Grade Range Chart
Carbide Grade, or Grade, refers to combination of tungsten carbide, coating, and other treatments. Cutting tools that are made of the same carbide material but have a different coating or post-treatment are designated by a different grade. Selecting the correct grade is extremely important and can improve overall machining performance.
Although there is no formal standard, most suppliers follow guidelines for their grades designation:
| Brand | Coating Series (Family) | Hardness Level | |||
| B | B | S | S | H | H |
Brand: 2 letter combination as a prefix (Kennametal = KC, etc)
SS: Coating Series (Family)
HH: Hardness Level: Final 2 numbers reflect hardness level, in most cases. The smaller the number, the harder the substrate.
These guidelines are not always followed, but it is beneficial to be familiar with this system.
|
P Steel |
01 | C8 | Precision finishing |
increasing wear resistance
increasing shock resistance |
| 10 | C7 | Light finishing | ||
| 20 | C6 | Semi-finishing | ||
| 30 | ||||
| 40 | C5 | Roughing & General Purpose | ||
| 50 | ||||
|
M Stainless Steel |
10 | Precision finishing |
increasing wear resistance
increasing shock resistance |
|
| 20 | Semi-finishing | |||
| 30 | General purpose | |||
| 40 | Roughing | |||
|
K Cast Iron |
01 | C4 | Precision finishing |
increasing wear resistance
increasing shock resistance |
| 10 | C3 | Semi-finishing | ||
| 20 | C2 | General purpose | ||
| 30 | C1 | Roughing | ||
|
N Non-ferrous |
01 | - | Precision finishing |
increasing wear resistance
increasing shock resistance |
| 10 | - | Semi-finishing | ||
| 20 | - | General purpose | ||
| 30 | - | Roughing | ||
|
S Hi-temp Alloys |
10 | Precision finishing |
increasing wear resistance
increasing shock resistance |
|
| 20 | Semi-finishing | |||
| 30 | General purpose | |||
| 40 | Roughing | |||
|
H Hardened Materials |
01 | - | Precision finishing |
increasing wear resistance
increasing shock resistance |