Plastic mould tool steels & metals

Pre-hardened ( Tensile strength approximate 1000 MPa; hardness about 300 HB) mould steel with high purity levels, a good uniform structure and hardness, even in large section sizes over 400mm. This results in good toughness and polishability. Supplied hardened and tempered at a suitable operating hardness. Can be nitrided or hard Chrome plated for extra wear resistance. Good photoetching properties. Suitable for injection moulds and extrusion dies for plastics. Forming tools, press brake dies (with nitriding or local flame hardening) and machinery components, such as shafts, bolts and gears

Uddeholm Impax Supreme is a premium prehardened mould steel with
very good polishing and texturing properties.
Uddeholm Impax Supreme is available in a very wide dimensional range,
where even the largest dimensions show a very uniform hardness profile
all through the cross section.
The delivery hardness of ~310 HB, makes the steel suitable for a many
different applications like:
– Moulds for plastic injection moulding
– Moulds for blow moulding
– Dies for plastic extrusion
– General constructional parts, like machine components requiring
improved fatigue strength and reliability

Low carbon pre-hardened plastic mould material. Suitable for a variety of plastic injection moulds particularly the packaging industry and appliances. Holder material for forging and die casting dies, holder material for cutting tools. Structural components. Con rods, crankshafts. Excellent machinability and easy to weld. High pre-hardened hardness with high toughness. 

Suitable for heavy duty hot work tools and dies: mainly for light alloy die casting applications. Hot extrusion tools, hot shear blades. Can also be used for plastic moulding dies and Engineering components/Parts requiring good toughness and torsional characteristics (after appropriate heat treatment processing).

Uddeholm Orvar 2 M is a chromium molybdenum-vanadium-alloyed steel which is characterised by:
• good resistance to abrasion at both low and high temperatures
• high level of toughness and ductility
• uniform and high level of machinability and polishability
• good high-temperature strength and resistance to thermal fatigue
• excellent through-hardening properties
• very limited distortion during hardening

Delivery condition: Soft annealed to approx. 185 HB

Used for plastic moulding, specially large moulds requiring high toughness and polishability, and general hot work applications (shear blades, forging dies, hot gripper dies, extrusion tooling). Containing less vanadium than the widely used H13 grade tool steel giving a higher toughness, with some reduction in wear and temper resistance. Possessing good resistance to heat checking (thermal fatigue) and thermal shock. 

Tool steel that has proved highly satisfactory for hot and cold work and long-time service up to approx . 450°C (842°F) in various fields of application. Tools for hydrostatic presses, cold extrusion tools, cold heading and embossing tools, molds for the plastics industry, die casting tools for aluminium and zinc alloys, hot pressing tools, cold pilger mandrels.

Ultra-high-strength maraging steel. In contrast to heat treatable steels its outstanding tensile properties are not due to a hardened structure with relatively high carbon content, but to precipitation of intermetallic phases from a ductile nickel bearing matrix containing almost no carbon.

This results in the following advantages: High tensile strength and excellent yield point ratio, satisfactory toughness (reduction of area, elongation, impact strength, fracture toughness) even at low temperatures, superior notched tensile strength and heat checking resistance, practically no size change in heat treatment, no decarburization, no cracking, full hardening even in sizes above average. Convenient machinability in the solution annealed condition (machining is also possible in the precipitation-hardened condition). Good cold forming properties owing to reduced susceptibility to work hardening, eminent weldability, simple heat treatment at low temperatures.

Suitable for applications in the [Engineering / Oil & Gas/CPI / Power Generation / Hot work].

Calmax is a medium alloyed tool steel suitable for short and medium run tooling in applications where a very high chipping resistance is required. The property profile makes Calmax a robust cold work tool steel for heavy duty blanking and forming. 

Suitable for applications where toughness and chipping resistance are the dominant requirements, and the wear resistance is not so high. Heavy-duty cutting tools, punches and dies. Shear blades for heavier gauge material. Coining tools, cutlery dies, hobbing tools. Cold rolling dies for forming thicker sheet metal.

Also used for engineering components which require high strength and toughness.

This material is supplied in the annealed condition and must be heat treated to the appropriate condition for the intended application.

Unimax is a high hardness electroslag remelted tool steel which provides great wear resistance even over extended time at elevated temperatures. This product is suitable for coating and nitriding. Unimax performs very well in precision forging, hot stamping and moulding of reinforced plastics.

Advanced martensitic stainless chromium steel for plastic moulds. 

Moulds for chemically aggresive plastics (e.g. PVC) and plastics containing abrasive fillers. Owing to its excellent polishability this grade is particularly suited for moulds of lenses and other kinds of optical products, such as spectacles, camera parts.

