W-steels are still sold, especially for springs, but are much less widely used than they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This is partly because W-steels warp and crack much more during quench than oil-quenched or air hardening steels.
The toughness of W-group tool steels is increased by alloying with manganese, silicon and molybdenum. Up to 0.20% of vanadium is used to retain fine grain sizes during heat treating.
Typical applications for various carbon compositions are for W-steels:
0.60–0.75% carbon: machine parts, chisels, setscrews; properties include medium hardness with good toughness and shock resistance.
0.76–0.90% carbon: forging dies, hammers, and sledges.
0.91–1.10% carbon: general purpose tooling applications that require a good balance of wear resistance and toughness, such as rasps, drills, cutters, and shear blades.
1.11–1.30% carbon: files, small drills, lathe tools, razor blades, and other light-duty applications where more wear resistance is required without great toughness. Steel of about 0.8% C gets as hard as steel with more carbon, but the free iron carbide particles in 1% or 1.25% carbon steel make it hold an edge better. However, the fine edge probably rusts off faster than it wears off, if it is used to cut acidic or salty materials.