Tools for hot forming processes require fracture resistance, hot wear resistance and resistance to thermal fatigue. Tempered 3% and 5% CrMoV steels with a hardness of approximately 35 to 55 HRC fulfil these requirements perfectly. Particularly highly stressed tool inserts are also manufactured from maraging steels of the type Fe-18% Ni-Co-Mo-Ti.
Hot‑work tool steels are engineered for extreme thermal and mechanical loads in die casting, forging, hot stamping, and extrusion. Their superior performance is driven by highest purity levels, achieved through advanced remelting technologies such as ESR and VAR, which minimize inclusions and ensure exceptional homogeneity. These steels offer a robust combination of
making them ideal for demanding hot‑work environments. Thanks to their stability, durability, and availability in large dimensions, they also perform strongly in selected cold‑work and plastics processing applications. By selecting the right BÖHLER grade, manufacturers can significantly extend tool life, reduce thermal fatigue and cracking, and achieve a lower cost per produced part. Developed in the dedicated tool steel mill in Kapfenberg (Austria), these high‑performance materials set global benchmarks in hot‑work tooling efficiency, reliability, and tool life.
BÖHLER W302 ISOBLOC is a 5% chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2344 (X40CrMoV5-1). Produced via the electroslag remelting process (ESR), this tool steel has very high hot toughness as well as very high hot hardness and a very good resistance against heat-checkings. The combination of these properties makes it a top performer in closed- and open-die forging as well as in high- and low-pressure die casting. In addition, this material has very good polishability and is therefore also often used as a molding material for plastic injection molds.
Read MoreBÖHLER W302 ISODISC is a 5% chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2344 (X40CrMoV5-1). This common tool steel has good hot toughness as well as a high hot hardness and a high resistance against heat-checkings. The combination of these properties makes it a standard choice in extrusion, forging and low-pressure die casting. This material is also available as W302 ISOBLOC which is a remelted grade with improved cleanliness, homogeneity and toughness.
Read MoreBÖHLER W403 VMR is a vacuum remelted material which was developed as a problem solver for tools for where a standard solution is no longer sufficient. The steel can be assigned to the 5% chromium steels and has a very high purity due to the special manufacturing technology. In addition, the increased molybdenum content leads to improved thermal resistance as well as wear resistance, which makes BÖHLER W403 VMR an all-rounder that is often used for highly stressed dies in the die casting sector. In addition, Böhler W403 VMR has outstanding polishability. For this reason, the steel is also popular as a molding material for plastic injection molds.
Read MoreBÖHLER W720 VMR is not a classic hot work tool steel, but an ultra-high strength maraging steel. Compared to quenched and tempered steels, the material generates its high strength not through a hardened and tempered martensitic structure with a high carbon content and secondary hardening carbides, but through the precipitation of intermetallic phases from a tough nickel martensitic matrix. BÖHLER W720 VMR corresponds to material number 1.6358 (X2NiCoMoTi18-9-5) and has proven to be ideally suited for many tool steel applications in cold and hot work (e.g., for extrusion stems) up to 450 °C.
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