Materials reference
Tool Steel H13
What is it?
Tool Steel H13 is a metal alloy selected for particular strength, temperature, weight or manufacturing needs.
Why would someone print it?
Printing may help create complex shapes or low-volume parts, but the complete finishing and inspection route still matters.
What should a beginner know?
- Confirm the exact machine, material settings and acceptance requirements.
- A material listing does not by itself qualify a production part.
What happens after printing?
Printed parts may need heat treatment, support removal, machining, finishing and inspection before they are accepted. Powder feedstock is often the largest consumable in LPBF economics — public powder price evidence, where records exist, is collected by alloy on its own page.
What is an alloy?
What does this mean? An alloy is a defined metal composition. Why does it matter? Composition, process settings and post-processing affect the finished part.
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Technical material evidence
A hot-work tool steel built to survive repeated heating and cooling against molten or hot material — die and insert duty where soft steels gall and fatigue. In AM it is used for conformal-cooled tooling and repair, but it is one of the harder printable engineering steels: high preheat, careful thermal management and post-build heat treatment are usually required to avoid cracking. The buyer question is not whether H13 can print, but who owns the cracking risk: verify the qualified parameter set, preheat/HT route and inspection plan for the specific machine.
LPBF + bound-metal · process-family reference. Nominal alloy properties and printed-part properties are different evidence — the table and sections below separate what is verified from what needs your qualified process.
| Property | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Designations | AISI H13 UNS T20813 W.Nr 1.2344 (X40CrMoV13 5)OEM ↗ · Source reviewed |
| Nominal material density | Density not verified for this alloy |
| Powder price | Current supplier quote required No public powder list price was captured in the supplied source review. Obtain a current supplier quote. |
Post-processing evidence
Three-stage: SOFT ANNEAL FIRST to relieve build stresses, then harden/temper to target (EOS data sheet) - skipping soft anneal cracks parts
OEM ↗ · Source reviewedThis is a research summary, not a production heat-treatment instruction. Use the current OEM material datasheet, qualified parameter set and application-specific acceptance requirements.
Machine and process compatibility
Manufacturing considerations
- cracking risk without first-stage soft anneal
- hot-work properties depend on tempering