1.2493 Steel Overview:
1.2493 is a premium-grade high-carbon, high-chromium cold work tool steel renowned for its exceptional wear resistance, robust toughness, and superb hardness retention even at elevated temperatures. This steel belongs to the esteemed group of high-alloyed chromium-molybdenum-vanadium steels. It is highly favored in the manufacturing industry for crafting cutting tools, forming dies, and a plethora of other cold work applications.
Chemical Composition:
Properties:
1. High Wear Resistance: The high chromium content in 1.2493 steel ensures outstanding wear resistance, making it the ideal choice for applications characterized by abrasive wear and heavy loads.
2. Good Toughness: 1.2493 steel maintains good toughness despite its high hardness, significantly minimizing the risk of fractures or failures during demanding operations.
3. High Hardness Retention: The sophisticated alloy composition of 1.2493 steel ensures it retains high hardness levels even under elevated temperatures, guaranteeing consistent cutting performance and steady dimensional stability.
4. Excellent Edge Retention: When subjected to proper heat treatment, 1.2493 steel offers excellent edge retention, which enhances productivity and prolongs tool life.
Applications:
1. Cutting Tools: 1.2493 steel is extensively used to manufacture cutting tools, including knives, blades, and shear blades, adept at cutting and shaping a variety of materials such as metals, plastics, and rubber.
2. Forming Dies: This steel is employed in creating forming dies essential for cold forming and shaping processes like bending, drawing, and extrusion.
3. Cold Work Applications: 1.2493 steel is the steel of choice in various cold work applications that demand high hardness, superb wear resistance, and exceptional toughness, ensuring precision machining and dimensional stability.
4. Punching Tools: It is widely utilized in the production of punching tools designed for perforating or stamping diverse materials including sheet metal and plastics.
Heat Treatment:
Annealing: For complete annealing, heat uniformly to 800-850°C (1472-1562°F), hold for adequate time, then slowly cool in the furnace to below 600°C (1112°F).
Quenching: Preheat slowly to the austenitizing temperature of 980-1020°C (1796-1868°F), followed by rapid quenching in oil or air to achieve full hardness.
Tempering: Immediately after quenching, temper the steel at 180-220°C (356-428°F) for 2 hours, and then allow it to air cool to obtain the optimal mix of hardness and toughness.







