1.2842 Tool Steel AISI O2 GB 9Mn2V
1.2842 tool steel is an oil-hardening cold work tool steel with excellent dimensional stability, good toughness, moderate wear resistance, and reliable machinability. It is widely used for precision measuring tools, stamping dies, forming dies, cutting tools, and other general cold work applications that require accurate dimensions, stable heat treatment performance, and dependable service life.
Product Description
Xiri Tool Steel is a leading supplier of DIN 1.2842 tool steel (AISI O2) in China. 1.2842 is an oil-quenched cold work die steel, renowned for its outstanding dimensional stability during heat treatment and excellent crack resistance, effectively reducing the deformation risk of precision dies during processing. This material features good machinability and moderate wear resistance, and is mainly used in the manufacture of precision measuring tools, thin sheet metal stamping dies, as well as mechanical cutting tools in the woodworking and papermaking industries.
Whether you need 1.2842 flat bars, O2 steel plates, or 9Mn2V forged rounds, we provide custom dimensions with machining or grinding services. Our materials are strictly tested to ensure premium metallurgical structure.
1.2842 (per DIN standard), also known as O2 tool steel, is a high-carbon, low-alloy oil-hardening cold work tool steel. 1.2842 achieves an exceptional balance between wear resistance, toughness, and machinability, making it an extremely versatile general-purpose cold work tool steel.
Chemical Composition of DIN 1.2842 / AISI O2 tool steel
| C | Si | Mn | P | S | Cr | Mo | V |
| 0.85-0.95 | 0.20-0.40 | 1.40-1.80 | ≤0.030 | ≤0.030 | ≤0.50 | ≤0.30 | ≤0.30 |
Supply Form & Size Range of 1.2842 / AISI O2 tool steel
We supply 1.2842 / O2 steel in various forms to meet your manufacturing needs:
Round bar: Diameter 16mm – 600mm
Steel Plate / Flat: Thickness 16mm – 400mm x Width 200mm – 810mm
Surface: Black, Peeled, Rough machined or Grinded.
Delivery Condition: Annealed (Hardness 229 HB max.)
Core Advantages of 1.2842 Tool Steel
- Exceptional Wear Resistance: Its high carbon content provides a robust foundation for hardness (achieving HRC 60-62 after heat treatment). This enables 1.2842 moulds to withstand prolonged wear from metal stamping and drawing operations, significantly extending mould life and reducing maintenance and replacement frequency.
- Outstanding Toughness: While wear resistance is crucial, excessive brittleness can cause chipping or cracking under impact loads. Through a well-balanced alloy composition, 1.2842 exhibits excellent toughness, enabling it to withstand moderate impacts and intermittent stresses. This makes it suitable for dynamic applications such as blanking and die forging.
- Superior dimensional stability: As an oil-hardening steel, it exhibits minimal deformation during heat treatment. This represents a decisive advantage for precision moulds. It ensures the mould maintains precise cavity dimensions after multiple heat treatments and production cycles, thereby guaranteeing dimensional tolerances in the final product.
- Superior machinability and polishability: In the annealed condition, 1.2842 exhibits excellent machining properties. Whether milling, turning, or drilling, operations proceed relatively smoothly, effectively reducing tool wear and processing time. Concurrently, its uniform composition allows polishing to exceptionally high surface finishes, meeting stringent aesthetic requirements for applications such as automotive exterior components and appliance panels.
- Broad heat treatment window: Compared to certain high-end steels highly sensitive to heat treatment processes, 1.2842’s heat treatment (such as quenching and tempering) is more manageable. This affords heat treatment specialists greater operational flexibility, facilitating consistent and stable final performance.
1.2842 Tool Steel Applications
Leveraging its balanced properties, 1.2842 mould steel finds active application across numerous industrial sectors:
Stamping dies: Manufacture of small-to-medium batches of blanking dies, bending dies, and forming dies, particularly for processing low-carbon steel sheets, copper alloys, aluminium alloys, and similar materials.
Cutting tools: Used in producing taps, drills, reamers, gear cutters, etc., with wear resistance sufficient for general-strength cutting operations.
Measuring tools and fixtures: Production of precision measuring instruments, gauge blocks, and assembly fixtures requiring high dimensional stability and wear resistance.
Plastic moulds: Suitable for moulds producing plastic products with moderate requirements and small batch sizes, particularly where high-gloss surfaces are needed, showcasing its excellent polishability.
Other cold working applications: Such as embossing dies, deep-drawing dies, and shearing blades.
Our advantages in Processing 1.2842 Tool Steel
Fully aware of your concerns regarding material consistency, we firmly believe exceptional performance begins with meticulous control at the most granular level. Our 1.2842 products adhere to a quality control system exceeding standards throughout the entire process from smelting to delivery:
- Premium Raw Materials and Advanced Smelting: We utilise pure, high-quality scrap steel and ferroalloys as feedstock. Through electric arc furnace (EAF) smelting combined with ladle refining (LF/VD) techniques, we effectively eliminate harmful gases (e.g., oxygen, hydrogen) and impurities (e.g., sulphur, phosphorus) from the molten steel. This ensures high purity and precise chemical composition control from the outset.
- Homogeneous forging and rolling: Utilising multi-directional forging technology, we break down dendritic segregation in the cast structure and refine grain size, resulting in a denser, more uniform internal microstructure. Precise rolling control ensures steel dimensions meet stringent tolerances, facilitating subsequent processing.
- Precise annealing treatment: We implement a rigorous spheroidising annealing process, ensuring every delivered piece of 1.2842 annealed material achieves a uniform, fine-grained spheroidal carbide structure. This not only provides optimal machinability but also establishes a foundation for consistent performance in subsequent heat treatments. Hardness is stably controlled within a predetermined narrow range (typically approximately 180-220 HB).
- Comprehensive Non-Destructive Testing: Ultrasonic testing is employed to screen large-section steel for internal defects such as cracks and shrinkage cavities, guaranteeing material integrity. Concurrently, magnetic particle or penetrant testing is applied to steel surfaces to eliminate surface imperfections.
- Traceable quality certification: Each batch of steel is accompanied by a detailed Material Test Certificate (MTC), clearly listing key data such as chemical composition and mechanical properties. This ensures full traceability throughout the process, giving you complete confidence in its use.
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Why Manufacturers Choose Huangshi Xiri
Huangshi Xiri combines international-standard steel grades, a complete tool steel portfolio, strict quality control and reliable global supply. We match DIN / JIS / AISI equivalents precisely, offer cutting and heat-treatment services, and control every step from smelting to inspection. With stable capacity, on-time delivery and responsive technical support, we help manufacturers reduce risk, save costs and run production with confidence.
Contact Us
Contact Huangshi Xiri today for quotations, grade selection and technical support on tool steel, mold steel and alloy steel. Whether you need samples, cutting-to-size service or long-term supply for your projects, our engineers and sales team are ready to respond quickly with professional advice and reliable solutions for your manufacturing needs.
