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Sandvik Launches Lead-Free Replacement for 20AP Free-Cutting Steel

02/24/2011 - Sandvik has developed a new, lead-free steel grade for fine mechanical components in anticipation of more stringent EU legislation and increasingly expensive scrap handling of materials containing lead.

In support of the Swiss watch industry’s goal of eliminating lead in watches, Sandvik has developed a new, lead-free steel grade for fine mechanical components.
 
Free-cutting steel containing lead has long been the standard alternative for machining of fine mechanical parts. In anticipation of more stringent EU legislation and increasingly expensive scrap handling of materials containing lead, the Swiss watch industry approached Sandvik with a desire to find a fully functional lead-free alternative to steel grade 20AP.

The company’s Sandvik Finemac™ free-cutting steel has proven to be a successful replacement for 20AP, the previous standard grade for fine mechanical parts. The new lead-free grade, Sandvik Finemac™, has been tried and approved by Swiss watch companies.
 
Sandvik Finemac’s properties are equally good, and in some aspects better, than 20AP. One noteworthy benefit is a wider temperature and time range available for hardening operations, which will help to simplify processing and reduce scrapping.
 
The Sandvik Group is a global high technology enterprise with 47,000 employees in 130 countries. Sandvik’s operations are concentrated on three core businesses: Sandvik Tooling, Sandvik Mining and Construction and Sandvik Materials Technology – areas in which the group holds leading global positions in selected niches.
 
Sandvik Materials Technology is a world-leading manufacturer of high value-added products in advanced stainless steels and special alloys, and of medical implants, steel belt-based systems and industrial heating solutions.