Steel Numbering System 

VERY plain and simple. No noise, no crap. WELL DONE!

I watched this with no real need beyond basic understanding, but i find someone offering even esoteric knowledge so clearly and jargon-free is irresistible. Really well presented; my thanks!

Masterclass on how to present information correctly and concisely. Thank you!

One of the best short intro to steel types I have seen. Super cool. :)

Very well done. Like another person said, no obnoxious music or jarring graphics. Just good information well presented. Thanks.

Real informative. Nicely presented. I like the cards with the numbers plainly written. Easy to follow being able to see the numbers as you spoke about each one. Thank you.

I'm not much of a metalworker, but always wondered what those numbers meant. Many thanks for a concise, helpful and informative explanation. Well done.

An object lesson in presentation; no fluff, no guff and absolutely on point. Thank you for taking the time and trouble. Bravo !

Thank You! I learned something that I should have learned 60+ years ago.

The SAE system is pretty straight forward What annoys me is when you deal with "older"? Machinists they use "trade name " like "silver steel" so I cant make quick decisions on steel as I have to look up the trade name THEN we get on to the Japanese system it would be really nice if there was ONE system

Very good short intro to a Big subject. Thanks.

Good info! This is the system I learned when I started my T&D apprenticeship back in '77. But there seems to be a bunch of trade-names and letter/number combinations for todays 'designer' alloys.

we used 4340 for the axles on our drums for head and tail pulleys on our elevator belt unloading conveyors due to it's added toughness over 4140 . we used the higher grade as used in the mining industry for durability . thanks for an easy to understand , well explained video !!

Never saw a video of this channel, but i liked how it was explained, always had this doubt in my mind but i never had actually searched for it 😂

I work in a forge shop as a designer, brand new to the industry. I’ve got a whole list of different kinds of steel with their densities which I use for calculating weights among other things. This was pretty informative.

Jason, great and enriching video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. The world needs more people like you!!

As a former toolmaker - we used a lot of Bohler's 476 tool-steel - came in black coarse finish - that had to be removed first. It gave off a very definite 'stink' while machining and bright purple shavings - quite unlike anything else.

I get good results from using 1045. A good general use metal is especially popular for CNC Turned components. Another positive of this metal is that it can be hardened to well over 50 Rockwell in either Water or Oil.

Thank you for making things come into view.

Lovely very informative delivery. I agree No Musak, or other unnecessary noise distractions. Well done good tradesman like presentation.

Great job! I worked with various alloys during my career as a product developer and with all the ones you clearly explained here. Most of the steels I used needed wear resistance and impact resistance. As with any metal, the more exotic the alloy, the higher the cost and lower availability. I used the Machinery's Handbook as a guide for material selection for years. As with many resource materials today, it is available in digital form as well as print.

Thanks for the very informative video!

Thank you for such a well presented description. This is so refreshing in a vast sea of Hype, BS and Content theives that simply repost with a usually very inacurate Ai voice over. I will be forwarding your link. And Yes, I have subscribed. I very seldom do.

And then there's my FAVORITE: 12L14. 0.15-0.35% Pb makes it a joy to machine, especially for novices such as myself. Thanks for the excellent vid.

I just clicked on the video and I don't know if it's good or not, but I just want to send some appreciation just for posting the video and trying to share the knowledge 🎉

First rate! Thank you very much. Simple and easy to follow. I know it gets more complex, but this is a great start.

Very well done, thank you. These videos are becoming a rarity on YT. Videos that are practical, useful, and helpful take a backseat to flashy, "sponsored", overly-produced marketing material made to promote and commercialize the channel.

Wow next time I buy knives I’ll be so much more informed. Thank you😊

This was really straightforward and helpful, thanks so much for taking the time to make this video.

Thank you Ron Swanson of the steel world. I enjoyed this

Good introduction to a few basic steel types We use a few different more specialized types in our product (engineered steel chains)

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Very informative.

You left out M tool steels. Usually called High Speed steel used as a cutting tool. Probably one of the most important tool steels out there. M2, M3, and M42 are common. As for 5160, it's spring steel very common in leaf springs (6150 in coil springs) and if you're into knife making, 5160 is a nice material for sword blades. Been involved in manufacturing and metals my whole life, although carbon steels are more on the rare side. We work mostly with steels like Alloy20, Incoloy800, CD4, Duplex 2205, H-loy C, 440C, Nitronic50, 316L, Ferralium 255, etc., although 9310 and 8620 are not uncommon for pivot pins. Bottom line, it's nice to see other people out there who work with their hands AND their minds to make things. 🙂

Thanks, have always wondered how it works.

Very interesting. It would have been a bonus to understand how the spark stream can roughly tell you the type of steel. That is real wizardry

Excellent video - well done and well explained. Great presentation style.

I loved milling P20, beautiful characteristics.

Well done. Sincere and clear

Thank you for sharing. Opens a lot.

Not a machinist, surprised such low percentages could make so much difference in performance. -- Thanks for the quick education. ---

This was a very informative and interesting video, thank you.

I saw this video, and thought,"Oh, a toolmaker. Tool and die, progressive dies, plastic injection molds?" No, literally someone who makes hand-tools, which is cool. I've been in the precision tooling trade for 40 years, and S-7 is my favorite tool steel. Take it up to 58Rc, double draw, cryo treat and it'll last forever. 😃Terrible rust resistance, though.😐

that was awesome! thanks!

