Carbon Steel 1018
The free-cutting low-carbon steel. Sold as cold-drawn bar for shafts, pins, spindles and studs — parts that are turned, drilled and threaded rather than welded into a structure.
Properties
- Family
- Metals
- Category
- steel
- Density
- 7.87 g/cm³ · 7870 kg/m³
Densityhow carbon steel 1018 compares
Alloy properties1018 · Cold drawn
- Grade
- 1018 · UNS G10180
- Governing standard
- ASTM A108 · SAE J403 (18xx chemistry)
- Yield strength
- 370 MPa
- Tensile strength
- 440 MPa
- Modulus of elasticity
- 200 GPa
- Hardness
- 126 HB
Values are for cold-drawn bar, the condition 1018 is normally bought in for machining. Hot-rolled 1018 is softer and more ductile — roughly 400 MPa tensile, 220 MPa yield, 116 HB.
Typical values for this grade, as published by ASM International, via MatWeb — not minimums guaranteed by a specification.
Applicationswhere carbon steel 1018 is normally specified
Machining & corrosiontrade experience, not measured values
- Machining
- Good — the low carbon and controlled manganese give short chips and a fine finish. Rated around 70% of free-cutting 11xx steel, which is the usual bench-mark for 100%.
- Corrosion
- None unprotected; it rusts as readily as any plain carbon steel and needs plating, black oxide or paint. Black oxide is a finish, not a coating — it delays staining, not corrosion.
- Welding
- Easily welded by all the ordinary processes, though cold-drawn bar is usually specified for parts that are machined rather than welded.
Like the workability notes on the wood pages, these lines are not measurements. They carry no units and no single source, and the ratings they mention are relative — a machinability figure is quoted against a bench-mark alloy, not against an absolute scale. Read them as the consensus of the trade, not as a specification.
Practical notes
- Cold drawn for tight tolerances and a clean surface, which is the condition the figures describe
- Case hardenable where a wear-resistant skin is wanted on a tough core
- Not a structural specification — for frames and plate, A36 is the cheaper choice
Tools used on itmatched on the metals family, not on this page
All toolsWhich tools work a material is a property of the family (Metals), not of the individual species — so this list is the same on every metals page, and changes when the tool data changes rather than when this paragraph does.