The Development of Carbide‐Tipped Tools

THE original experiments with tungsten carbide demonstrated very clearly that this material was to occupy an important place in the field of machining metals. Early development however, showed that the first carbides were of little use in the machining of any types of steel, for reasons which, at that time, were not apparent. This limiting feature of the early hard metals represented a serious handicap in the development of the use of carbidetipped tools. As a result of worldwide research the cause of failure of the original tungsten carbide to perform satisfactorily on steel was established, but a complete and satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon has never been forthcoming.