In the modern engineering world, extensive research has led to the development of some special grades of steel, often suited for enhanced functions. EN 9 steel is one such grade, having major applications in power plants, automobile and aerospace industry. Different heat treatment processes are employed to achieve high hardness and high wear resistance, but machinability subsequently decreases. Existing literature is not sufficient to achieve a balance between hardness and machinability. The aim of this experimental work is to determine the hardness values and observe microstructural changes in EN9 steel, when it is subjected to annealing, normalizing and quenching. Finally, the effects of tempering after each of these heat treatments on hardness and microstructure have also been shown. It is seen that the tempering after normalizing the specimen achieved satisfactory results. The microstructure was also observed to be consisting of fine grains.