Anodized Precision Tool Coatings for Hardware Surface Treatment Coating Parts

All metals have unique properties related to toughness, wear resistance, compressive strength, and more. If you understand those properties well, you can use them to your advantage and create the most suitable tool for your application.

The right tool material and coating will help your tools last longer and perform better, which in turn can help you:

• Reduce production downtime
• Lower replacement tool costs
• Achieve higher-quality results

Often, the right tool material is just one aspect of improving tool life. If you want the greatest longevity and performance from your tools, you may want to apply a performance enhancement coating . While there are many good surface treatments to choose from, physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings are typically the best suited for precision slip and press-fit punch components.

Below are four examples of common PVD tool coatings.

Titanium CarboNitride (TiCN) is becoming incredibly popular due to its broad range of stamping applications. It's great for piercing and forming carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel, and copper.

• Thickness: 2-4 μ
• Hardness: 3,000 HV
• Coefficient of friction: ~0.6
• Maximum service temperature: 400°C or 752°F

These characteristics give TiCN great wear resistance, excellent toughness in high-pressure conditions, and great lubricity.

Titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) offers improved wear resistance and heat resistance. Its specifications are as follows:

• Thickness: 3-6 μ
• Hardness: 3,400 HV
• Coefficient of friction: 0.3-0.35
• Maximum service temperature: 900°C or 1652°F

Because of these features, TiAlN has amazing wear resistance on cutting edges and is ideal for high-heat applications and high-stressed components. It can also be used with minimal lubrication.

Chromium nitride (CRN) is the best tool coating choice when hard chrome is preferred, but you need something a little harder and with better coating adhesion. It has these features:

• Thickness: 2-5 μ
• Hardness: 2,000 HV
• Coefficient of friction: ~0.5
• Maximum service temperature: 700°C or 1,292°F

As a superior substitute to hard chrome, CRN is a great choice for forming low-strength steels and copper. It's also resistant to corrosion and harsh chemicals.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is your go-to tool coating for applications that incur the most extreme wear and galling. It's commonly used for aluminum applications and has the following specifications:

• Thickness: 1-3 μ
• Hardness: 2,500 HV
• Coefficient of friction: 0.1-0.2
• Maximum service temperature: 300°C or 572°F

As mentioned above, DLC is excellent for piercing and forming aluminum, as its resistance to abrasive wear and galling is unmatched. It also has an incredible coefficient of friction.