High-speed tool steel is still essentially tool steel, but with better heat resistance.
Carbide is a super hard material made of tungsten carbide, titanium carbide and other materials. In terms of hardness and red-hardness, high-speed tool steel can’t catch up with them. Although the name is “alloy”, it is actually a kind of metal ceramic.
However, cemented carbide is more expensive. And it is so hard that machining itself becomes a problem. This makes it more difficult to use carbide for more complex shaped tools like twist drills.
For general aluminum alloys, the hardness is so low that ordinary tool steel can be machined effectively. However, carbide is more wear resistant and there is very little dimensional change in the tool during machining, which leads to all carbide tools being used in CNC machining.
On the other hand, carbide has a lower tendency to adhere to aluminum than tool steel, which can effectively improve the surface finish.
However, carbide is brittle and care should be taken in its use.
Post time: Jun-09-2023
