ISO 513 application group · brand-neutral
ISO P grades — steel
Two different P scales, and they are not the same. On a workpiece chart, P plus a number describes the material you are cutting. On an insert box, P plus a number describes what the grade is built for. The letter is shared, so a P-group material is cut with P-group grades. The numbers are not: a workpiece subgroup number and a grade's application number come from different scales and must never be matched to each other. Everything on this page is the grade side.
ISO P is the steel group. 266 grades from 15 manufacturers are placed somewhere in it across 8 application classes, according to the comparison charts the makers publish themselves.
What the number after the P means
Inside a letter the two-digit number is a position on one axis: the low numbers are the wear-resistant, harder grades meant for finishing cuts at higher speed and lighter load, the high numbers are the tougher grades meant for roughing, interrupted cuts and less stable setups. It is a continuum, not a set of boxes, and makers place their own grades on it.
Grades at each P class
Two grades in the same class are built for the same job. They are not identical: substrate, cobalt content, coating and edge preparation still differ, and so will tool life and the cutting data you should start from.
P05
32 grades from 12 manufacturers are placed at P05. The 10 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: ISCAR IC808 · ISCAR IC8150 · ISCAR IC9015 · Kyocera PR1705 · Mitsubishi MC6115 · NTK DT4 · Sandvik GC4305 · Sumitomo AC8015P · Tungaloy AH710 · Tungaloy T9205 and 22 more.
P10
85 grades from 14 manufacturers are placed at P10. The 14 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: ISCAR IC30N · ISCAR IC807 · ISCAR IC808 · ISCAR IC9015 · ISCAR IC9150 · Kennametal KC522M · Kennametal KCPM20 · Kyocera PR1705 · Kyocera PR930 · MOLDINO CH550 · Mitsubishi MC6115 · Mitsubishi NX2525 · Mitsubishi VP25N · NTK DM4 and 71 more.
P15
21 grades from 11 manufacturers are placed at P15. The 7 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: ISCAR IC8150 · Mitsubishi MC6115 · Mitsubishi NX2525 · Mitsubishi VP25N · Sumitomo AC8015P · Sumitomo AC8020P · Tungaloy T9215 and 14 more.
P20
106 grades from 15 manufacturers are placed at P20. The 14 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: ISCAR IC30N · ISCAR IC807 · ISCAR IC9150 · Kennametal KC525M · Kennametal KCU25 · Kyocera CA025P · Kyocera PR1525 · Kyocera PR1725 · Kyocera TN60 · MOLDINO CH550 · MOLDINO CY9020 · MOLDINO CZ25 · MOLDINO GM25 · MOLDINO GM8020 and 92 more.
P25
31 grades from 12 manufacturers are placed at P25. The 10 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: Dijet JC5015 · Kennametal KC5025 · Kennametal KCU25 · Kyocera CA025P · Kyocera PR1725 · MOLDINO GM25 · MOLDINO HG8025 · Mitsubishi MP3025 · Mitsubishi VP45N · Sandvik GC4325 and 21 more.
P30
101 grades from 14 manufacturers are placed at P30. The 14 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: ISCAR IC30N · ISCAR IC328 · ISCAR IC330 · ISCAR IC928 · Kennametal KC525M · Kennametal KC735M · Kennametal KCPM30 · Kennametal KCPM40 · Kyocera CA025P · Kyocera CA530 · Kyocera PR1525 · MOLDINO CY250 · MOLDINO GM25 · MOLDINO GM8035 and 87 more.
P35
21 grades from 11 manufacturers are placed at P35. The 10 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: Kyocera CA530 · MOLDINO IP3000 · Mitsubishi MC6035 · Sandvik GC4335 · Seco TP3501 · Sumitomo AC8035P · TaeguTec TT7100 · Tungaloy AH6235 · Tungaloy T9235 · Tungaloy UX30 and 11 more.
P40
28 grades from 11 manufacturers are placed at P40. The 14 below have a cross-brand equivalence page: ISCAR IC928 · Kennametal KC725M · Kennametal KC735M · Kennametal KCPM40 · Kyocera CA530 · MOLDINO GM8035 · MOLDINO GX30 · MOLDINO IP3000 · Mitsubishi MC6035 · Mitsubishi VP30RT · Sandvik GC4335 · Seco TP3501 · Sumitomo AC8035P · TaeguTec TT7100 and 14 more.
Where these numbers come from
Every placement above is read from a grade comparison chart published by a manufacturer, cross-checked against other makers' charts. Nothing is inferred from price, availability or popularity, and no manufacturer pays to appear here. Something wrong on this page? research@cuttingtoolsai.eu.
Looking for the workpiece side instead — which steel, stainless or iron falls in which group? That is the ISO material groups chart.
Are you overpaying on your ISO P inserts? Paste your insert list and get a cost audit in about 30 seconds: cross-brand equivalents at the same ISO application position, and where you are likely overpaying. No signup, no sales call.
Ask about your own case
Material, operation, machine — get a grade and a starting cutting data set, grounded in the same reference data.