Types of steels

Carbon Steels, which can include High Carbon Steel and High Alloy Steel, are the softest and usually the cheapest of the seven types we offer. Many woodworking tools are made from this material. Many craftsmen like Carbon Steel because the tools are soft enough to sharpen with a file. Virtually any woodworking tool can be found in a carbon steel version. Some woodworking tools are only available in Carbon Steel or Carbide Tipped because it is too difficult to make them from anything else or they would be too expensive.If you are cutting softwood or just a few holes in hardwoods or plastics, Carbon Steel is your answer. If you have a lot of holes to cut in a hard material, you may want to choose a better grade of steel. The tools we manufacture from Carbon Steel are heat treated to 62c hardness and cannot be sharpened with a file. A stone type of grinding wheel is required to resharpen them.Stainless Steel is not normally used to manufacture tools. However, we have found that heat-treating Stainless Steel produces tools that not only have longer lasting cutting edges than Carbon Steel but also have a spring steel quality that keeps the tools from breaking in tough applications. Stainless Steel generally costs only a little more than Carbon Steel. Our Stainless Steel is heat treated to 45c hardness and can be sharpened with a file or a stone type of grinding wheel.High Speed Steel, sometimes abbreviated to HSS, comes in various different grades generally used in the metalworking industry to make drills, end mills, turning tools, and other tools designed specifically to cut metal. In woods and plastics, all grades of HSS far outlast the cheaper Carbon Steel or Stainless Steel