LG is the nemesis of red copper. This was a comment left by a netizen during my 299th live stream.
He works with cold-extruded red copper. His exact comment was: “For cold-extruded red copper, LG offers outstanding quality—it’s practically indestructible. I used to get 5,000–10,000 cycles, but now with LG, I can get 50,000 cycles. It’s so much easier now. This material is wear-resistant, doesn’t stick to the material, and has high hardness. I’ve tried every material out there—LG is the nemesis of red copper.”
This review is incredibly helpful—it includes specific operating conditions, service life figures, and firsthand user experience. It’s definitely worth making a video to document this and share it with everyone.
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been reviewing his chat history and order history. He specializes in cold-extruding copper rods. His previous dies were made from LD and DC53, and he’d tried many types of die steels, but they all snapped in half. The main issue was copper powder getting trapped in the dies.
For cold extrusion dies used with red copper, the biggest fear is copper powder adhesion. Once copper powder gets trapped inside the die, it accumulates more and more until it eventually causes the die to split open—this is the main pain point in extruding red copper.
However, by switching to LG, the die life has increased fivefold, and the issue of copper powder adhesion has been resolved. His previous dies would break in half after 5,000 to 10,000 cycles, but now, with LG, they can last for 50,000 cycles—a fivefold improvement is indeed significant. If we calculate based on his original standard of 5,000 cycles, the current capacity of 50,000 cycles represents a 10-fold increase in service life. No wonder he says this material is wear-resistant, non-sticky, and highly hard—the dies are so durable they seem indestructible. This is exactly what everyone in the red copper cold extrusion industry has been dreaming of.
Cold extrusion dies for red copper are the ultimate test of die steel quality. The die steel must possess high strength and high toughness to prevent the die from cracking. LG die steel has 8–9 times the toughness of DC53 and a hardness of 54–58 HRC—its toughness is so exceptional that it won’t break even if you bend it with a hammer. We can now confidently say that LG is the nemesis of red copper.
Customers have now verified this: when cold-extruding red copper columns—which previously required molds made of LD or DC53 that would snap in half after only 5,000–10,000 cycles—molds made from LG tool steel remain intact, with a service life of 50,000 cycles. This represents a 5- to 10-fold increase in mold lifespan.
Our machining fees for each mold remain the same, but with LG die steel, while the cost is only slightly higher, the service life increases by 5 to 10 times. Even if you calculate a 5-fold increase, that means you’ll need to make 5 fewer sets of dies and replace them 5 fewer times. With one die performing the work of five, the results are immediate: not only do you benefit from a 5-fold extension in die life, but you also reduce machining costs, avoid replacing dies 5 times, and improve efficiency, and the workload is reduced—an added benefit that other mold steels simply cannot provide.
If you also happen to be cold extruding red copper and have encountered the problem of mold cracking caused by copper powder—a problem you’ve been unable to solve—then you should try the high-toughness LG die steel. As this user mentioned, LG is the nemesis of red copper.
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Wu Dejian’s tool steel, the chief of staff of the user, bought everything he had used.