliness gives Toolox 44 very good polishing, A2 gloss, and texturing capabilities.
DAIDO  Steel
PX88 P20 Modified Prehardened 31-36 Good weldability, special alloying composition to reduce
sensitivity due to weld crack.
Medium production run plastic mold with good surface finishing.
PX5 P20 Modified Prehardened 31-36 Good weldability, special alloying composition to reduce
sensitivity due to weld crack, good machinability
Medium production run plastic mold
NAK55 P21+S Mod., ESR Prehardened 40-43 Pre-hardened type with high hardness, good machinability and
weldability
High precision plastic molds and rubber molds.
NAK80 P21 Mod., ESR Prehardened 40-43 Pre-hardened type with high hardness, good
polishability,excellent photo-etchingability, good EDM machining and
weldability
molds require high wear resistance and excellent surface
finishing.
S-Star SUS 420 J2 Mod., ESR Prehardened 31-36 High mirror surface polishability with corrosion resistance. High precision plastic molds with high mirror surface
finishing.
S-Star (A) SUS 420 J2 Mod., ESR Through Hardened 50-52 High mirror surface polishability with corrosion resistance.
Hardness can be obtained up to 50 – 52 HRC with proper heat treatment in order to obtain better polishability, wear resistance and/or corrosion resistance
High precision plastic molds with high mirror surface
finishing.
DH31-S SKD61  Modified Through Hardened 50-52 Good through-hardening properties especially for large molds, excellent resistance to thermal shock and to thermal fatigue, good resistance to heat erosion. AL, Mg  Die casting molds, Parts for die casting molds, AL die extrusion molds, Hard plastics molds.
DHA1 SKD61 Through Hardened 50-52 Good through-hardening properties, good resistance to thermal shock and thermal fatigue, good resistance to heat erosion. Zn, small size AL die casting molds,  Parts for die casting molds, AL die extrusion molds, Hard plastics molds.
GOA SKS3 Modified Through Hardened 50-52 High hardenability and wear resistance cold work tool steel Punches for cold forming and blanking, shearing blades for
metal sheet.
DC11 SKD11 Through Hardened 50-52 Excellent wear resistance with high chromium cold work tool
steel
Suitable for cold extrusion, cold drawn dies, punching and
blanking dies for stainless steel or metal sheets with high hardness.
DC53 SKD11 Modified Through Hardened 50-52 High toughness chromium cold work tool steel, high temperature
tempering after the heat treatment can reach the high hardness of 62 HRC,
especial good for much EDM wire cut works to reduce the breakage.
Suitable for stamping die, cold forming, deep drawing, thread
rolling, punches for high speed blanking, stainless steels materials.
Finkl
P20 HH P20 Modified Prehardened 36-42 With special chemical composition adjustment and good forging process/forging ratio, mechanical properties are better than normal AISI P20 tool steels. High quality mold inserts, best suitable for plastic molding of
PA,POM, PS, PE, PP, ABS.
P20 LQ P20 Mod. (Optical Quality) Prehardened 36-42 High purity and less segregation are obtained by double vacuum
melting processes (VAD + VAR) in order to obtain good polishability
Suitable for plastic mold with optical requirement without
requiring to handle corrosive plastics
Lung Kee Special Steel
LKM 638 P20 Prehardened 29-32 High machinability High quality mold base or large core parts.
LKM 2311  P20 Prehardened 29-35 Pre-hardened type tool steel for plastic mold. mold for high quality plastic with long run production.
LKM 2312 P20 + S Prehardened 29-35 Excellent machinability, most suitableable for high speed
volume machining.
Plastic mold for general use and core parts
LKM 738 P20 + Ni Prehardened 29-35 High quality pre-hardened type tool steel, uniform in hardness
and high machinability
Mold with high toughness and good finishing.
LKM 738H Prehardened 36-42
LKM838H P20 Mod. Prehardened 36-42 With special adjustment to the chemical composition, LKM838H’s
thermal conductitvity,machinability, polishability and weldability are better
than normal AISI P20 tool steels.
Suitable for plastic molding of PA,POM, PS, PE, PP, ABS with
the requirement of high hardness, polishability and wear resistance.
LKM818H P20 Modified Prehardened 36-42 Pre-hardened type, high purity with isotropic microstructure
contains 1
High quality mold inserts, suitable for plastic molding of
PA,POM, PS, PE, PP, ABS.
