Vanadium: increases wear resistance of finishing tools. • Cobalt: enables increased hardening temperatures and improves heat resistance. All types of HSS contain significant amounts of carbon, which reacts with the refractory metals to form hard carbides, which increase wear resistance and hot hardness.
The oxide layer produced is porous thereby retaining oil which lowers friction in ferrous applications, thus avoiding the problems of pick-up, cold welding on taps and ‘built-up edge’ on cutting edges.
