Tooling & Cutting Tools Heat Treatment | Hardening, Tempering & Cryogenics

Solution

Molds, drills and cutting tools demand balanced hardness and minimal deformation. Traditional furnaces cause decarburization and dimensional deviation. Rexin vacuum hardening furnaces apply gradient heating for tool steel and carbide, maintaining high precision for complex tool workpieces.

Tool Steel Heat Treatment Flow

Preheating (600–850℃): Slow heating to eliminate thermal cracking risk for complex molds
Austenitizing Heating (1000–1240℃): Fully dissolve internal alloy carbides
Quenching (Gas/Oil Step Cooling): Form high-hardness martensite
Optional Cryogenic Treatment (-80~-196℃): Reduce retained austenite, improve dimensional stability
Multiple Temper Cycles: Eliminate quenching stress, balance hardness & toughness

Common Tool Steel Process Parameter Table

Steel Grade Type	Representative Material	Austenitizing Temp	Temper Temp	Final HRC Hardness	Application
High Speed Steel HSS	M2, M35, M42, T1	1180–1240℃	540–570℃ (2–3 times)	62–66	Drills, taps, end mills
Cold Work Die Steel	D2, A2, Cr12MoV	980–1050℃	150–250℃	58–62	Stamping punches, blanking dies
Hot Work Die Steel	H11, H13, 5CrNiMo	1000–1050℃	550–620℃	46–52	Die casting, forging molds
Cemented Carbide	YG / YT Series	Brazing/Sintering	—	HRA86–93	Cutting inserts, drill tips

Core Furnace For Mold & Tool Processing

Equipment Type	Max Temp	Core Advantage	Suitable Workpiece
Vacuum Oil/Gas Quenching Furnace	1300℃	Zero oxidation, tiny deformation, bright surface	Precision molds, HSS cutting tools
Box Type Hardening Furnace	1100℃	Low cost, flexible small batch trial	Ordinary stamping molds, fixtures
Vertical Pit Furnace	1200℃	Vertical loading, minimal bending for long shafts	Long broaches, slender reamers
Box Tempering Furnace	650℃	Multi-zone uniform heating, stable hardness	All quenched molds & cutters
Cryogenic Treatment Tank	-196℃	Greatly reduce residual austenite	High-precision measuring molds

Deformation Tolerance

High precision mold ≤0.05mm total deformation

Hardness Range

HSS tools HRC62–66 / Cold die HRC58–62 / Hot die HRC46–52

Decarburization Standard

Zero surface decarburization layer

Grain Control

No coarse grain to avoid tool brittleness

Core Quality Control Standards For Molds

Deformation Tolerance: High precision mold ≤0.05mm total deformation
Hardness Range: HSS tools HRC62–66 / Cold die HRC58–62 / Hot die HRC46–52
Decarburization Standard: Zero surface decarburization layer
Grain Control: No coarse grain to avoid tool brittleness

Industry Pain Points & Matching Solutions

Complex thin mold easy to deform → Vacuum high-pressure gas step quenching
Tool surface decarburization reduces service life → Full sealed vacuum heating
Precision mold size unstable after long-term use → Supporting liquid nitrogen cryogenic treatment
Different steel grades need separate equipment → Multi-model combined furnace scheme

Leading Mold Heat Treatment Technologies

High-pressure Vacuum Gas Quenching: Oxidation-free, low-distortion high precision quenching
Liquid Nitrogen Cryogenic Treatment: Optimize dimensional stability for measuring molds
Plasma Ion Nitriding: Improve mold surface wear resistance without softening core
AI Intelligent Temperature Control: Automatic holding time calculation according to workpiece thickness

Conclusion

Heat treatment directly determines mold wear resistance, tool service life and processing precision. High-end manufacturing requires vacuum low-deformation thermal processing equipment as standard configuration.

Rexin supplies full mold heat treatment equipment including vacuum furnaces, pit furnaces, temper furnaces and cryogenic tanks. Send your mold steel grade and workpiece size to get customized technical design.

Our Products: Mesh Belt Furnace, Vacuum Furnace, Box Furnace, Pit Nitriding Furnace, Brazing Line, Sintering Furnace

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