m2 tool steel... how do you machine it?

[USAeng]

Is there a way to machine m2 steel easily or do you buy some type of unhardened m2 steel and machine it and then heat treat it after machining to harden? I am not very familiar with tool steels so I could use the help. All I know is that the tool steels are very hard. It is machining little parts from about 1" dia round bar. There is a lot of machining to do... Positive Material Identification (Niton Analyzer) is what gave us the M2 steel so we know that is what these things are supposed to be made of anyway.

 

[unclesyd]

Your best bet is to use annealed material and machine with insert tool bits. Heat treat and any critical dimensions may have to be ground to account for the small growth in size.
You can buy M2 precision rod.

I just have to ask.

Is their any compelling reason to use M2 in lieu of other tool steels that may can be heat treated with essentially no growth?

 

[USAeng]

we are making duplicates of another piece that was identified using a pmi analyzer to be m2 tool steel... we make aftermarket parts and the owner has told us to use the same material that the oem used... only reason

so do you have to buy the tool steel in the annealed condition then? we have to bore out the middle and then make a lot of little holes at angles... it is for an atomizer nozzle for oil

 

[TVP]

Yes, you purchase the initial material annealed, then rough machine, heat treat, and finish machine/grind/etc.

 

[unclesyd]

As your requirement is for a oil atomizer you could either drill the snall holes in the annealed state or use EDM to make the holes after hardening.
Do everything possible in the annealed state as it generally cheaper.

 

[KENAT]

Unless due to resultant geometry etc. you see a lot of movement after heat treat. In which case you're sometimes better off working it in the hardened state. At least, that's what we found with some moderately complex very hard stuff at a previous employer.

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http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[unclesyd]

There is very little movement and or growth with M2 Tool Steel. I asked the question about different materials to minimize movement and growth of the component since I was flying blind at the time. Being a fuel oil nozzle removes a lot of constraints off the part. The problem now that requires a decision is how and when to make the jets.

 

[USAeng]

Thanks for the replies... I know what to get now.

So do the alloy elements allign to make the material hard after it has been given the right heat treatment? And annealing takes those elements out of formation so that the material can be cut?

 

[arunmrao]

"So do the alloy elements allign to make the material hard after it has been given the right heat treatment? And annealing takes those elements out of formation so that the material can be cut? "

It is more with the microstructure and the phases present that influence machinability and wear resistance and has nothing to do with the alignment of different elements.

_____________________________________
"The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually." Martin Luther King Jr

 

[USAeng]

So the main hardening comes from changing from austenite to martensite structure and then the alloying elements will further improve different characteristics after the crystal structure changes from the heat treating and tempering. I think I basically understand now. Thank you.

 

[unclesyd]

You should check this site out as it has very some good understandable information about metals.

The ASM paper is a very good discussion about the various methods for tempering CS.

http://info.lu.farmingdale.edu/depts/met/met205/toolsteels.html

https://www.asm-intl.org/pdf/spotlights/tempering.pdf

 

[USAeng]

thanks for the links