High Speed Steel And Carbide: Which One Is Better?

Both high-speed steel or HSS and carbide are among the most popular materials used to manufacture cutting tools, including drills, milling cutters, saw blades, and the like. However, using each of them has its own share of upsides and downsides. So which of the options should suit your needs well? Here’s a precise outline.

Resistance to Wear and Heat

Both carbide and HSS offer exceptional heat resistance, but carbide is better suited for high-temperature applications.

Due to its exceptionally high melting point, paired with low thermal conductivity, carbide can retain its hardness even when exposed to extreme levels of high-temperature applications. In contrast, the heat-resistant HSS starts losing its hardness when coming into contact with temperatures above 1000°F.

Regarding wear resistance, carbide would clearly win. It gives impressive hardness along with fair abrasion resistance. This makes it perfect to cut abrasive materials like ceramics, composites, and also hardened steels. Though HSS is able to manage almost any cutting task, it is likely to wear down faster than carbide when cutting materials.

Material Composition

Both Carbide and HSS differ in composition. This results in different properties in both. Carbide as a composite component, is made of WC or tungsten carbide particles, often used a Cobalt binde. Then again, as an alloy, HSS contains tungsten, carbon, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and, in certain instances, cobalt. The exact composition of HSS can vary depending on the tool's intended use.

Hardness and Toughness

A very significant difference between HSS and carbide is their toughness and hardness. The Rockwell hardness, ranging between 90 - 94, makes carbide harder than HSS. The latter features a Rockwell hardness ranging between 62 and 64. The increased hardness in carbide makes its tools more resistant to wear and tear. It also helps the cutting tools to stay sharp for a longer time.

Nevertheless, carbide is more brittle as well as has less toughness than HSS. So, carbide tools can chip and break easily. Also, HSS with more toughness can have better shock-resistant properties than carbide. So, this could be a more fitting choice for those applications that need interrupted machining or cuts of tough components.

Advantages

HSS or High-Speed Steel is a cost-effective alternative to carbide-made tools. Its toughness adds to its resistance to vibration and shock. Moreover, this type of tool steel is easy to maintain and sharpen, which makes it an efficient and cost-effective choice. Carbide, on the other hand, is harder and offers better resistance to tear and wear than HSS tools steel. Plus, its ability to perform high speed cuts make it a perfect choice for demanding and intricate applications.

Disadvantages

Carbide can be quite costly, brittle, and tricky to sharpen. Again, HSS tools steel is likely to lose its efficacy whenever exposed to a very high range of temperature.

Which one should Be Better?

The answer would entirely depend on your particular needs and applications. At the same time, HSS is more suitable for drilling, general-purpose cutting, and machining applications. On the other hand, carbide is a good choice for heavy-duty machining, high-speed cuts, and similar applications. Always go for the best high speed Steel Supplier like Kushal Metal.