ASP2030, ASP2060 (Long)
Donald Watland
As those of you who read catalogs may have learned, ASP2030 and ASP2060 are
designations for two [fairly] new HSS alloys, made using powder metal
technology, and the ASP stands for "aesa stora process." Beyond that,
searching for any more information takes a bit of doing, and is likely to
lead to a gazzilion Swedish sites, written in Swedish, since Aesa and stora
end up appearing as company and people names, locations, and verbs appearing
in a variety of topics. After much digging, without the aid of a Swedish
translator, I was able to cut and paste together the following information
about these alloys, and processes involved in their production. I hope this
can help others with an insatiable curiosity. As you will read, the three
initial ASP alloys came about in 1972, with a major improvement in
processing being added in 1990. Hamlet, Crown, Taylor, etc. are only about
30 years late in introducing these as "new" HSS alloys to the woodturning
community! Enjoy reading.
-Don Watland
Peoria, AZ
AESA STORA PROCESS
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...... from Erasteel, "ASP" - 30 years of innovation:
Sweden has a leading position in powder metallurgy. Iron powder is produced
by Höganäs AB in a sponge iron process developed by the company. High alloy
specialty steel is produced in the ASEA-Stora process, in which molten steel
is pulverized using a gas jet and then subjected to isostatic compression at
high temperatures. The steel powder route is being used by Erasteel Kloster
AB for producing high speed steels and Anval Nyby Powder AB for making tubes
of stainless steel.
During the last 30 years Erasteel has supplied the global market with
thousands of tons of ASP, powder metallurgy high speed steel. Our original
mission to provide quality, reliability and service to meet our customers
expectations, and is still our #1 priority.
With more than 10,000 investigated tools, received from tool makers and tool
users, we have built up a unique library of technical knowledge and
laboratory equipment and techniques. We are ready for the next millennium.
1969 - In 1969 the first HSS powder was produced in Söderfors pilot plant in
Sweden. The ambition was to make an isotropic and highly alloyed High Speed
Steel free from carbide segregation, to increase both strength and
hardness - i.e. a high performance steel for high performance tools. ASP was
born.
1972 - The full-scale production plant was commissioned in 1972, ready to
serve the market with the three legendary grades - ASP 23, 30 and 60.
1990 - After years of intensive development the process was sufficiently
mature to make the next innovation. With the introduction of the ESH process
it was possible to remove 90% of the non-metallic inclusions to improve the
strength and reliability of ASP. The new generation ASP 2000 was born.
1999 - Our dedication to ASP is undiminished and with the introduction of
the new LLM process, we are ready to meet the challenge of the next
millennium in high performance steel for high performance tools.
.... and from Taylor Special Steels:
"As the Exclusive independent stockholder and distributor of High Speed
Steel produced by Erasteel, the world's largest manufacturer of High Speed
Steel, we have an unrivalled range of top quality grades and sizes.
We are also the exclusive stockholder of the famous ASP2000 Powder
Metallurgy range of steels for Cold Work Tooling and 1999 saw Erasteel
celebrate 30 years of the exclusive manufacture of ASP steels, which are now
produced using the ESH process, ensuring we enter the millennium with
leading edge technology."
Definition of ASP:
ASP stands for ASEA-STORA-PROCESS
ASP is a High Speed Steel produced by Powder Metallurgy
ASP is manufactured by ERASTEEL, Söderfors, Sweden
ASP Manufacturing Procedure:
Melting and Slag Refining by ESH
Gas atomization with Nitrogen
Compacting in sealed capsules
Cold Isostatic Pressing (4000 atm, 20°C)
Hot Isostatic Pressing (1000 atm, 1000°C)
Forging or Rolling to blanks
The ESH process used with:
ASP 2053, ASP 2017, ASP 2023, ASP 2030, ASP 2060
ASP 2005, ASP 2015, ASP 2004
ESH: Electro Slag Heating -
A new tundish metallurgical process offering efficient inclusion removal
for:
Forging
Hot isostatic pressing
Atomization
Cleaning
ASP Slag Refining
Alloy Content:
C Cr Mo W V Co
ASP2030 1.28 4.2 5.0 6.4 3.1 8.5
ASP2060 2.30 4.0 7.0 6.5 6.5 10.5
... for comparison (as per "Machinery's Handbook"):
M2 .85-1.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 2.0 ....
M4 1.30 4.0 4.5 5.5 4.0 ....
O1 0.90 0.5 .... 0.5 .... ....
A2 1.00 5.0 1.0 ..... .... ....
D2 1.50 12.0 1.0 ..... 1.0 ....
where:
C - Carbon
Cr - Chromium
Mo -Molybdenum
W - Tungsten
V - Vanadium
Co - Cobalt
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Steve Tiedman
Steve.
--
Steve Tiedman
s...@mninter.net
Minnesota, USA
Visit http://www.mninter.net/~stiedman/
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