Piece of the original ingot of R.F. Mushet's self-hardening steel,1868

Piece of the original ingot of R.F

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Piece of the original ingot of R.F
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Piece of the original ingot of R.F. Mushet's self-hardening steel

Robert Mushet was an English metallurgist who invented "R Mushet's Special" steel in 1868. This was a self-hardening tungsten alloy steel which was the forerunner of a whole family of tool steels, the most common one being high speed steel which contains 18% tungsten, 4% chromium and 1% vanadium.This steel has the property of "red hardness", that is, it still retains its hardness even when cutting at speeds which make it glow red hot.

Details

Category:
Metallurgy
Object Number:
1972-330
type:
steel and ingots
credit:
Clarkson-Osborn International