All You Ever Wanted To Know About Carbide Blanks And Their Uses

Cemented Carbide

Cemented carbide is a metal alloy composed of tungsten carbide and cobalt with varying ratios. A Carbide blanks are a tool used It is also called hard metal due to its very strong toughness and stiffness properties. To put in simple terms, cemented carbide is used where low wear and tear is expected; very high impact proof material is needed. It is used where machines are required to withstand very high temperatures such as production lines with high number of output quantities.

Properties of Carbide Tools

Few of the properties of tools made of cemented carbide are mentioned below.

1.High wear resistance When two surfaces come in contact of each other, friction takes place and if the loss of material is too much, abrasion is said to happen. Cemented carbide is highly resistant to this phenomenon. Carbide blanks are used because of this property for drilling small holes.
2.Toughness It is the ability of the tool of not breaking under heavy external loads. Obviously, Cemented carbide Cemented carbide shows very high toughness.
3.Hardness If intentional indentations are made to the tools at corners, accuracy should not be affected. This is called as hardness.
4.Transverse Rupture Strength It is the value of load at which the composition ruptures. The load is generally placed at the center of the tool/object.
5.Compressive Strength It is that value at which the composition breaks under uniaxial load.
Of course it deforms first in elastic form and then in plastic form before actually fracturing down.
6.Fatigue Strength It is the maximum value of the pulsating compression load that a tool can handle before breaking down. Etc.


In addition to the properties mentioned above for many other properties such as thermal properties, electrical and magnetic properties, corrosion resistance cemented carbide shows high values. Hence it is most preferred in machining industries.

The important tools made of these compositions are cutting tools. These tools help drill holes of any measurement. The range starts from few micrometers.

With the advent of newer technologies, today everything is being made in smaller and smaller dimensions. Hand held computers, laptops, digital cameras, other audio and video devices - everything has become small. It gives rise to the need of making very fine holes, in the range of hundredth part of a millimeter. This is where carbide blanks come into picture. They give you accurate drillings.

Types of These Blanks


Many custom made blanks are available today. Few of them are listed below

1.Round blanks
2.Flat blanks
3.Rectangular Blanks
4.Ground Blanks

Carbide balls are another tools used instead of tip tool bits. Internal elements of a valve are collectively called as Valve trim. CNC Programming has helped in making very sophisticated carbide blanks.