I need to stamp hard stainless iron 410, 1.2 thick, with sharp corners. What type of die steel is both chip-resistant and durable? Question from a viewer during Live Stream #296.
Stamping 1.2mm-thick 410 stainless steel with sharp corners—a material that is both hard and has sharp edges—places high demands on the die steel’s resistance to chipping. Under such harsh conditions, standard die steels often suffer from corner chipping. Here, we recommend two types of die steel.
The first is 8566 anti-chipping steel. 8566 is a proprietary anti-chipping steel developed by Yuhui Die Steel, designed primarily to address die chipping issues; It has accumulated over a thousand successful case studies across 5 stamping conditions, 6 major material types, and 7 major application areas.
8566’s resistance to chipping is 4 times that of high-speed steel SKH-9 and 2 times that of D2, with a hardness of 58–60HRC. It can resolve chipping issues that high-hardness die steels such as D2, DC53, and SKH-9 cannot address; In particular, under severe conditions—such as stainless steel stamping, sharp-corner stamping, narrow-flange stamping, holes smaller than the sheet thickness, and stamping ratios less than 1:1—cracking issues that conventional die steels cannot resolve are all successfully addressed by 8566 anti-cracking steel.
Mr. Xia praised 8566, stating that when precision punching 2.0 stainless steel with progressive dies, 8566 chipping-resistant steel can withstand 40,000 punches—doubling the service life without chipping at the corners. When it comes to punch chipping, using 8566 die steel makes all the difference. For the user’s question regarding stamping 1.2mm-thick, hard 410 stainless steel with sharp corners, 8566 chipping-resistant steel is an excellent choice.
The second recommendation is PM23 powdered high-speed steel, with a hardness of HRC 64–66. This tungsten-containing high-speed steel offers excellent wear resistance. Processed using advanced powder metallurgy techniques, it features a uniform microstructure free of segregation defects, which enhances its resistance to chipping. Combining high hardness with high strength, it is a material with superior wear resistance, though its price is three times that of 8566 anti-chipping steel.
Mr. Fan was punching 1.5mm stainless steel with small, narrow-edged irregular holes measuring 1.5×3. Previously, this punch was the most popular choice, with a service life of around 50,000 cycles. However, the products punched with it would often have a lot of metal shavings adhering to them, causing indentations on the product surface.
Now, using Yuhui PM23 powdered high-speed steel, the punch can handle 200,000 cycles in a single run without indenting the parts. This represents a fivefold increase in service life and has resolved two major issues.
Delighted, Mr. Fan sent a message saying, “Mr. Wu, after comparing your PM23 material with what I bought before, I realized that you don’t know the difference until you compare them—the quality difference is immediately apparent. Thank you for recommending such excellent steel; your mold steel is truly top-notch.”
I recommended PM23 as an alternative for you because you didn’t trust 8566 chipping-resistant steel and were concerned about its insufficient wear resistance. Since you’re the type who has plenty of money but doesn’t want to spend it on mold repairs, PM23 was the ideal solution for you.
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Wu Dejian’s tool steel, the chief of staff of the user, bought everything he had used.