Tungsten steel

[Alan Worland 1Participant @alanworland1]

I have a reasonable selection of taps and dies the majority of which are HSS the rest (older) are carbon steel.

When buying new I prefer HSS but I have noticed ‘tungsten steel’ in some ads – what is it and how does it compare to HSS?

Anyone any thoughts or experiences?

[Alan Worland 1Participant @alanworland1]

[DuncParticipant @dunc]

Afaik (North America/Canada) if the shank of the tap does not say “hss” (or “hs” – not certain about this abbreviation) then the tap is not high speed steel. “Tungsten” in this instance would refer to carbon steel (with enough carbon content to accept heat treatment/hardening) with this metal added to improve various qualities. It may be “harder” and may be called “alloy steel” but it is not hss. Hss is much preferred but is more expensive. 

[Alan Worland 1Participant @alanworland1]

Sort of what I was thinking – just a step up from carbon steel I guess then?

Thanks for that.

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