High Speed Steel

What is High Speed Steel?

High Speed Steel (HSS) is a highly alloyed tool steel designed to retain its hardness and cutting efficiency even at elevated operating temperatures. It contains alloying elements such as tungsten or molybdenum, chromium, vanadium, cobalt, and carbon, which provide excellent wear resistance, toughness, and hot hardness. These properties make High Speed Steel an ideal material for manufacturing cutting tools used in demanding machining and metalworking applications. 

How is High Speed Steel manufactured?

High Speed Steel is manufactured by melting carefully controlled alloying elements including tungsten or molybdenum, chromium, vanadium, cobalt, and carbon. The molten steel is then cast, hot forged or rolled, heat treated, and precision finished to achieve the required hardness, toughness, and dimensional accuracy. Premium High Speed Steel grades may also be produced using Powder Metallurgy (PM) technology, which provides a finer and more uniform microstructure for improved wear resistance and cutting performance. 

How do you choose the right High Speed Steel grade?

The appropriate High Speed Steel grade should be selected based on the workpiece material, cutting speed, machining operation, operating temperature, and expected tool life. General-purpose grades such as M2 are suitable for standard machining applications, while cobalt-bearing grades including M35 and M42 offer superior hot hardness and wear resistance for machining harder materials and high-performance cutting operations. Other grades, including T1, T15, and M7, are selected according to specific tooling and manufacturing requirements. 

What are the applications of High Speed Steel?

High Speed Steel is widely used for manufacturing drills, end mills, taps, reamers, broaches, gear cutters, hobs, milling cutters, saw blades, lathe tools, thread-cutting tools, and other precision machining equipment. It is extensively used across the automotive, aerospace, engineering, tool manufacturing, metal fabrication, and heavy machinery industries where cutting tools must maintain their hardness and performance under high-speed machining conditions. 

What are the advantages of High Speed Steel?

High Speed Steel offers excellent hardness, wear resistance, hot hardness, and toughness, enabling cutting tools to maintain a sharp cutting edge even under high-speed and high-temperature machining conditions. It provides longer tool life, excellent resistance to thermal softening, and can be re-sharpened multiple times without significantly affecting cutting performance, making it a reliable and cost-effective choice for industrial machining applications. 

Why choose IMI Alloys for High Speed Steel?

IMI Alloys supplies certified High Speed Steel in a comprehensive range of grades, sizes, and bar forms to meet diverse tooling and machining requirements. With over 50 years of industry experience, the company is an authorized dealer of Graphite India Limited (POWMEX Steels Division) and the authenticated stockist of Nachi Fujikoshi High Speed Steel products in India. Backed by dependable inventory, quality assurance, technical expertise, and timely delivery, IMI Alloys helps customers select the right High Speed Steel grade for consistent machining performance.

What High Speed Steel made of?

High-speed steel introduced in 1900. The standard high-speed steel is composed of 18 percent tungsten, four percent chrome as well as 1.1 percent vanadium, and just 0.5-0.8 percent carbon

What is High Speed Steel Price Per Kg in India?

As of July-2024, the price of high-speed steel (HSS) in India typically ranges from INR 600 to INR 1,200 per kilogram, depending on the grade and supplier. Prices can vary based on market conditions, and specific steel grades.

High Speed Steel VS High Carbon Steel

High-speed steel is more durable than older tools made of high-carbon steel because it can withstand higher temperatures and not lose its hardness. High-speed steels are iron-based alloys that contain vanadium, chromium, carbon molybdenum, and tungsten or combinations of them. HSS achieves the optimum level of hardening reaction during the heat treatment that enables HSS for high cutting efficiency

Why Choose High Speed Steel

High speed steel holds its cutting edge where ordinary tool steels give up. Hardness stays intact even past 600°C, which is what separates it from carbon steel in continuous machining work. This is called red hardness, and it’s the reason HSS material keeps cutting cleanly on jobs that generate heavy friction and heat. Wear resistance runs high too, so tool life stretches out instead of dropping after a few dozen parts. Toughness matters just as much here. A brittle tool chips under load, but HSS absorbs shock and keeps working, which is why drills, milling cutters, taps, reamers, broaches, and gear-cutting tools get made from it across automotive, aerospace, and general engineering shops. Common grades include M2, M35, M42, and T1, each designed for different machining speeds, workpiece materials, and operating conditions. Some are built for abrasion, others for impact-heavy work, and the right one depends on the job at hand. Anyone tracking the high speed steel cutting tool market will notice demand holding steady because of this flexibility. iMetal India is a supplier of high speed steel in all grades, sizes, and specifications with complete material traceability, quality documentation, and reliable delivery for tooling and engineering applications.