Sawing can be made to make precise cuts through many materials and is usually an initial step in parts production. Saws are tools with a single row of teeth in a line and can be of many several types, they can be used in specific machines such as band saw machines or used in hand held tools such as hand hack saws. In all cases the cutting edges of the tools are made of HSS or ASP® due to the good cutting properties, but the rest of the saw could be of a less wear resistant more tough material called a backing material.
High Speed Steels for Bimetal Saws
Bimetal saws are the largest group of saws, where a wire of HSS or ASP® is welded onto a backing material. This way of producing saws allows for the cutting teeth to be even harder and more wear resistant than compared to saws made entirely of HSS.
Applications of bimetal saws include:
- Band saws
- Hole saws
- Hand hack saws
- Jigsaws
- Tiger saws
High Speed Steels for other Saws
A distinction between saws is the group of saws that only run in one direction such as band saws and saws that reciprocates such as hand hack saws. Reciprocating saws need significantly higher toughness compared to other saws, as they only cut the material in one direction. The non-reciprocating saws use the high achievable wear resistance, hardness and drawability of the HSS or ASP® to get good performance in the cutting operation.
Conventional HSS grades used in saws include the base of E M2 and for reciprocating saws MATII is used for its high toughness. For higher performance E M42 and WKE42 can be used for band saws. The highest performance for saws can be achieved with ASP® grades such as ASP®2042 and ASP®2051.
| Grades | Applications | Strengths |
|---|---|---|
| Band saws, hole saws | High hardness PM grades | |
| Band saws, hole saws | High performance PM grade for saws | |
| Band saws, hole saws | High hardness HSS grade for saws | |
| Band saws, hole saws | High wear resistance HSS grade for saws | |
| Band saws, hole saws | Base HSS grade for saws | |
| Hand hack saws, reciprocating saws | High toughness HSS grade |