BS4659 Steel Specifications


BS4659 tool steel and high speed steel stockholders and suppliers, delivering to the whole of the UK. West Yorkshire Steel are stockholders of a wide range of specifications in round, flat and plate. BS4659 specifications were introduced in 1971. The Iron & Steel Industry Standards Committee working together with tool steel manufacturers and end users standardized the most popular tool steel and high speed specifications used at that time. The grades were grouped in to six types; high speed, hot work, cold work, shock resisting, special purpose and water hardening. Some of the original specification included in BS4659 are now obsolete or have been superceded.

We welcome export enquiries for BS 4659 tool steel and high speed steel grades and specifications. Please contact our sales office and consult our shipping policy for further details.

Form of Supply

West Yorkshire Steel are stockholders and suppliers of BS4659 grades and specifications in round bar, flat bar and plate. Grades can be sawn to your required lengths as one offs or multiple cut pieces.

Ground BS4659 bar can be supplied, providing a quality precision finish bar to tight tolerances.

Click here to contact our knowledgeable sales team who will assist you with your BS4659 tool steel enquiry.

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Click on the headings below for further information

BS4659 Cold Work Tool Steel

Cold work BS4659 grades are stocked in round bar, flat bar and plate which can be bandsaw cut to your requirements.

Cold works BS4659 grades are commonly steels which can be heat treated to a high Rockwell hardness. These specifications are ideally suited for the manufacture of tools working in a surface temperature of no more than 200°C. Cold work grades offer good toughness, high wear resistance, excellent compressive and impact strength and high dimensional stability in heat treatment. Cold work specifications offer wear and toughness characteristics which suit relatively heavy forming and cutting operations at room temperature.

BS4659
BO1
BO2
BD2
BD2A
BD3
BA2

Hot work BS4659 tool steel specification BH13 is stocked in diameters, flat bar and plate and can be sawn to your requirements.

Hot work tool steel BH13 provides strength and hardness during prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures. This grade has good machinability in the annealed supply condition. BH13 offers resistance to high temperature corrosion and oxidation with dimensional stability during heat treatment.

BS4659
BH13

Plastic mould tool steel to BS4659 is stocked in round bar, flat bar and plate that can be cut to your specific requirements. BS4659 plastic mould steel grades offer a high wear resistance, good polishability with adequate corrosion resistance.

BS4659
BP20
BP30

BS4659 shock resisting tool steel BS1 is stocked in round bar, flat bar and plate that can be bandsaw cut to your specific requirements. This shock resisting BS4659 grade confers fatigue resistance, depth of hardness and resistance to abrasion.

BS4659
BS1

High Speed Steel grades are stocked to BS4659 specifications in round bar, flat bar and plate. These grades offer high hardness at temperature with high wear resistance.

BS4659
BM2
BM35
BM42

When heat treating BS4659 grades consideration should be given to hardening temperatures, including rate of heating, cooling and soaking times which will vary due to factors such as the shape and size of each component. Other considerations during heat treatment include the type of furnace, quenching medium and work piece transfer facilities. Please consult your heat treatment provider for full guidance on heat treatment of BS4659 specifications.


BS4659 grades and specifications are commonly available with a cast and analysis certificate or a certificate of conformity, please request when placing any orders.


All our BS4659 specifications are supplied in accordance with our ISO 9001:2015 registration.