Hand Tools

High-carbon S55C is the core material for striking tools. After Q&T, it provides excellent hardness for hammer heads, mallets, and forging hammers. The key requirement is 'hard face, no shattering' — S55C's carbon content sits at the optimal hardness-toughness balance point. Induction hardening further increases face hardness while the core retains sufficient toughness to absorb impact energy without fragmentation during use.

Cr-V alloy steel (AISI 6135, 6140) is the signature material for professional wrenches and ratchet sets. Chromium improves hardness and wear resistance; vanadium refines grain size and increases toughness. Together they allow Cr-V steel to resist both deformation and fracture under high torque. 6140 with slightly higher carbon handles larger-torque wrenches and ratchet heads; 6135 serves thin-wall sockets and open-end wrenches requiring slightly more ductility. The "Cr-V" stamp seen on professional hand tools is not just a label — it has become synonymous with tool quality. Ratchet mechanism gears face repeated instantaneous high torque, requiring outstanding fatigue strength that 6140 Q&T delivers as the industry standard.

Cold heading steel handles the mass-produced standard components in hand tools: socket bodies, screwdriver bit blanks, and ratchet gear seats — complex shapes in large volumes, cold-formed then finish-ground. The fiber flow advantage is especially pronounced in sockets — aligned with the load direction, cold-formed sockets have far superior torsional strength over turned parts. 50BV30 is the primary socket material, its boron-vanadium addition providing good cold formability and post-Q&T strength-toughness balance suited to socket's instantaneous high-torque demands from impact wrenches. 40ACR covers high-strength sockets and special tool heads; 10B33 handles fasteners and connectors in hand tool assemblies.