Carbide Grade Comparison

Cemented carbides are formed by bonding the hard, heat-resistant particles together with a metal, usually cobalt. Cemented carbides form a class of sintered product. Pure tungsten carbide (WC) is an extremely hard compound, but it is too brittle to be used in tools.

There are varying grades of carbide that depend on the percentage of cobalt in the compound, each with their own specific uses.

The lowest percentage of cobalt, indicated by industry codes C-2 or C-3, are extremely hard and durable, and equipped for light impact. This makes them useful for plug gages, wear parts, blades and other applications.

On the other end of the scale is the C-17 designation, which has the highest percentage of cobalt and is built for extremely high impact. These tools can be used for swaging dies, heavy draw dies and extreme punch applications.

Industry Code	% Cobalt Content	Properties	Applications
C-2, C-3	6%	Extremely Hard Excellent Wear Light Impact	Wear Parts, Blades, Plug Gages, Ring Gages, Compacting Powder Metal, Small Dies, Mandrels, Tube and Wire Drawing, Burnishing Rollers
C-9, C-10	9-10%	Good Wear Light Impact	Stamping Dies, Bushings, Draw Dies, Press Fit Bushings, Gundrill Bushings, Forming Dies, Punches, Wear Guides,
C-11, C-12	11-13%	Good Wear Medium Impact	Stamping Punches and Dies, Extrusion, Draw and Compacting Dies
C-13	15%	Good Wear Medium Impact	Lamination Dies, Stamping Dies, Cold Heading Dies, Extrusion Punches, Blanking Punches and Dies
C-14	20%	High Impact Heavy Shock Average Wear	Swaging Dies, Cut-Off Blocks, Chop Blocks, Header Dies, Crushing Hammers, Crushing Rolls, Extrusion Punches
C-17	25%	Extreme High Impact	Highest Impact for Header Dies Swaging Dies, Heavy Draw Dies, Extreme Punch Applications.