• If more than 20% of the tooling steel materials have been removed, it should be stressed relieved   prior to heat treating. This is critical in intricate shapes .

 • Tooling steels should never be placed into a hot furnace that is at austenizing temperature. The materials should be preheated before ramping up to the hardening temperature.

 • When using foil wrap or bag , put a small piece of brown paper into the bag to burn off the oxygen and prevent decarb.

  • Large Sections of air-hardening tool steels should be oil or salt quenched in order for the material to reach maximum operating hardness.

  • Room Temperature for all tool and high speed steels during the heat treat process should be between a minimum of 90°F and a maximum of 150°F . Make sure the material does not get “ stone cold ” until the tempering process is completed.

  • Never oil quench the material in cold oil . The clean oil should be between 90°F and 150°F .

  • Double temper all air-hardening steels, D-2, and High Speed Steels should be triple tempered.

  • If steel is to be EDM’d, three tempers are highly recommended and the material should be re-tempered after the EDM Process.

  • Always use the highest tempering temperature consistent with the required hardness to effectively remove stresses and assure transformation to tempered martensite.

  • After hardening, make sure you wet grind the material; a maximum of .001 per pass to prevent grinding embrittlement .

  • Never harden tooling materials with sharp angles ; make sure to have the maximum radius on all corners. Grind or machine sharp angles in after hardening .

  • Remember — the higher the Rockwell does not mean the tool is better . Tooling Steels perform best only at their preferred operating Rockwell hardness .

           The Patriot Team’s Metallurgical staff offers support in solving your Technical Problems. If you desire assistance in heat treat questions, material applications, material analysis, tool—die—mold failures, and material certifications, please contact us by phone or e-mail. Links are on the contact us page.

           Please provide your name, company name, phone number, description of problem and attach any prints, photo’s or drawings in the e-mail. We will contact you ASAP.