Which hand tool steel is the most durable?

As we all know, different steels are used to make different hand tools. The properties and strength of the steels are given below.

Carbon Steel (CS)
Depending on the carbon content, we can divide carbon steel into low carbon steel, medium carbon steel and high carbon steel. The higher the carbon content, the higher the hardness and the lower the toughness. We usually make hand tools with high carbon steel because it has high hardness and strength. However, it is not suitable for making screwdrivers (easily broken) because it is weak. Anyway, it is widely used in some general-purpose hand tool materials, such as wrenches.

Chrome-vanadium steel (Cr-V)
Chrome-vanadium steel is a tool steel alloyed with the alloying elements chromium (Cr) and vanadium (V). It has better strength and toughness than carbon steel, so it is an excellent material for high-quality tools. 50BV30 chrome-vanadium steel is commonly used for wrenches, screwdrivers, chucks.

Chrome-molybdenum steel (Cr-Mo)
It is an alloy tool steel containing the alloying elements chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), iron (Fe) and carbon (C). It has excellent impact resistance, strength and toughness, and its performance is better than chrome-vanadium steel. Suitable for high-end screwdrivers and small hex keys. 35CrMo chrome-molybdenum steel is commonly used to make chucks used with pneumatic tools. In general, the material is more expensive than others.

S2 tool steel
It is an alloyed tool steel containing carbon (C), silicon (Si), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), molybdenum (MO) and vanadium (V). The advantages of S2 are as follows:

• Excellent impact-resistant tool steel
• Excellent strength and toughness

Usually used to make high-strength screwdrivers and hex keys, etc. The overall performance is better than that of chrome vanadium steel. For the actual material selection, CR-V is more widely used than S2 because it is more affordable.

SVCM
SVCM is better than CR-V, CR-V has sufficient hardness, but the toughness is not very good. This shows that the wrench may break. The screw head will slip first, and then the screw head is damaged. Especially if it is twisted, it will break. SCVM + has better torsional properties than CR-V.

Aluminum bronze (aluminum-copper alloy) and beryllium bronze (bismuth-copper alloy)
Used to make explosion-proof tools. Explosion-proof tools are tools that do not explode explosive gases in a fire or explosive environment. Bronze is harder, and has higher tensile strength, and has a special antimagnetic function, so it can work in a working environment with magnetic fields.