Tungsten carbide -- made from carbon and tungsten -- is easy to recycle, and very much in demand around the world.

1. Find a scrap metal collection center near you. A great place to start is with your city or county waste management office. Often, these offices will have searchable databases online, allowing you to type in your location and the type of materials you have to search for collection centers near you. Since scrap metal does fetch you (and the dealers) some cash, you're likely to find several scrap dealers near you.

2. Weigh your tungsten carbide pieces, to get an idea of how much you have. If the amount is too large to put on a scale, measure the material's height, width and length to get a rough idea of how much you have.

3. Check around for the dealer offering the best prices. If you have several scrap metal centers near you (which most metropolitan areas do), the various companies may offer different prices in order to stay competitive. Tell them how much you have, and ask for a ballpark figure on how much you'd get for it. Or simply ask them how much they're paying per pound or ounce. Once you've found the center with the highest price, note their drop-off hours and any special documents, such as identification, you need to bring with you.

4. Load your tungsten carbide onto a truck and take it to the scrap dealer, making sure to bring along the proper documentation. When the dealer accepts your materials, you should receive a check. Dealers typically do not pay cash, due to laws designed to stop metal theft.


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1. Hold a magnet to the item you are examining. If the magnet is attracted to it, the item is not tungsten carbide, it is iron or steel. However, sometimes tungsten carbide is used as a tip for an item, particularly saw blades, so this test is sometimes misleading.

2. Pick up the item and "heft" it. Tungsten carbide is very dense, and a tungsten carbide object will feel very heavy relative to its size. If you have a piece of steel that is a similar size to the object you are inspecting, the item will weigh about twice as much as the steel if it is carbide. This is the most conclusive test that does not risk damaging the item you are examining.

3. Scratch the item with a steel nail. The Mohs hardness scale is a method of measuring the hardness of different materials. Steel has a Mohs hardness that ranges between 5 and 8.5. Tungsten Carbide will range between 8 and 9, depending upon the exact alloy that the carbide is made from. Typically, tungsten carbide will scratch steel and will not be scratched by steel. Tungsten carbide will scratch glass as well, as another way to test its hardness.

4. Examine the item. Tungsten carbide does not corrode under normal conditions and does not rust. Seeing either of these indicates that the item is made from some other metal.

5. Put the item to a grinder and watch the sparks. Sparks from tungsten carbide are short and dark red, and are very distinctive to carbide. This is a fairly definitive test, but is somewhat more dangerous than other methods of identification and can damage the item.


Tungsten Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.tungsten-carbide.com.cn
Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
Email: sales@chinatungsten.com
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Tungsten carbide tools are graded based on their hardness and composition.

The grading system ranges from soft to hard and brittle to tough. Some machining applications call for a carbide tool that is made of very hard, but brittle material that can hold an edge.

Other applications call for material that can resist shock and is softer and tougher. By varying the proportion of the cobalt used as binder, and by using different metallic carbides, the properties of the cemented carbide can be managed.


Tungsten Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.tungsten-carbide.com.cn
Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
Email: sales@chinatungsten.com
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1. Machining. Machinists frequently use tungsten carbide tools to machine other hard metals, such as stainless steel. When they are manufacturing machine parts, the material that they are constructed from must be hard and resistant to wear. This makes milling or machining these metals that much more difficult, and, as such, must choose a material harder than the material to be machined. Tungsten carbide fits this bill perfectly.

2. High Production. When producing a large number of units in an industrial setting, the mechanisms that are stamping or machining the parts should be long-lasting and resistant to wear. For this reason, even when the machined material is not particularly difficult to work with, use tungsten carbide due to its longevity. It is subject to chipping, however, and is frequently coated with another material.

3. High-Speed Tools. In industrial applications where tools will be used at a high rate of speed, high temperatures inherently follow. Tungsten carbide is resistant to extremely high temperatures, making it ideal for situations where tools and mechanisms are needed to perform in these high-heat applications. This makes them useful for grinding tools and metal milling bits.

4. Torch and Welding Tips. Tungsten carbide is used for acetylene and other torching applications where you need a material that can retain its properties under constant exposure to flame. It is also useful in welding applications where a metal is exposed to high heat but cannot bond to the material being welded.


Tungsten Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.tungsten-carbide.com.cn
Tel.: 86 592 5129696; Fax: 86 592 5129797
Email: sales@chinatungsten.com
Tungsten Picture Center: http://picture.chinatungsten.com
Tungsten Video Center: http://v.chinatungsten.com
Tungsten News & Tungsten Prices, 3G Version: http://3g.chinatungsten.com