We have some large form tools in WKE45 too steel. It was considered a high end HSS with really good red hardness. They lasted longer than form tools made from M2 hss for example. As for the Sandvik C45, I have not come across that grade before.

C45 is not an HSS steel. I have some rectangular bars in my workshop. It's a steel for building jigs and such things.

Copied and translated from the net:

The material 1.0503 is also known as steel C45 and complies with DIN EN 10083-2 as well as the American standard AISI 1045. It is a non-alloyed quenched and tempered or structural steel that is characterised by a very uniform material structure.

Regards,
Hans

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I didn’t pursue this any further, because it appeared that Hans had corrected me.

MichaelG.

Not encouraging to find a 1970s HSS that's no longer made, where none of the identifying numbers come up on an internet search, and Sandvik don't list any alternatives.

I guess C45 went out of production because better and/or cheaper equivalents became available at the time it was on the market. Carbide is likely to have knocked it out because it outperforms HSS by a factor of 5 or more in most manufacturing processes. There's still a place for HSS, but I suspect the really exotic types have all been obsoleted by carbide and materials that outperform carbide.

At the moment the only way to find out whether C45 useful or not is to try it. Possibly the C means it's a Cobalt HSS alloy, giving superior hardness and heat-resistance. If so, it will be good stuff for amateur use unless it's too tough hard for your bench grinder and patience! Bear in mind that a softer HSS is quicker and easier to grind than hard varieties, and the super-dooper stuff may be a PITA to shape and resharpen. Much depends on how good a match tools are to the job in hand, which is why most HSS lathe cutters are mid-range.

Also, please report to the Financial Controller to discuss 'It was cheap so intuition told me to buy now worry later.' Don't expect to be offered coffee, or even a seat!

Please report back on how well C45 behaves. With luck it will be so wonderful you never need to buy any HSS ever again. But don't be surprised if it's more trouble than it's worth. Products that disappear are rarely miraculous.

Dave