What’s the Difference Between Tool Steel and Mold Steel?

What’s the Difference Between Tool Steel and Mold Steel?

The terms “tool” and “die” are used interchangeably to the point that many machinists refer to the field broadly as “tool and die”, regardless of their specific expertise. In general, this practice is completely appropriate—there is little functional difference between a tool and a die, if any, and most machinists who fabricate tools also create dies. However, there are some nuances to the terms in industry, so it’s worth breaking down the slight distinctions.

The easiest way to think of the difference between a tool and a die is simply that dies are a subset of tools—all dies are tools, but not all tools are dies. In metal stamping, a tool can be almost any mechanical device used to cut, form, support, or mold metals. By that definition, jigs and fixtures are tools, as are drills and cutting blades. Dies, on the other hand, are only those tools that functionally change the shape of the metal. Dies are typically the female components of a larger tool or press.