Cutting tools in food processing require wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant BÖHLER steels with excellent edge retention and hygiene properties. Key quality features include ultra-clean materials, precise heat treatment, full traceability, and verified surface quality for safe food processing.
Cutting operations in food and beverage processing require materials that combine high wear resistance with excellent corrosion behavior and strict hygiene compliance. Blades, cutters, and slicing tools are exposed to continuous mechanical stress, abrasion from processed materials, and aggressive cleaning agents. Material requirements therefore focus on high hardness, edge retention, toughness, and resistance to pitting corrosion, as well as the ability to achieve smooth, cleanable surfaces. Dimensional stability and consistent cutting performance are essential for product quality and process efficiency.
BÖHLER high-performance steels and alloys are specifically developed to meet these demanding requirements. Martensitic stainless steels and specialized tool steels provide an optimized combination of hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance. Advanced melting technologies ensure high material purity and controlled microstructures, enabling superior edge stability and extended tool life. Key quality features include precise chemical composition control, certified traceability, and validated heat treatment processes to achieve consistent hardness profiles. In addition, surface finishing and integrity are strictly controlled to meet hygiene standards. Comprehensive testing ensures compliance with food safety regulations. BÖHLER materials support efficient, reliable, and hygienic cutting performance in modern food processing applications.
BÖHLER K110 is a 12% ledeburitic chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2379 (X153CrMoV12, D2). This tool steel combines the advantages of conventional 12% ledeburitic chromium steels with those of advanced tool steels. In the group of 12% ledeburitic chromium steels, BÖHLER K110 offers the best combination of wear resistance, compressive strength and toughness, for which reason it is used in virtually all cold work applications. Its advantageous tempering behavior with a pronounced secondary hardness maximum also enables the use of advanced coatings. This also makes BÖHLER K110 suitable for complex tools requiring a high degree of dimensional stability and shape stability.
Read MoreBÖHLER M390 MICROCLEAN is a corrosion-resistant, martensitic chromium steel produced by powder metallurgy. Due to its alloy design, this steel has very high wear resistance and good corrosion resistance. In addition, BÖHLER M390 MICROCLEAN is approved for food and beverage contact.
Read MoreBÖHLER N690 is a corrosion-resistant, martensitic chromium steel with a high carbon content and the addition of cobalt, molybdenum and vanadium. BÖHLER N690 is also approved for food and beverage contact.
Read MoreBÖHLER N695 is a corrosion-resistant, martensitic chromium steel with a high carbon content and added molybdenum.
Read MoreBÖHLER N695SA is a high-grade, vacuum remelted chromium stainless steel of aerospace quality, offering high hardness, wear resistance, and good corrosion resistance in the quenched and tempered condition. Compared to air-melted quality, this steel exhibits improved rolling contact fatigue properties and is typically used for components requiring hardness up to 58 HRC and resistance to wear, corrosion, and oxidation—such as balls, rollers, needles, and rings for corrosion-resistant bearings—although its use is not limited to these applications.
Read MoreUddeholm Sleipner is a general purpose steel for cold work tooling. It has a mixed-abrasive wear profile and a good resistance to chipping. Furthermore a high hardness (>60 HRC) can be obtained after high temperature tempering. This means that surface treatments such as nitriding or PVD can be made on a high strength substrate. Also, it means that complicated shapes with hardness levels >60 HRC can be wire EDM’d from blocks with relatively thick cross-sections with a much reduced risk of cracking. Uddeholm Sleipner is recommended for medium run tooling applications where a resistance to mixed or abrasive wear and a good resistance to chipping are required. Benefits Very broad property profile Very good steel for all types of surface treatments Extremely versatile conventional tool steel for medium run cold work tooling Suitable upgrade where added chipping or wear resistance is needed over traditional AISI A2 or AISI D2 In East/South East Asian countries served by ASSAB, Uddeholm Sleipner is sold as ASSAB 88.
Read MoreUddeholm Tyrax ESR combines best in class toughness, corrosion and wear resistance. This grade was developed for molding of high performance plastics often filled with glass fiber reinforcements and additives like flame retardants. This matrix- based microstructure is designed to achieve a high-gloss surface by only a few polishing steps, dramatically reducing the tool lead time and enabling production of top quality plastic parts. Uddeholm Tyrax ESR can achieve a high hardness (up to 58 HRC) and is a suitable upgrade from AISI 420 ESR, AISI S7 and AISI 440C. Benefits good dimensional stability at heat treatment and in service even microstructure and small grain size good hardenability Uddeholm Tyrax is also available for Additive Manufacturing, powder for processing Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) and Laser Metal Deposition (LMD).
Read MoreAt voestalpine we combine premium material know-how with tailored application requirements. This results in premium high-performance solutions, which are ready to use for industrial food processing applications. Our Bowl Cutter Knives offer an outstanding balance of high wear resistance, ductility (safety against cracks), and corrosion resistance, allowing for a significantly extended regrinding interval for higher productivity and a lower total cost of ownership. voestalpine Bowl Cutter Knives are available for all brands of industrial bowl cutters.
Read Morevoestalpine Poultry Processing Technology incorporates our premium materials by BÖHLER/Uddeholm, including tailored heat treatment and machining. This ready-to-use solution offers an extended lifetime and improved processing properties. We have knives available for all industrial machine types and major producers of poultry processing machinery.
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