Increasing Die Life in Brass Forgings

Nitriding process will enhance the moulds wearable character but not 3 times life.Forging process is a hot and pressed load on moulds.You can find better solution on mould material.

William Bei(whbei@yahoo.com)

What type & hardness of steel are you now using ? depending on the compexity and sizes of sections etc. used in the drop forging die in question, die life of 50,000 may not be too bad !

Our company used to pressure die cast brass bevel gears about 30mm dia., if I recall our die life was way less than 50K although the tooth forms were fairly thin & heat checking & eventual cracking of sections killed the inserts.

Get some info. on Bohler-Uddeholm QRO 90 Supreme.

Why not contact Bohler- Uddenholm, Assab, Thysen, Crucible or other world recognised suppliers, usually their technical sales guys are pretty switched on & if they think they are going to sell you something they are usually on your doorstep next day !! I have been in the toolmaking industry here in OZ for 46 yrs & have found their good technical sales rep's & metallurgists don't usually give you bad advice on selection of a suitable steel, they can't afford too & they have got vast experience.

Brien.

Brien's suggestion to contact tool steel suppliers is a good one. They can tell you which grade of tool steel to use. Also consider Carprenter Technology as another supplier. Nitriding is good where rolling wear is concerned, but fails when impact is concerned. Spalling is the problem.

Good luck

Look at PVD and CVD coatings. Contact IonBond.