vs Carbon Steel – What’s the Difference?

Written by Jonathan Maes  in Materials

There
are
approxi
mately
36
million
different
kinds of
steel.
You can
probabl
y
imagine
where I
pulled
that
number
from.
(Hint:
from
somewh
ere
behind
me) But
you get
the idea.

At first
glance,
all the
different
kinds of
metals
can
seem
pretty
overwhe
lming.

So
what’s
the
differenc
e
between
carbon
steel
and
alloy
steel?
Carbon
steel is
iron
with
carbon
added,
wherea
s alloy
steel
also
include
s other
element
s to
modify
the
properti
es of
the
metal.
say that
carbon
steel is
pure
carbon
and
iron.
Everythi
ng will
have
impuritie
s. But
these
extra
element
s don’t
make up
a major
part of
the
ingredie
nt list. At
least,
they
aren’t
present
enough
to really
change
the
carbon
Even
within
these
two
categori
es of
steel,
there
are
huge
variation
s. Let’s
take a
look at
what
these
are,
what
properti
es these
metals
have,
and
what
applicati
ons
they’re
used
for.

Table
of
Conten
ts

Carbon Steel

Low Carbon Steel

Medium Carbon Steel

Alloy Steel

Alloying Elements

Manganese

Chromium

Molybdenum

Vanadium

Nickel

Carbo
n Steel
Aside
from
iron, the
main
element
of this
steel is
carbon.
You
probabl
y
already
figured
that
much
out.

The
lower
the
carbon
content,
the
more
ductile
the
metal is.
The
higher
the
carbon
content,
the
more
you can
heat
treat
and
harden
the
metal.
Higher
carbon
content
also
makes it
more
difficult
to weld.

Carbon
steel
generall
y is
divided
into
three
categori
es:

Low
Carbon
Steel

AKA
mild
steel,
where
the
carbon
content
is
between
0.05
and
0.25%,
with a
maximu
m
mangan
ese
content
of 0.4%.

This is
cheap
stuff.
It’s the
most
common
type of
steel
you’ll
find in
applicati
ons that
don’t
have
any
particula
r
require
ments,
like high
strength
or wear
resistan
ce.

This is a
common
steel for
hobbyist
s to use.
You’ll
find it in
simple
mechani
cal
systems
.

   PRACTICAL MACHINING PROJECTS

The only
way to
increase
its
hardnes
s
through
heat
treating
is by
case
hardeni
ng. This
is a
process
that
adds
carbon
to the
surface,
which
makes
for a
hard
outer
layer
and soft
core.

Medium
Carbon
Steel
The
carbon
content
is
0.29%-
0.54%
carbon,
with a
mangan
ese
content
of 0.6%-
1.65%.

This is a
stronger
steel
with
good
wear
resistan
ce, but
it’s a bit
trickier
to form,
weld,
and cut.

Medium
carbon
steels
can be
heat
treated
and
tempere
d.

High
Carbon
Steel
The
carbon
content
is
0.55%-
0.95%
carbon,
with a
mangan
ese
content
of
0.30%-
0.90%.

This is
getting
into the
pretty
speciali
zed
stuff.
Usually
this is
only
used
when
you
really
need it,
since it’s
not easy
to work
with.
It’s
really
strong.
This is a
common
steel to
use for
springs
and
wires,
since it
takes a
lot of
compres
sion to
get
plastic
deforma
tion
(when
the
metal
doesn’t
just
spring
back).

Knifema
kers
love this
steel
too.
A
popular
one for
large
knives is
1075
(0.75%
carbon).
It’s soft
enough
that it
won’t
snap in
half
when
you
chop
with it,
but it will
still hold
a good
edge.
At the
high
end of
the
spectru
m, you
have
1095
steel
(0.95%
carbon).
It holds
a really
good
edge,
but it’s
also
easy to
snap.
That
means
that it’s
good for
smaller
knives
that
won’t do
any
heavy
choppin
g.
Very
heat
treatabl
e, but
hard to
machine
and
weld.
You’ll
generall
y need
to
anneal it
before
you can
cut it
mechani
cally,
unless
you
have
some
expensi
ve,
speciali
zed
equipm
ent and
tools.

Technic
ally
there’s
another
category
in here
– Very
High
Carbon
Steel.
It’s not
too
likely
that
you’ll
run into
this very
often.
Carbon
content
is
0.96%-
2.1%.
Super
hard,
super
brittle.
Think
glass.

Really
hard to
work
with, so
it’s
pretty
much
only for
speciali
zed
applicati
ons.

Alloy
Steel
This is
really
where it
gets fun.
There
are
generall
y two
categori
es of
alloy
steel:
low
alloy
and
high
alloy.

Anythin
g with
less
than an
8%
alloying
element
is
labelled
as low
alloy,
anything
over 8%
is high
alloy.

Low
alloy
steels
are by
far the
most
common
.
Alloying
different
element
s
changes
the
properti
es of the
steel
pretty
drastical
ly.

For
example
, you
can
change
the
strength
,
hardnes
s, and
corrosio
n
resistan
ce by
tweakin
g these
alloying
element
s.
Let’s go
over
what
some of
the
common
alloying
element
s are,
and
what
effect
they
have on
the
metal.

