How Carbide Powder is Pressed

Tungsten carbide shapes are made from a powder which is typically tungsten, carbon, cobalt and wax to bind it all together.

Carbide shapes are made three ways; pressing in a die, ”whittling” a shape from a green piece of carbide or grinding a shape from a finished piece of carbide.  See our Carbide Articles Index for more information on Carbide, and the different grades of carbide.

This is a carbide press.  At top is a ram.  The powder is poured into the press cavity (the die) then the ram comes down and compresses the powder.  Once the powder is fully pressed the top ram withdraws.  There is a second ram at the bottom of the cavity that comes up and pushes the part out of the cavity.

Below are two different dies (seen from the top) to press a diamond shape and a trapezoid respectively.   Next to them is a saw tip seen from the side.  Saw tips are pressed from the side.  This means you can use one die to produce many different widths of the same shape.

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