L6 Tool Steel Technical Data
(Rounds Only)

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Uses:

Form rolls, stamping dies, forming dies, shear blades, punches, trimmer dies, pawls, knuckle pins, spindles, clutch pins.

Forging/Rolling:

Heat slowly and uniformly to a temperature of from 2100° F – 2175° F.  Do not forge or roll below 1700° F, cool slowly from the forging or rolling temperature.  Do not normalize.

Annealing:

Heat slowly to 1400° F, and hold for 1 hour per inch of thickness.  Furnace cool at 20° F per hour to 900° F; air cool to room temperature.  Expected Brinell hardness 217 max.

Hardening:

Preheat to 1200° F – 1400° F depending on the section size soak until uniformly heated, and either transfer or raise furnace temperature to 1500° F – 1550° F, and hold 1 hour per inch of greatest thickness.  Quench into 150° F oil.

Tempering:

Temper immediately after quenching, before part has cooled to below 150° F.  Parts should be held a minimum of 2 hours per inch of greatest thickness.  A single temper is sufficient, but double tempering is a good insurance policy.  For most applications the tempering temperature of 400° F is recommended, but since L-6 does not become brittle like other steels, when tempered in 450° F – 800° F range, it may be tempered at a higher temperature where greater toughness is required.  The above tempering table may be used as a guide.  However, since 1/2″ dia. specimens were used for this test, it may be found that heavier sections are several points lower.