Hand plane tool steel question

[Ralph Sprang]

What is the difference between O-1 & O-2? Is one better?

Ralph Sprang

[Lawrence Schultz]

Ralph Sprang <usr6...@TSO.UC.EDU> writes:

<What is the difference between O-1 & O-2? Is one better?>

01 tool steel has been alloyed with chromium, manganese and tungsten
while 02 has been alloyed only with manganese.

The 01 might have the edge as a hand plane tool steel primarily because of
the increased alloy content. The chromium will help to minimize grain growth
while the steel is being heated at elevated temperatures prior to quenching.
This would improve the ability of the steel to minimize cracking or chipping
if you hit a hard object. Chipping or cracking could still happen though, with
the 01 steel.
The tungsten should slightly alloy with carbon to form wear resistant tungsten
carbides. Since 01 is heated at a relativley low temperature compared to some
of the other tool steels like the T (tungsten) tool steel, the amount of tungsten
carbides in the 01 stucture will be minimal.

According to the American Society of Metals Handbook "Heat Treating", the bible
of heat treaters, the 01 is reccomended for applications which require a keen
edge. 01 is readily available from industrial supply houses like MSC.

Larry Schultz

[Ron Hock]

In article <1995021311...@tso2.tso.uc.edu>, Ralph Sprang <usr6...@TSO.UC.EDU> says:
>
>What is the difference between O-1 & O-2? Is one better?
>
>Ralph Sprang

I've never heard of O-2. Do you have specs on it? It's not in my Latrobe
Ref book of tools steels.

What makes one tool steel alloy different from another are the
alloy elements and their porportions. The difference will affect how a
steel 1) performs in use and 2) heat-treats. Sometimes a compromise must
be struck in performance because the piece being manufactured will warp
or shatter during heat treating. We have constant trouble with blade
warpage. We're asking long (7") pieces of thin (3/32") stock to stay flat
(<.002"/in) while demanding it to be very hard (Rc62). We could solve
this by switching to, say, A-2, which wouldn't warp, but you (the woodworker
customer/ end user) wouldn't like the blade's performance as well. It
would be nice and flat but would take much longer to sharpen and would
never get as scary-sharp as O-1. So we suffer along with a fairly high
reject rate from warpage. (Anyone know a good use for several hundred
warped blades?) (I know, quit whining.) ( and quit rambling)