1、 Classification of Carbon Mold Steel

Low carbon mold steel:

Low carbon mold steel mainly contains 0.1% to 0.3% carbon, usually with small amounts of manganese, silicon, chromium and other elements added.

It has good weldability and processing performance, suitable for manufacturing small molds, plastic molds, stamping molds, etc.

Medium carbon mold steel:

The carbon content of medium carbon mold steel is between 0.3% and 0.6%, and appropriate amounts of elements such as silicon, manganese, and chromium are also added.

Medium carbon mold steel has high hardness and wear resistance, and is widely used in plastic molds, cold press molds, hot stamping molds, etc.

High carbon mold steel: 

The carbon content of high carbon mold steel is between 0.6% and 1.5%, and it generally also contains alloying elements such as chromium and molybdenum.

High carbon mold steel has extremely high hardness and wear resistance, making it suitable for manufacturing large or high load molds, such as cold stamping molds, extrusion molds, shear molds, etc.

High hardness carbon mold steel:

High hardness carbon mold steel is a special type of mold steel with a high carbon content and added with various alloying elements such as molybdenum, cobalt, titanium, etc.

This type of mold steel is commonly used to manufacture high-strength, high wear resistant molds, such as cold heading molds, cold extrusion molds, plastic injection molds, etc.

2、 The main applications of carbon mold steel

Plastic mold manufacturing:

Carbon mold steel is widely used in plastic mold manufacturing. Due to the low temperature during plastic processing, molds need to have good processing performance and wear resistance.

Low carbon mold steel and medium carbon mold steel are commonly used in the manufacturing of plastic injection molds, extrusion molds, blow molds, etc.

Stamping mold manufacturing:

Stamping molds usually require high hardness and wear resistance.

Medium carbon die steel and high carbon die steel are widely used in the manufacturing of stamping dies, including cold stamping dies, extrusion dies, shear dies, etc.

Die casting mold manufacturing:

Carbon mold steel also has important applications in the manufacturing of die-casting molds.

High carbon mold steel and high hardness carbon mold steel have high strength and wear resistance, and are suitable for manufacturing aluminum alloy die-casting molds, zinc alloy die-casting molds, etc.

Manufacturing of plastic molding molds:

Plastic molding molds typically require high hardness and thermal fatigue performance.

High carbon mold steel and high hardness carbon mold steel are commonly used in the manufacture of injection molds, blow molds, etc.

Manufacturing of cold heading and cold extrusion molds:

Cold heading and cold extrusion molds require high hardness, wear resistance, and strength.

High hardness carbon mold steel is an ideal material for manufacturing cold heading and cold extrusion molds.

Cutting mold manufacturing:

Carbon mold steel can also be used to manufacture cutting molds, such as milling cutters, cutting tools, etc.

The selection of different carbon mold steels depends on the specific working conditions of the cutting tools, and materials with higher hardness and wear resistance are generally chosen.