Machining metal can take a lot of work and can really damage many of the tools because of all the work, use, and heat that happens while they are being used. One way to get around that is to use carbide inserts. There are a lot of reasons to use carbide tools for machining. 

Carbide

Carbide isn't any one element. It is actually a binary compound made up of carbon and some other element that has lower electronegativity. That means an element that attracts fewer electrons than the carbon does. An example of this is calcium. Calcium carbide was generally used to light the lamps in miners' helmets so that they could see. The reason that carbon is used is that it is actually the hardest element out there. People would like to say that diamonds actually are, but the chemical make up of diamonds is carbon. So, what are some benefits to using carbide-tipped tools or carbide inserts?

Return on Investment

Carbide tools are actually a pretty good return on your investment and very cost effective. That's because of their long lives and higher efficiency level. You don't have to replace your tools as often and if you are doing a long production run where there is going to be a lot of machining going on, that can end up saving you a lot of money over the entire production run. It can also help to save time since you don't have to take whatever machines or tools offline to change out the tools or inserts as often. Keeping the run moving along with fewer breaks will also save you money. 

Better Surface Finish

Another reason to use carbide or carbide-tipped tools is that they will give you a better finish on your finished pieces. There are a lot of reasons for that. One of the reasons is that the carbide is so hard that it is resistant to chipping. Chipped tools could lead to gouges on the finished material. Since the chips could be very small, the gouges or other damage could be very small, small enough that you couldn't see them, but which would've marred the surface of your finished product, causing more trouble further down the road. 

If you are going to do a lot of machining, you need to make sure that you have the right tools. You are going to need to make sure that you have carbide-tipped tools or carbide inserts. For help with services relating to these items, consider companies like Olson Carbide.

Share