Water vs Oil Hardening (Drill rod)

The difference, on a high level anyway, are that W-series will get harder...I believe about 3 points on the Rockwell C scale, someone may be able to correct that...and that W- series will warp ALOT more in heat treat. Which isn't a problem if you can do a finish grind on a part or it isn't going to matter.

There are other differences, such as yield point, tensile strength, etc., but as I said, those two are the high level differences.

Mike

In my experience, water-hardening drill rod has significantly better machining properties than oil-hardening.

Chemically they are different animals. W-1 (water hardening) is nothing more than high carbon steel, typically 1% C, .3% Mn and .3% Si.

O-1 (oil hardening) has more alloying elements, .9% C, 1.2% Mn, .35% Si, .5% Cr, .5% W & .2% V.

Harold

The chemistry is different; O-1 is a more complex alloy.

W-1 is more prone to distortion during hardening than O-1.

If you're not hardening it, W-1 should serve just as well in your application as O-1.

Jim