Imperial Silver Steel (BS1407)
If you’re looking to buy steel for making into tools, cutters, bearings, model parts and other applications requiring precision and durability, then silver steel is the answer.
All of Rennie Tool Company’s silver steel meets the BS1407 specification laid down for this material. We supply our silver steel in lengths of round bar 13 inches long and in a range of imperial standard diameters ranging from 1/16” to 2”.
Read MoreWhat is Imperial Silver Steel?
Silver steel is high carbon tool steel. Despite its name there is no silver in the metal. It’s called silver steel because of its appearance: During production, the steel bar is ground and polished to high dimensional tolerances. The polishing gives the steel a bright, shiny and silver-like finish.
Rennie Tool Company can provide steel made to both Imperial and metric dimensions. All the silver steel we supply is manufactured in the United Kingdom.
Uses for Silver Steel
Silver steel is ideal for machining into tools and other items requiring precision, durability and hardness. These include machining and woodworking tools, punches, dies and drill bits. Silver steel is also suited for making hammers, chisels and files.
This material is also used in parts that need to be precise and durable, such as traditional razor blades, knives, sheers and feeler gauges. Silver steel bar is also ideal for small mechanical parts such as bearings, dowels, axles and gears. It’s widely used by hobbyists for making model engineering parts.
BS1407 Silver Steel
The British Standard for silver steel, BS1407, stipulates 0.95-1.25% carbon content, 0.35-0.45% chromium, 0.25-0.45% manganese, up to 0.4% silicon and small amounts of phosphorus and sulphur.
The silver steel provided by Rennie meets the BS1407 standard. Our silver steel typically has 1.0% carbon, 0.4% chromium, 0.35% manganese and 0.3% silicon.
Imperial Silver Steel for Precision
Our silver steel round bar comes in imperial dimensions – 13” lengths and diameters of between 1/16” and 2”. These dimensions are to tolerances of +/- 0.00025” for sizes up to 1” and +/- 0.0005” for sizes over 1”.
Silver steel from Rennie Tool Company is supplied in spheroidised annealed condition. This means the metal is ductile enough to be easily and accurately worked. When machined as needed it can be hardened and tempered to produce a tough and long-lasting product that will maintain the distinctive hard shiny surface of silver steel.
