Specialty steels and other iron alloys have specialized or proprietary compositions or properties. They include stainless steel, nickel and cobalt alloys, superalloys, titanium alloys, tungsten materials, and high-temperature and corrosion-resistant metals for aerospace, medical, automotive, and energy applications. Super alloys have very diverse chemical compositions and properties. These specialty steels and other iron alloys can perform under exceedingly rigorous service conditions. They also have good electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties. Like other specialty steels and other iron alloys, supper alloys can be modified to meet application requirements. Suppliers of specialty steel or alloy steel may provide a range of products, or serve particular industries.

Selecting specialty steels and other iron alloys requires an understanding of turning, grinding and polishing; heat-treating; cold-drawing; and casting. A turned, ground, and polished specialty steel or iron alloy is turned to remove surface defects and then ground and polished to improve its surface quality and dimensional accuracy. A heat-treated ferrous alloy is heated to a desired temperature, held at that temperature for a specific amount of time, and then cooled. Cold drawn key stock consists of solid-core bars that used as keys to lock shaft components together. These solid-core bars are inserted into machined slots. Cast iron or ductile iron is treated in a liquid state, which causes all of its graphitic carbons to become nodules or spheroids.

Specialty steels and other iron alloys have specialized or proprietary compositions or properties. They include stainless steel, nickel and cobalt alloys, superalloys, titanium alloys, tungsten materials, and high-temperature and corrosion-resistant metals for aerospace, medical, automotive, and energy applications. Super alloys have very diverse chemical compositions and properties. These specialty steels and other iron alloys can perform under exceedingly rigorous service conditions. They also have good electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties. Like other specialty steels and other iron alloys, supper alloys can be modified to meet application requirements. Suppliers of specialty steel or alloy steel may provide a range of products, or serve particular industries.

Selecting specialty steels and other iron alloys requires an understanding of turning, grinding and polishing; heat-treating; cold-drawing; and casting. A turned, ground, and polished specialty steel or iron alloy is turned to remove surface defects and then ground and polished to improve its surface quality and dimensional accuracy. A heat-treated ferrous alloy is heated to a desired temperature, held at that temperature for a specific amount of time, and then cooled. Cold drawn key stock consists of solid-core bars that used as keys to lock shaft components together. These solid-core bars are inserted into machined slots. Cast iron or ductile iron is treated in a liquid state, which causes all of its graphitic carbons to become nodules or spheroids.

Specialty steels and other iron alloys meet the compositional standards of the Unified Numbering System (UNS), a specification established by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and metal trade associations such as the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Aluminum Association (AA). The UNS assigns metals and alloys a lettered prefix and a five-digit number. Other standards for specialty steels and other iron alloys include European Norm (EN) and U.S. military specifications (MIL-SPEC). QQ and QQS prefixes are used to designate specific MIL-SPEC metals.