Low-alloy special purpose steel is a grade of tool steel characterized by its proportion of iron to other elements, the kind of elements in its composition, and its treatment during the manufacturing process.
The three ASTM established grades of low-alloy special purpose steel are L2, L3, and L6.
[2] L2 grade steel comes in medium-carbon (0.45%-0.65%) and high-carbon (0.65%-1.1%) formats.
[2] L6 is the most commonly encountered and most frequently made variety of these steels.
[3] Applications for the L-series of tool steels have included precision gauges, bearings, rollers, cold-heading dies, swaging dies, feed fingers, spindles, jigs, shears, punches, and drills.