BS Steel

British Standard tool steel specifications were introduced in 1924 in the guise of 224 ‘Steel for Die Blocks for Drop Forging’ by the British Standards Institution. 224 was revised in 1938 but at that time only covered 5 specifications. In the early 1900s many tool steel grades were being developed and introduced by the large number of special steel producers based mainly in Sheffield but also in other parts of the U.K. These independent producers of tool steel gave the grades tool steel brand names which were commonly unique to each manufacturer.

In the late 1960s the British Standards Institute was instructed by the Iron & Steel Industry Standards Committee to prepare and introduce national standards for the most commonly produced and used tool steel specifications, aided with the co-operation of many UK tool steel manufacturers. The BSI adopted the tool steel numbering system introduced by the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) but preceded each specification with the letter ‘B’. Thus O1 tool steel became known and produced in the UK as BO1. A comprehensive range of tool steels were first published in 1971 under the British Standard BS4659.

In 2000 a new series of tool steel specifications were introduced as BS EN ISO 4957.

Below we list our range of British Standard tool steel and high speed steel grades.

British Standard stainless steel specifications were first introduced in 1941 in the War Emergency British Standard Schedule BS970. At this time only 3 stainless steel specifications were published; EN56, EN57 and EN58. Later editions of BS970 from 1955 onwards introduced more stainless steel grades to the standard.

In 1995 a new series of stainless steel specifications were introduced as BS EN 10088, with subsequent revisions as BS EN 10088-2 and BS EN 10088-3.

Below we list our range of British Standard stainless steel grades.

Alloy steel specifications were first published as British Standards in June 1924. The grades introduced were the British Standard Schedule of Wrought Steels for Automobiles to BS 5005. Later, under the guidance of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Special & Alloy Steels Committee, a more comprehensive range of grades were introduced and published as TAC numbers which later became known (as the more commonly referenced) EN steel range of alloy grades. Revised in the 1970s the BS970 alloy steel specifications  adopted a six character structure – three numerical digits followed by a letter and two further digits.

In 1991 a new series of alloy steel specifications were introduced as BS EN 10083.

Below we list our range of British Standard alloy steel grades.

British Standard carbon steel specifications were introduced in June 1924 as BS5005 grades. In1941 the War Emergency British Standard Schedule BS970 was published including a range of carbon steel grades. In later years, after the introduction of Euronorm carbon steel grades, a range of BS EN designations and specifications were published.

Below we list our range of British Standard carbon steel grades.

British Standard spring steel specifications have differing designations dependent on the form of supply – bar plate or sheet.

Below we list our range of British Standard spring steel grades.

British Standard cast iron specifications were first designated as BS1452 for grey iron specifications and BS2789 for spheroidal graphite specifications. In later years BS EN 1563 was introduced.

Below we list our range of British Standard carbon steel grades.

All our British Standard BS steel specifications and grades are available with a cast and analysis certificate, BS EN 10204 3.1 mill certificate or a certificate of conformity. Please request when placing any orders.

All our British Standard BS steel grades are supplied in accordance with our ISO 9001:2015 registration.