LKM 2711 P20, Premium Prehardened 36-43 High hardness and high toughness Suitable for medium plastic molds requiring high hardness with good toughness
LKM420 420 Through Hardened 50-52 Good anti-rusting property. Hardness can be increased up to HRC 50 – 52 for plastic mold application Plastic mold with requirement of anti-rusting
LKM420H 420 Prehardened 29-35 Good anti-rusting property. Plastic mold with requirement of anti-rusting and mouldbase
with corrosion resistance requirement
LKM 2083 420 Through Hardened 50-52 Hardness can be obtained up to 50 – 52 HRC with proper heat
treatment in order to obtain better polishability, wear resistance and/or corrosion resistance
Corrosion resistance plastic molds.
LKM 2083H Prehardened 29-35 Pre-hardened type, corrosion resistance, high polishabity
LKM 2316A SUS 420 J2 Through Hardened 50-52 Hardness can be obtained up to 47 HRC with proper heat
treatment in order to obtain the better wear resistance and corrosion resistance than pre-hardened condition
High corrosion resistance plastic molds.
LKM 2316 Prehardened 29-35 Pre-hardened type, high corrosion resistance
LKM 2316ESR SUS 420 J2, ESR Prehardened 29-35 High cleanliness, high corrosion resistance High corrosion resistance molds with good polishability.
LKM H13 H13 Through Hardened 50-52 Good toughness Suitable for hard plastic molds, sliders, zinc die casting
dies.
LKM 2343 H11 Through Hardened 50-52 Good high temperature strength and high toughness, good
resistance to heat checking
Suitable for die casting
for aluminium and zinc alloys, hard plastics molds.
LKM 2343 ESR H11 ESR Through Hardened 50-52 Homogenous structure and good isotropic property. Good plastic
mold with high polishing requirement
Suitable for die casting for magnesium, aluminium and zinc
alloys. Good for plastics molds with high polishing requirement.
LKM 2344 H13 Through Hardened 50-52 Good high temperature strength, suitable for die casting mold Suitable for die casting for aluminium and zinc alloys, hard plastics molds.
LKM 2344 ESR H13, ESR Through Hardened 50-52 Homogenous structure and good isotropic property. Good plastic
mold with high polishing requirement
LKM 2344-SUPER H13, MICRODIZED + ESR Through Hardened 50-52 High toughness and good high temperature strength, with high
impact strength exceeding 300J
LKM 2510 O1 Through Hardened 50-52 High hardenability and wear resistance cold work tool steel Shearing blades, cold forming, blanking and punching dies.
LKM 2379 D2 Through Hardened 50-52 High chromium cold work tool steel with good toughness. Suitable for cold extrusion and forming, cold drawn, punching
and blanking of high hardness metal sheet and stainless sheet.
LKM 2767 6F7 (High toughness multi-purpose tool steel) Through Hardened 50-52 High strength and toughness, can be hardened to HRC 50~54. Suitable for shearing and blanking of sheet metal with 10mm
thick or above
Sinto
PORCERAX II
PM – 35
Sintering power metallurgical porous material Prehardened 38-43 High quality pre-hardened type permeable porous material with
high corrosion resistance, high machinability and EDM machinability (Supplied
with 7 and 20 µm pore sizes)
molds for high quality plastic or die-casting parts with thin
wall or intricated structure. Remedy for quality and productivity problems
due to gas trapping during injection molding.
USA Brush Wellman Beryllium Copper  Alloy
MOLDMAX 40 Age Hardening 36-42 High strength beryllium copper alloy, very high thermal
conductivity, shorten molding cycle effectively.
Best suitable for mold core and insert which require rapid
cooling.
EDM Copper
C1100P JIS H3100 Extremely high purity, good electrical conductivity, high
machinability, low thermal deformation
EDM copper electrode.
USA ALCOA Aluminium Alloy
6061-T6/T651/T6511 Age Hardening Aluminium alloy with good corrosion resistance,  excellent joining characteristics and
anodizing
Thermoforming, blow molding, ultrasonic welding and machine parts.
SWISS ALCAN high hardness Aluminium Alloy
CERTAL 7022-T651/T652 AlZnMgCu0.5 Age Hardening 7 High Strength, high hardness, good machinability Plastic injection molding, blow molding, ultrasonic welding and machine parts
China high quality plastic mold steel
WY718 P20+Ni Prehardened 29-35 Prehardened plastic mold steel mold Base and core part of plastic mold
WY2311 P20 ` 29-35 Prehardened plastic mold steel mold Base and core part of plastic mold
High quality plain carbon steel
S50C – S55C 1050 – 1055 7-20. High machinability Suitable for plastic mold base and machinery parts