Machinability
Glossary · Materials & Heat Treatment
At a glance
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- Materials & Heat Treatment
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- 2 terms
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- Written in the shop
Machinability is how easily a material can be cut — combining tool wear, achievable surface finish, chip behaviour and the cutting speed the material will tolerate.
In practice
Usually expressed as a percentage against a reference material, with free-machining 1212 steel taken as 100%. Higher is easier. 4140 in the annealed condition sits well below that; stainless and nickel alloys lower still.
Why it matters
Machinability drives cycle time and tooling cost, which is why the same part in 316 stainless can cost substantially more than in 1018 even though the raw material price difference is smaller than the gap in the quote.
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