High-speed steel (HSS) for cutting tools
Acero rápido (HSS) para herramientas de corte
- Date
- 1898-1900 · confidence high
- Place
- Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
- Credited to
- Frederick W. Taylor and Maunsel White
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A steel alloyed with tungsten and chromium that keeps its hardness at red heat, allowing cutting at two or three times the speed of carbon steel. Taylor and White discovered it at Bethlehem Steel and showed it at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
Mushet steel (1868) already air-hardened; Taylor and White developed HSS by high-temperature heat treatment between 1898 and 1900. The exact merit of each and the priority are debated.
What it led to
- high-speed machine production in early 20th-century factories
- modern drill bits, milling cutters and lathe tools
- Taylor's scientific management