The ISO 513 classification of workpiece materials by machining behaviour.
The six groups let insert grades be selected by behaviour rather than by individual alloy: P steel, M stainless, K cast iron, N non-ferrous, S superalloys and titanium, H hardened materials.
Each group is subdivided by hardness and by whether the material is prone to work hardening or abrasion. The system exists because two alloys with the same hardness can machine very differently — and because it lets a tooling catalogue be organised by a handful of groups instead of thousands of grades.
Selecting an insert grade on hardness alone. Group membership matters as much, particularly for stainless and superalloys.
This site uses Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are useful. It sets cookies only if you agree. See the privacy policy.