A netizen asked: For nickel-plated steel sheets with a thickness of 0.12–0.18, what type of steel is most durable for high-speed stamping at a speed of 300?
When stamping nickel-plated steel strips, the nickel coating on the surface can easily cause the material to stick to the die, leading to adhesive wear on the die and resulting in burrs on the finished product. Since this is high-speed stamping at 300, with material thicknesses of only 0.12–0.18, it falls under the category of thin-gauge high-speed stamping. You must consider wear resistance, red hardness, and anti-stick properties. To balance these three key properties simultaneously, you must select from the powdered high-speed steel (PHS) category.
The minimum grade to select is PM23; if the budget allows, PM30, PM60, S390, and S590 are all viable options. The key is to procure powder high-speed steel of high smelting quality, free of microcracks; otherwise, adhesive wear caused by material sticking will still occur, and the tool will not be durable.
A customer once asked me about this: He was stamping 0.15-thick nickel strips using ASP60 powdered high-speed steel with a hardness of 67–69 HRC and 10.8% cobalt content, but the parts developed burrs after only 10,000 stampings, and he couldn’t resolve the issue.
He had chosen the correct mold steel grade but purchased material with poor smelting quality, resulting in adhesive wear caused by material sticking—which is why burrs appeared after just 10,000 strokes. Normally, ASP60 wouldn’t wear out that quickly through normal wear; only adhesive wear caused by material sticking would result in burrs after just 10,000 strokes.
Our client, Mr. Song, was stamping 0.4-thick 304 stainless steel—a hard material with a hardness of 3/4H and a nickel-plated surface—at a stamping speed of 180 strokes per minute using an SKH-9 punch. At most, he could only stamp 30,000 times before burrs appeared, requiring him to remove the punch from the machine for grinding—a very troublesome process. After he contacted me, I recommended he switch to PM23 powdered high-speed steel.
When I followed up with him later, he reported that at a punch speed of 180, the PM23 had already produced 50,000 parts with absolutely no wear, and the die was still in operation.
Given that Mr. Song’s nickel-plated steel strip—which is harder and thicker—achieved this result, it clearly demonstrates that PM23 is definitely suitable for the application. With a hardness of 64–66 HRC, it balances both fracture resistance and wear resistance. Its high-quality smelting process ensures the absence of microcracks, preventing adhesive wear caused by material sticking to the die, and guarantees a long service life.
If you’re stamping 0.12–0.18 nickel-plated steel sheets at a stamping speed of 300, and your budget allows, cobalt-containing high-speed steel powders—such as PM30, PM60, S390, S590, and other high-vanadium grades—are all viable options. Their wear resistance is significantly better than that of PM23.
Finally, I’ll reiterate one point: the key is that the tool steel you purchase must be of high metallurgical quality—free of segregation and microcracks. Otherwise, it will suffer from adhesive wear caused by material buildup, resulting in burrs after only a few punches. Metallurgical quality is more important than the grade designation.
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Wu Dejian’s tool steel, the chief of staff of the user, bought everything he had used.