What is carbide?
Composition, powder metallurgy, sintering, hardness, and the history of cemented tungsten carbide — the foundation everything else builds on.
IRONCREST CARBIDE RESOURCE CENTER
The Carbide Resource Center.
Everything worth knowing about tungsten carbide — what it is, how grades work, where the metal comes from, why the market moves the way it does, and how to identify, sort, and sell your scrap. Built for machine shops, tool rooms, and anyone sitting on carbide.
START HERE
What this resource center is
Tungsten carbide is one of the most valuable materials that passes through American machine shops — and one of the least understood. Most of what gets written about it is either a manufacturer's catalog or a dealer's price sheet. This resource center is neither. It is a working reference for the people who actually handle the material: machinists, tool-room managers, shop owners, maintenance crews, estate cleanout crews, and scrappers. The articles explain what carbide is, how the grade systems work, who uses it and why, where the tungsten comes from, what moves prices, and how to identify, sort, and sell scrap. The interactive tools let you profile a lot or narrow down a grade family yourself. Every page ends the same way: with an invitation to send photos for today's price, because published numbers go stale and your lot deserves a quote against the current market.
LEARN
Understand the material
Carbide grades, explained
ISO letters P, M, K, N, S, H and US C-grades C1 through C19: what the codes mean, what separates one grade from another, and why coatings don't change scrap value.
Who uses carbide
Metal cutting, mining and construction, automotive, aerospace and defense, oil and gas, and more — where carbide tooling works hardest and where the scrap comes from.
THE MARKET
Follow the metal
Carbide scrap value starts thousands of miles upstream, in tungsten mines and chemical plants. These articles trace the supply chain and explain — in plain words, no price sheets — why carbide is worth what it is.
The tungsten supply chain
Where tungsten is mined, China's dominant share, the APT benchmark, export controls, quotas, and the geopolitics shaping supply.
Why carbide prices are high
Supply concentration, energy-intensive processing, environmental regulation, defense and industrial demand, and trade policy — the forces behind the value in your bucket.
Carbide market trends
What has happened in 2025 and 2026: record benchmark prices, stretched lead times, new mines, the recycling push, and what to watch next.
IN YOUR HANDS
Identify, sort, and sell
Field guides for the workbench: telling real carbide from look-alikes, sorting a mixed lot for maximum value, and the selling process with Ironcrest step by step.
How to identify carbide
The full bench-test sequence: markings, density and heft, the magnet test, the spark test, sound and scratch — plus the counterfeits and look-alikes that fool people.
Sorting carbide scrap
How to sort a mixed lot the way processors think: hard vs. soft scrap, grade families, brazed tips, and keeping sludge out of your good material.
How to sell carbide scrap
The selling process with Ironcrest: what photos to take, what details to include, how the review works, and how offers, pickup, and shipping are handled.
INTERACTIVE TOOLS
Do it yourself, then send photos
Two shop-floor tools that run entirely in your browser — no account, no data leaves your device.
Carbide value estimator
Pick your material type, enter the weight, choose the condition — get a lot profile with its likely value tier, what helps and what hurts the offer, and next steps. Includes an optional do-the-math box using your own numbers.
Carbide grade quiz
Six questions about magnetism, markings, coating color, heft, and use — get a likely grade-family suggestion (straight WC-Co vs. alloyed steel-cutting grades) with an honest disclaimer.
CARBIDE PRICE ALERTS
Get carbide market alerts by email
Tungsten markets have been moving fast. Leave your name and email and Ironcrest will send occasional updates when carbide market conditions shift in a way sellers should know about — no spam, no daily noise, and no published price lists.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Carbide questions, answered.
Is the Carbide Resource Center free to use?
Yes. Every guide and both interactive tools are free, run in your browser, and require no account. The price-alert signup only asks for your name and email.
Do the interactive tools give me a price?
No — and that is deliberate. The value estimator profiles your lot into a value tier and explains what moves the offer; the grade quiz suggests a likely grade family. Ironcrest does not publish per-pound prices. Send photos for today's price.
How often do carbide market alerts go out?
Only when market conditions shift in a way sellers should know about. This is an occasional update list, not a newsletter.
Send photos, estimated weight, material type, and location for today’s price. Email sjohns@ironcrestindustrialsurplus.com or call 312-880-8174.
SEND PHOTOS FIRST
Send photos for today's price.
Every carbide lot is different — grade, form, quantity, and sorting all move the offer. Clear photos and an honest description are all it takes to get today's price, quoted against current tungsten markets.
HOW SELLING WORKS
Three steps to an offer.
Send photos
Photograph the material, nameplates and quantity, then send them through the quote form, by email or by phone.
Material review
We review what the material is, its condition and quantity, and whether it fits a direct purchase.
Receive an offer
For qualifying material, we discuss a direct purchase offer and the next steps.