Even though I haven’t been in touch with many people for years, they still think of me when they run into problems with their molds.
Last night on my way home from work, Mr. Liu, who makes stainless steel hinges, came to see me. He said his punching pins were wearing out too quickly and asked me what kind of tool steel would be best for punching stainless steel.
Since I was driving, I couldn’t reply on WeChat, so I called him right away. He’s currently stamping 2.5mm-thick stainless steel using SKH51 punches with a coating, but they aren’t durable. After just one day of production—about 20,000 parts—the coating peels off and the punches wear out. This causes scrap material to be pulled up during stamping, which damages the parts. The punches fail quickly and damage the parts—it’s a real headache.
Over the phone, I told him to use PM23 powdered high-speed steel.
SKH51 is a standard cast high-speed steel with severe segregation. The carbide structure responsible for wear resistance is unevenly distributed, which compromises its durability. Although it has hardness, its wear resistance is poor, making it prone to wear and material adhesion. You need to use PM23 powdered high-speed steel, which is produced through a superior smelting process. This ensures a fine, uniformly dispersed carbide structure, providing the necessary wear resistance and solving the problem.
Mr. Liu replied, “Yes, when I used your PM23 powdered high-speed steel on my cutting edge, the wear resistance was excellent. But now I can’t seem to solve the problem with the punch—no matter what I do, it wears out easily. It’s driving me crazy. I’ve asked a lot of people, and they all told me to come to you.”
I looked through our chat history this morning and realized I hadn’t been in touch with Mr. Liu for two years. I thought he had forgotten about me, but it turns out he only turns to me when he’s at a critical juncture.
This morning, I saw another message from Mr. Yu on WeChat; he messaged me last night asking what material would be more wear-resistant for the cutting edge and punch of a titanium alloy part with a thickness of 0.3 mm.
Looking back at our chat history, our last conversation was also in August 2024.
These two people suddenly made me realize that I’m like a firefighter: no one bothers me or asks for my advice on a daily basis, and they certainly don’t need to buy tool steel from me. But when they run into problems with their molds, they can reach out to me anytime.
But that’s actually a good thing. At the very least, it shows that I still have some value. The worst scenario is when your customers never even think of you.
Wu Dejian Tool Steel: Your trusted advisor. Everyone who’s tried us has been satisfied.