4140 & 4150 steels are used in gun barrels. Good stuff.

Thank you sir for explaining this system!

Great info! Glad I stumbled upon this video , subscribed so I can learn more.

Very informative. Thank you.

that pretty well covers my needs. Thanks.

Dude, thank you for this!!!!

Thanks for valuable information

Very clear and useful .

Great explanation. Thanks!

Great! Thanks for the info.

Let's here it for 01, D2 ,D6 ,A2 and W2!

Great stuff but I would have liked to see something about music steel AKA spring steel. I guess a complete video would go on for days.😃 Thanks for this video...its a great introduction.

Question: Just noticed ceramic ball bearings are now being used in bicycle racing carbon wheels. What future does ceramics have in the Machining Industry?

Great video thank you !!!!!!!!

Great Job!😊😊

Excellent job. You could be the only person that has explained this this well. Is sheet the same numbering and what is better to machine/turn?

Subscribed, great useful video as I'm a welder

Excellent! Always wondered. Thank you. Now, please, do stainless.

His use of the term ‘tenths ‘ for the determination of the carbon level is colloquially appropriate and correct. Except the high carbon Cr bearing steels all steels are under 1%of carbon content so by saying a steel is a tenth of A ( ie 1) percent he is saying it’s a 1/10 of 1 percent - which is how it’s understood. absolutely no one ever describes the carbon content in terms of hundreds of percent except maybe some chemistry professors. In some places it’s just referred to as ‘points’ such as 25 point steel. Ie 1025 Another way to describe it would be to say 1025 steel is .25 wt% carbon

Great video!

I've always wondered if you could use one of those Xray spectrometers that gold dealers use to verify precious metals on steel? Machines like the XRF spectrometer or the Sigma Metalytics verifier can not only tell you the percentage of gold, but the percentage of what other metals may have been alloyed with it. Most often copper, silver, palladium, or zinc. And in the knife world you hear all sorts of numbering systems. Plus the word magnacut steel gets touted as top of the line.

Nice Liam Hoffman Leather Apron in the background!!

Very interesting. I'd be interested to know about other alloys especially for marine use. Many thanks. From Ireland.

Thanks for making the video, i liked it!

Great video!

*6:15** XRF tester? I was thinking of getting one if they are reliable for testing alloys.*

Informative, thankyou.

To figure out what steel I have I always look at the mill report, for example Farm Report; cloudy with a chance of rain Mill Report; Hot and noisy with a chance of being hotter and noisier

Thanks for this!

I've been involved with BMX since the late 80's and 4130 has always been the absolute standard for frame selection, nothing else has ever done including Titanium (high tensile strength but low sheer strength) or aluminum (requiring a thicker wall diameter to accommodate strength). the closest to match 4130 chomoly has been 7076 T6 Aluminum, the same thing commercial airplane frames are made of

Thank you!

Helpful information

Missed 3 common steels in my shop... A-36, 1144, and 12L14

Excellent! Thanks!

Thank you.

Really useful, thanks ! I am however thinking of Bob Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' for some reason.

interesting. Another quick method of alloy identification is to use a X-Ray Fluorescent Analyzer (XRF). A handheld unit can be purchased for ~$12k and will give you the grade in just a few seconds. Also handy for figuring out what the alloy is after any identifying marks have been removed.

US standards of generally available steels . There are many other special steels available around the world .

Good to know we a steel worker

very well presented and explained, good clear speech, unusual for Americans, good clear diction, thanks for taking the time to explain this somewhat baffling subject.

Interesting and consise presentation, thanks a lot. I'd like to go deeper into this. Are there any (official) tables / standards available that provide detailed information on chemical composition of the grades, based on these 4 digits? I mean that just a glance and some memory should be enough to see that this grade will be fine, and the other one won't work. Getting through the masses of datasheets with % range of each element is not what I need or like. Any hint, please? Or how to ask google to get the links quickly? Thanks in advance.

Nice presentation

Awesome explanation. Thanks!! What's 12L14? Where does high machine ability steel and weldable steel com into the mix...?

Could you do a video on stainless numbering? 300 series like 304, 316. And the hardening ones like 15-5 and 18-8.

Great help, buddy. Cheers

I recall the old days of referring to mild steel as either St37, Fe37 or En1A.

Thank you for the great video. Safe to say there are no naming standards.

Great information, great presentation the only thing I disagree with is 4140 being relatively inexpensive. The price of any type of steel is out of control.

Thanks you!

VERY VERY GOOD CONTENT! KEEP EDUCATING US DUMBS IN THE MATTER! ❤❤❤

I used to work in a punch and de shop, and we didn't have any of this numbered steel back then (30 years ago) we used a Letters and number system... Like tool steel was, O1, A2, L6, S5 etc, and High Speed Steel was M1, M2, M42, etc Is that system still used or is it different for those TYPES of steel we used??

Nice info! 👍💯

Very interesting. Is there a list somewhere of all the first digit steel type designations? Knife manufacturers sometimes indicate the steel used in particular knives, it would be interesting to be able to decifer these. Similarly, there is a a designation system for aluminium alloys. Is there also a deciphering table somewhere for that?

Very usefull thanks mate !

What alloy steel is used in broach cutters?

Thank you.

Great video,