HSS tool steel

Tools where cutting action would cause normal carbon steel to heat to point where temper is lost.

(high) carbon steel is used for hand tools

HSS is used for power tools

The above is probably mostly wrong - someone better informed will be along in a minute

specifically

Lathe cutting tools End mills Slot drills Reamers Taps Dies

HSS stays very hard even when heated to dull red.

AWEM

BE, you actually got it exactly right. :)

The higher speed at which they could run their cutting tools was so much higher they friggin named it after the action. :) Back around

Guy, narrow down what it is you want to know.

Alvin in AZ (a tool-steel freak;)

First time for everything

funny thing is, I can pound heavy enough to ruin temper of cold chisels (cutting 1/2" plate)[1], and my drill press runs slowly enough to use carbon steel bits (converted to chain drivc at c. 60 rpm - I feed Sloooww and drill through pretty much anything)

~somewhat HSS is also commonly used for hand tools these days (just not the good ones). As you rightly say, the defining factor of HSS is that it still holds temper when it's hot. So if you take a Cr-Vn steel and grind it quickly and crudely to sharpen it, it will still hold its temper when a plain carbon steel would have gone soft. So cheaper woodworking tools may be made this way, just because it reduces the time to sharpen them and thus the manufacturing cost, even though they're nominally a more expensive raw steel.

Cutting tools, esp. for machine tools.

It'll hold a cutting edge at red heat.

Annealing and hardening the stuff is NOT trivial.

Cheers Trevor Jones

ok thx alot for all your info