Bulk Tungsten-Carbide Tools

The main applications of coated tungsten carbide are tips and blanks, indexable inserts, milling tools, turning and boring tools, and circular saws. 

Titanium nitride is the material of choice for the coating of high-speed steel cutting tools. It is usually applied by physical vapor deposition (reactive sputtering or evaporation by electron-beam heating). These processes are preferred over CVD since the deposition temperature is below the autenitizing temperature of the steel and the tool is not dimensionally distorted. 

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At the simplest level, nanoparticles of hard substances are useful as polishing powders which are able to give very smooth, defect-free surfaces. Indeed, 50 nm nanoparticles of cobalt tungsten carbide are found to be much harder than the bulk material. Therefore, they can be used to make cutting and drilling tools that will last longer. 

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