In the 264th live broadcast room, a netizen asked: Is there any die steel with toughness similar to VIKING but higher hardness than VIKING, suitable for making injection molds for connectors?
VIKING is a cold work die steel of the chromium Cr8 series, with a carbon C content of 0.5%. Among cold work die steels, it indeed has good resistance to chipping. However, connector molds are all small cores, which require extremely high strength and toughness of the die steel. Under certain harsh working conditions, VIKING is not capable of handling it and is prone to breaking. If you ask me which die steel has better hardness and toughness than VIKING, I recommend the high-toughness LG die steel.
LG is a proprietary high-toughness die steel developed by Yuhui tool Steel. Its toughness is 8-9 times that of DC53, with a hardness of 54-58HRC. Its toughness is so good that you can bend it without breaking it.
In 2019, Mr. Chen from Wenzhou reached out to me. He specializes in injection molding of PC materials with red color powder, using an injection temperature of 310℃-320℃. His products feature two rows of square holes, and each mold has 30 cores. The heads of the cores are small, measuring 1.1*1.1mm. When using VIKING die steel, irregular fractures would occur after 48 hours of injection molding, with either this pin or that pin breaking. I would like to inquire, what die steel can be used to solve the core fracture problem?
After he reached out to me in 2019, considering his core’s requirements for both toughness and wear resistance, I recommended our Yuhui tool steel‘s proprietary high-toughness LG die steel to him. This is because LG has a hardness of 54-58HRC and a toughness that is 8-9 times that of DC53. Its toughness is so good that you can bend it without breaking it. With such high hardness and the ability to withstand bending without breaking, this is a perfect match of strength and toughness. It is used for the core of injection-molded PC small holes, which requires both high wear resistance and high toughness to prevent breakage.
After replacing the small core of 1.1*1.1mm from Boss Chen with high-toughness LG die steel, there have been no issues with breakage. The products have been produced and eliminated, and the core has not broken.
And our Mr. Jin, he is responsible for injecting plastic material with 30% glass fiber. The head of the inserted core is a 0.5*0.5mm square hole. Originally, using low-hardness die steel, it would not break, but the core was prone to wear, resulting in the hole diameter becoming smaller. Later, when assembling, it would be impossible to assemble, and all the injected products would be scrapped. Later, high-hardness SKH51 high-speed steel was replaced. Mr. Jin said: “I would rather you break, but you cannot wear out. If you break, I can discover it in time and replace it in time. If you wear out, the hole diameter cannot maintain consistency, resulting in the inability to assemble the products I inject. That would be too great a loss.”.
The core he was using, made of SKH51 high-speed steel, broke three times a month. However, after switching to high-toughness LG die steel, it hasn’t broken in three months of production, and the consistency of the hole diameter is ensured. Mr. Jin is very satisfied with the performance of LG.
For components like connector mating cores or small cores in plastic molds, if you find VIKNG prone to breaking, then give high-toughness LG die steel a try. LG is a high-toughness die steel proprietary to Yuhui Tool Steel. Its hardness ranges from 54-58HRC, and its toughness is 8-9 times that of DC53. Its toughness is so good that you can bend it without breaking it. With such high hardness and toughness, no other die steel has been found to surpass it.
Just as Boss Yu said, LG die steel has both hardness and toughness. The heat-treated hard material with a hardness of 60 can be bent through 180° without breaking. It has sufficient rigidity. The leftover tail material from wire cutting is snatched up by a group of friends who make plastic molds to cut into thin and long cores. It works very well.
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I am Wu Dejian, the king of die steel, from Dongguan Yuhui Tool Steel. Yuhui Tool Steel is used by 3 Fortune 500 companies, and Kyocera has been purchasing Yuhui Tool Steel for 7 consecutive years. I have solved the difficult problems of mold material selection, production, and use for more than 4,000 enterprises. If you are hesitant when choosing die steel, or if the die steel you are currently using has a short service life, and you don’t know which material to use, welcome to come to me. I believe that in this regard, I can be your chief of staff and help you save money. Wu Dejian Tool Steel, the chief of staff of users, is well-received by those who have used it!
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