Mitsubishi Materials Grade Chart & ISO Equivalents

Mitsubishi names a coating route, not an application. Read the prefix and most of the decision is done — and the NX cermet series is worth a longer look than most buyers give it.

How a Mitsubishi grade code is built

Mitsubishi uses more prefixes than most makers, and each one names a coating route rather than an application:

• MC — CVD coated. The mainstream steel and cast iron line: MC6015, MC6115, MC6025, MC6125, MC6035, MC6135.
• VP — PVD coated, stainless and high-temperature alloys. VP15TF is the code most people have seen.
• UE — PVD TiAlN for general steel turning. UE6020 is a multi-layer TiAlN grade for carbon, alloy and stainless steel.
• UH / US — heavy-duty P grades for interrupted and high-impact work.
• HTi10, UT20T — uncoated cast iron and non-ferrous substrates.
• NX — cermet. A completely different material system — see below.

Common Mitsubishi Materials grades and their ISO classes

Coating hardness and oxidation figures for UE6020 are typical published characteristics for multi-layer PVD TiAlN grades. Mitsubishi's grade families are revised between catalogue generations — confirm current availability before specifying.

Cermet is not a carbide grade — treating it like one wastes money

Mitsubishi's NX series is the reason this brand deserves a longer look. Cermet is titanium-carbonitride based, not tungsten carbide, and it behaves differently enough that most shops use it wrong.

• Hardness: around 89–91 HRA against roughly 91–93 HRA for WC carbide. Softer on paper.
• Wear mechanism: chemical dissolution rather than abrasion. That is why it outlasts carbide so decisively in low-carbon and free-machining steels — the failure mode carbide suffers from is not the one cermet suffers from.
• Thermal conductivity: lower. Cermet needs higher cutting speeds, not lower.
• Practical result: typical tool life improvement of 3–5× over coated carbide in low-carbon steel.

Here is the catch: cermet needs a minimum cutting speed of roughly 150–200 SFM (45–60 m/min) before it forms a chip properly. Run it at carbide speeds and it produces built-up edge and chips at the edge within minutes. A shop that buys cermet, runs it slow because it looks fragile, and concludes cermet is no good has spent the money and learned the wrong lesson.

If you are currently finishing low-carbon steel with a coated carbide insert, cermet is the single largest tool-life opportunity in this comparison — and it is a grade change, not a tool change.