Silver steel is common tool steel that is supplied as a centerless ground round bar (with tolerances similar to that of drill bit). The name comes from the highly polished appearance of the rods; there is no silver in the alloy.
Characteristics
In the annealed state it has a hardness of 27 HRC. It can be hardened to 64 HRC.
Composition
The composition is defined by the British Standard BS-1407.
The European/Werkstoff equivalent is 1.2210 / 115CrV3, which also includes some vanadium.
+ Composition of silver steel Element BS-1407 silver steel DIN 1.2210 / 115CrV3 Min Typ Max Min Max Carbon 0.95% 1.13% 1.25% 1.10% 1.25% Chromium 0.35% 0.43% 0.45% 0.50% 0.80% Manganese 0.25% 0.37% 0.45% 0.20% 0.40% Silicon 0 0.22% 0.40% 0.15% 0.30% Vanadium 0.07% 0.12% Phosphorus 0 0.014% 0.045% 0 0.03% Sulphur 0 0.018% 0.045% 0 0.03% Iron Balance Balance
Applications
Amongst other applications, it has been widely used to make such things as punches, engravers, and screwdrivers. Sheffield silver steel is used in France as a blade steel for straight razors. In Finland, German silver steel was and still is widely used for Puukko knives.
References