What Makes Carbide Cutting Tools Superior?

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What Makes Carbide Cutting Tools Superior?
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While steel tools remain a budget friendly
option, it is hard to beat carbide tools in terms
of offering a superior lifespan. If you want to
learn more about what makes carbide cutting tools
such a great option for machinists, read on to
find out more about this material and the tools
made from it.
What is Carbide?
While carbide tools might look and feel metallic,
they are actually a composite material combining
both ceramic and metal. The ceramic component is
typically tungsten carbide, a fine grey powder.
Carbide is roughly twice as strong as steel, but
its powdered form makes it a poor tool making
material on its own. In order to produce tool
carbide stock, this powdered material is
suspended in a binding metal(typically cobalt).
Under a microscope, carbide almost resembles
concrete with pieces of ceramic taking the place
of aggregate and the cobalt binder taking the
place of cement. The resulting material is truly
greater than the sum of its parts, with traits of
both metal and ceramic tools.
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Heat Tolerance
One of the biggest advantages to using carbide
cutting tools is their ability to handle high
temperatures. Metal tools have to undergo a
process of heat tempering in order to strengthen
their cutting edges. If they exceed a certain
operating temperature, that tempering process can
be undone, altering the internal structure of the
metal and softening the tools edges.
Carbide tools do not have to deal with this
issue. Because the cutting power of the tool
comes from a ceramic and not a metal, there is no
tempering involved. Ceramics remain stable even
at incredibly high temperatures, so you can run
carbide milling cutters at even higher speeds and
feeds than those made from high speed steel
allows.
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Edge Retention
Another side effect of using ceramic strengthened
cutting edges is a longer tool life. Tungsten
carbide is harder than steel, which means that it
is more difficult to erode. For tools that make
countless impacts over the course of their
lifetime, this is a valuable trait. If operated
at the correct speeds and feeds, the edges on a
carbide tool can easily last ten times as long as
those on a steel tool.
Rigidity
In addition to being stronger than steel, carbide
is also more rigid. This rigidity can help to
reduce tool vibrations and lead to smoother
operations. Paired with its ability to handle
higher temperatures, this means that you can run
these tools extremely fast without worrying about
the speed damaging your workpiece.
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This rigidity is even more important when you
think about drill bits. Because drill bits are so
long, they naturally wobble a bit at high speeds.
This can lead to steel tools oscillating enough
to impact hard surfaces at a slight angle and
walk off their mark. Using carbide tools can
significantly improve your accuracy when
drilling, even to the point when extremely
accurate holes can be drilled without the need
for spotting ahead of time.
When it comes to finding carbide cutting tools
for sale, it is important to deal with
manufacturers who are dedicated to producing high
performance, solid carbide tools. Online Carbide
is a great American manufacturer that grinds all
of their carbide end mills and drill bits with
precision 5 axis grinding machines to produce
incredible tools. You can see their full
catalogue of drill bits and end mills by visiting
their website at www.onlinecarbide.com.
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Online Carbide
Contact Us
Add 438 W Railroad Ave, Batesburg, SC 29006
Phone [phone]
Website http//onlinecarbide.com/
Email sales_at_onlinecarbide.com