The performance of tool materials directly affects cutting efficiency, processing quality and tool life. The ideal tool material should possess the following characteristics:

High hardness and wear resistance: Ensure that the cutting tool maintains its cutting performance at high temperatures and reduces wear.

Sufficient strength and toughness: Prevent the tool from breaking or chipping during the cutting process.

Good thermal stability and chemical inertness: Prevent the decline of tool performance due to high temperatures or chemical reactions.

Easy to process and heat-treat: Facilitates the manufacture and optimization of tool structures.

Common tool materials and their applicable scenarios:

High-speed steel: It has excellent comprehensive performance, combining high strength and toughness, and is easy to process. It is one of the most widely used tool materials at present, especially suitable for manufacturing complex-shaped tools such as drill bits and milling cutters.

Hard alloy: It has high hardness and good wear resistance, but relatively low toughness, and is often used in indexable inserts. Through coating techniques (such as titanium carbide, titanium nitride or alumina coatings), its heat resistance and wear resistance can be further enhanced, and the tool life can be prolonged.

Superhard materials

Polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) : It is suitable for processing high-hardness materials such as hardened steel and hard cast iron.

Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) : It is mainly used for cutting non-ferrous metals (such as aluminum and copper alloys) and non-metallic materials (such as plastics and fiberglass reinforced plastics).

Tool steel (carbon tool steel, alloy tool steel) : It has a relatively low cost but poor heat resistance, and is mostly used in low-speed cutting tools such as files and taps.