JIS SKD11 Cold-Work Tool Steel
JIS SKD11 is the Japanese standard cold-work tool steel, chemically equivalent to AISI D2 but with a tighter vanadium range and typically tighter stock.
JIS SKD11 is the Japanese Industrial Standard grade for high-carbon, high-chromium cold-work tool steel, chemically equivalent to AISI D2 but produced to tighter dimensional and metallurgical tolerances by Japanese mills. It is the default precision-blade grade in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and most of East Asia.
Standard composition: C 1.40–1.60 %, Cr 11.0–13.0 %, Mo 0.80–1.20 %, V 0.20–0.50 %, Mn ≤ 0.60 %, Si ≤ 0.40 %, balance Fe.
Hardness: Annealed HB 220–255; hardened HRC 58–62 (typical), maximum practical HRC 62 (vs D2’s 64, because the V content is lower).
Heat treatment: Austenitise 1,020 °C, air cool, triple temper 530 °C, 2 h each. Standard Japanese-mill SKD11 responds to a wider heat-treat window than generic D2.
Properties: Equivalent wear resistance to D2 in most applications, slightly higher toughness due to the lower V (less MC carbide). Better dimensional consistency from Japanese mill stock.
Applications: Precision slitter blades, thin shear blades, die-casting inserts, plastic moulds. Particularly suited to tight-tolerance industrial blades where stock consistency matters.
Cross-reference: ≈ AISI D2, DIN 1.2379, GB Cr12Mo1V1. See D2 vs SKD11 for the field-level comparison.
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