BÖHLER M340 ISOPLAST is a high performance plastic mould steel with: 

• Excellent corrosion resistance properties
• Suitable for heat treatment in vacuum furnaces
• Fine carbide structure
• Good dimensional stability with appropriate heat treatment
• Excellent high wear resistance / edge-holdingability
• Good machinability
• Good polishability

A premium stainless mould steel for small and medium inserts and cores. It combines corrosion and wear resistance with excellent polishability, good machinability and stability in hardening. When compared with non stainless mould steel, Uddeholm Stavax ESR offers lower production costs by maintaining rust free cooling channels, assuring consistent cooling and cycle time.
This classic stainless tool steel is the right choice when rust in production
is unacceptable and where requirements for good hygiene are high, as
within the medical industry, optical industry and for other high quality
transparent parts.

Uddeholm Tyrax ESR is a premium high hardness and
corrosion resistant plastic mould steel. It is designed
with very high ductility/toughness and is easy and
fast to polish to the highest surface finish levels. This
grade is suited for moulding of high performance
plastics often filled with glass fibre reinforcements
and corrosive additives like flame retardants. It is also
perfect for lens applications where the surface finish
is important.

Possessing all the beneficial properties of Stavax ESR but with an increased resistance to cracking. The addition of nickel increases hardenability and polishability on thicker section moulds. The combination of properties creates moulds with lower maintenance, reduced corrosion in the water cooling channels, longer life. Recommended for all types of mould but especially suitable for moulding corrosive materials, and good shelf life.   

Uddeholm Elmax SuperClean can also be used in the food processing industry and for industrial and custom knives, where a combination of corrosion resistance and wear resistance is required. 

A powder metallurgy martensitic chromium steel.Exhibits high wear resistance, good corrosion resistance and very good polishability / mirror finish.

Typical applications: moulds for the processing of chemically aggressive plastics containing abrasive fillers. Moulds for the processing of duroplasts and for the production of chips for the electronic industry. Screws for injection moulding machines; non-return valves and linings for injection moulding cylinders.

Special Applications: Machine components for the paper and food processing industries and high performance knives.

A precipitation hardening stainless steel which has superior corrosion resistance to that of 420 grade stainless steel. Suitable for shafts, fixtures used in corrosive environments. Can be used instead of 17-4 PH. Very uniform and predictable shrinkage during precipitation hardening.

Pre-hardened corrosion resistant mould steel supplied at 290 - 330 HB hardness, with good machinability, very good toughness and polishability. Suitable for plastics extrusion  and injection moulding tooling; also for machinery components for example pump shafts and fittings.

A pre-hardened ( about 310 HB hardness) corrosion resistant holder steel, with very good machinability, high tensile strength and good weldability. Can be used for high strength machinery frames for the food processing and packaging industry. Corrosion resistance is similar to AISI 420/1.2083 stainless steel grades.

Pre-hardened corrosion resistant holder steel, supplied at 320-352 HB  and can be used for dies and caliberating tooling for plastics extrusion as well as for holders and bolsters. Applications similar to Royalloy but has a higher hardness.

Free machining pre-hardened grade. Very good machinability and uniform hardness even over large sections.Suitable for small to large plastic moulds, mould frames for the die casting and injection moulding industry. General engineering components.

High strength aluminium alloy. Ideal material for the manufacture of prototype tools and moulding short to medium production run of less abrasive plastics. Excellent machinability, uniform hardness across large sections, high thermal conductivity, good stability and corrosion resistance combine to shorten tool making times, lower tooling costs and shorten cycle times. Can also be used in foam and rubber moulding. Anodising, hard chroming plating or Nickel plating can be used to increase surface hardness, wear resistance or corrosion resistance. 

Although especially developed for moulding applications Alumec is frequently used in industrial applications for its strength, machinability and polishability. 

7075 aluminium alloy is a very high strength aerospace aluminium and is commonly used in applications where the strength of the material is critical and where the need for good corrosion resistance is not important. Offering superior stress corrosion resistance, 7075 provides very high yield strength(up to 465 MPa) and tensile strengths ( up to 540 MPa) which is dictated by the particular chosen temper.

Applications: Aircraft structures; Gears & shafts;Automotive and Tooling for use in moulding technologies, including injection moulding, RIM, structural foam moulding, vacuum forming, blow moulding and rubber moulding.

Exhibits Good machinability and high thermal conductivity.

General engineering grade. Has very low residual stress, good weldability, and good corrosion resistance even at elevated temperatures. 

BÖHLER M261 EXTRA is a precipitation-hardening steel grade for plastic moulds, featuring excellent machinability in the as-supplied condition (Hardness 38-42 HRC), i.e. solution annealed and aged, condition. There is no need for an additional heat treatment, significantly shortening the throughput time.

BÖHLER M461 EXTRA is a precipitation-hardening steel grade for plastic moulds, featuring excellent machinability in the as-supplied, i.e. solution annealed and aged, condition (Hardness 38 -42 HRC).

It has excellent nitriding properties and is suitable for making engineering components.