How to cut carbide/tungsten steel alloy round rods efficiently?
Can tungsten carbide rods be used to sharpen knives?
People widely use carbide (tungsten steel) round rods in machining, tool manufacturing and other fields because they have ultra-high hardness, wear resistance and high temperature resistance.
But how to cut such materials correctly? Can tungsten carbide rods be used for tool grinding? We will provide practical guidelines and recommend several models of high-hardness and high-wear-resistant carbide round rods.
一. How to cut carbide/tungsten steel alloy round bars?
The hardness of carbide is much higher than that of ordinary steel (HRA 85-93), and it is difficult to handle with traditional cutting tools. Here are three efficient cutting methods:
1. Diamond wheel cutting machine (recommended)
Active operation: Fix the round bar to the cutting machine fixture and adjust the diamond wheel speed to 3000-5000 RPM.
Passive cooling: Continuously spray coolant (such as water-based cutting fluid) during cutting to prevent the material from cracking due to high temperature.
Advantages: High cutting accuracy (±0.1mm), suitable for round bars with a diameter of ≤20mm.
2. Electric spark wire cutting (precision cutting)
After conducting a conductive treatment on the carbide, people achieve cutting through the principle of electro – erosion. This method is suitable for round bars with complex shapes or large diameters (such as more than 50mm).
Note: Professional equipment is required and the cost is relatively high.
3. Laser cutting (efficient but limited)
The laser beam can quickly melt the material, but it has limited effect on cemented carbide thicker than 10mm, and you may need to grind the edges a second time.
二. Recommended carbide round bar models
The following models are widely used in cutting and tool manufacturing:
| Model | Puwei brand | Element | Applicable scenarios | Diameter range |
| YG6 | LBC05 | WC-94%, Co-6% | General cutting, wear parts | 3mm-30mm |
| YG8 | LBC09 | WC-92%, Co-8% | High impact conditions (such as mining drill bits) | 5mm-50mm |
| YN10 | LBC12S | WC-85%, Ni-15% | Precision tools, corrosion-resistant environment | 1mm-15mm |
三. Four core advantages of cemented carbide round rods
1. Excellent mechanical properties: extremely strong resistance to deformation
Active support structure: The cross section of the round rod is uniform and symmetrical, and the stress distribution is more balanced when subjected to radial pressure (such as drilling and stamping).
Compared with square or special-shaped materials, the bending strength is increased by more than 30%.
Typical application: People often use YG8 round rods in geological drilling drill bits, and these drill bits can withstand underground impact loads of more than 200MPa without breaking.
2. High processing adaptability: suitable for precision manufacturing
It is friendly for turning/grinding: You can seamlessly connect the cylindrical surface to the chuck fixture of the CNC machine tool. During processing, you can control the runout error within 0.01mm. This makes it particularly suitable for manufacturing precision tools (such as PCB micro drill bits).
Case: YN10 round rods with a diameter of 1mm can be directly processed into a medical surgical knife edge with a precision of 0.3mm.
3. Extreme environment resistance: stability far exceeds that of ordinary steel
High temperature performance: at 800℃, the compressive strength of carbide round rods remains at 85% of that at room temperature (the strength of ordinary high-speed steel drops to 40% at this time).
Corrosion resistance: YN series round rods with nickel bonding phase can work for a long time in an acid-base environment of pH2-12, and their service life is 5-8 times that of 316 stainless steel.
4. Surface finish advantage: reduce secondary processing costs
Precision sintering process: The precision sintering process enables the surface roughness of high – quality round rods to reach Ra0.4μm (equivalent to mirror grade). When using these round rods directly as mold ejectors and guide pins, you can omit the polishing process.
Data comparison: When people replace the traditional wire drawing die with YG6 round rods, the surface scratch rate of the product reduces by 72%.