Alloying
Element
s

Manganes
e

Technic
ally
you’ll
see this
in
noticeab
le
quantitie
s in
carbon
steel,
but
higher
quantitie
s with
alloy
steel.
The
primary
reason
for
adding
this is to
fine-
tune the
heat
treating
require
ments.

Normall
y, steel
will
need a
fast
quench
from a
high
tempera
ture to a
very low
tempera
ture in
order to
harden.

The
tricky
thing is
that the
faster
the
quench,
the
more of
a risk
there is
of
cracking
.
Mangan
ese
allows
for a
slower
cooling
rate.
Instead
of
quenchi
ng in
water,
for
example
, you
can
quench
in warm
oil. With
some
speciali
zed
steels,
you can
even
quench
with
room-
tempera
ture air.

One
prime
example
of an air
quenchi
ng steel
is A4
tool
steel. It
has
1.8%-
2.2%
mangan
ese.
need to
do is
heat it
up
enough,
then an
air cool
will
harden
it up to
63 Rc.
It’s
highly
recomm
ended
that you
temper
that
back a
bit to
stabilize
the steel
and
reduce
the risk
of
cracking
, but
either
way, it
gets
really

Chromium
When
you
have
over
11%
chromiu
m, you
can get
stainles
s steel.
This
dramatic
ally
increase
s
corrosio
n
resistan
ce.

It also
dramatic
ally
affects
the
metal’s
other
properti
es like
strength
,
hardnes
s, and
heat
treatme
nt.

Here
are
some
example
s of
where
you’ll
see lots
of
chromiu
m:
309
stainles
s has
23%
chromiu
m and is
designe
d for
corrosio
n
resistan
ce at
high
tempera
tures.

D2 is
actually
a tool
steel.
This is
an
interesti
ng one
because
it has
11%-
13%
chromiu
m, but
it’s only
consider
ed
“semi-
stainles
s”.
D2 steel
will rust
more
than
regular
stainles
s (like
the very
common
304),
but not
as much
as
regular
carbon
steels.

It uses a
combina
tion of
cobalt
and
chromiu
m to
achieve 
really hi
gh wear
resistan
ce.
It’s
common
ly used
for
applicati
ons like
forming
or
cutting
dies, tire
shearin
g
blades,
and
punches
.

Molybden
um

Since
it’s such
a
mouthful
, a lot of
people
just call
this
“moly”
(sounds
like
molly).
This can
also
increase
corrosio
n
resistan
ce to a
point. It
works
along
with
mangan
ese to
reduce
the
required
quench
rate.

For
example
, that A4
tool
steel
that I
mention
ed
before
has both
molybde
num
and
mangan
ese. It
has
about
half the
amount
of
molybde
num,
between
0.9%-
1.4%.
This
also
really
increase
s the
toughne
ss and
tensile
strength
of steel.
You’ll
see it in
some
heavy
load
applicati
ons.

Maybe
one of
the most
common
places
you’ll
see
steel
with
moly is
4140
steel. It
has a
combina
tion of
chromiu
m and
molybde
num.
Lots of
people
refer to
this as
“chromo
ly” steel.
You’ll
see
4140 all
over in
industria
l
applicati
ons.
Heavy
gears,
large
shafts,
this is
the
workhor
se of the
steel
world.

Vanadium

This
really
comes
into play
with
heat
treating
– it
helps
control
the
grain
size of
the
metal.
Here’s a
crash
course
on heat
treating
so you
can
underst
and this:

When
you heat
treat
steel,
you’re
essentia
lly trying
to
reduce
the
grain
size of
the
metal.
If you
look at it
under a
microsc
ope,
you’ll
see little
cells of
metal
that are
all
cramme
d in
tight.
With
soft
metals,
these
“grains”
are
large.

When
you heat
treat the
metal, it
changes
the
crystalli
ne
structur
e and
makes
the
grain
small
and
even.

Small,
even
grain =
really
hard
steel.
Vanadiu
m helps
keep
that
grain
small
and
even
when
you heat
treat it.
It forms
carbides
that
restrict
the
grain
from
becomin
g too
large.

Basicall
y, it gets
harder
and
stronger
.

You’ll
see this
a lot in
tool
steels
like O1
and D2.

Nickel
You’ll
see this
in
stainles
s steels.
One
particula
r
applicati
on is
with
austeniti
c
stainles
s, which
is the
most
common
kind of
stainles
s (like
304)

When
chromiu
m is
18% or
more,
and
nickel is
+8%,
you get
austeniti
c
stainles
s.
This
really
boosts
the
corrosio
n
resistan
ce
(rustpro
ofery)
and
increase
s the
toughne
ss and
impact
strength
.

Basicall
y, it
won’t
rust and
when
you
bang on
it with a
hammer
, it’ll
mushro
om a bit
instead
of crack
in two
pieces.
Ok, so
now
you’ve
been all
ejjicated
and can
sound
smart in
front of
your
friends.

Really
all you
need to
know is
this:

Carbon
steel =
iron +
carbon

Alloy
steel =
iron +
carbon
+ other
goodies

The rest
was just
bonus.
If you’re
the kind
of guy
that
likes to
print
things
out to
tape to
your
toolbox,
this
one’s on
me: