[TheForge] Forging Tungston?

[Cheryl Brimson]

You are confusing "pure tungsten"  with the tungsten carbide used in cutting tools and tig electrodes.  There are over 100 "alloys" of tungsten carbide which is actually made up of fused particles of a number of compounds that can when fused together exhibit hardness as low as about 78RC to over 100RC.  As a reference a good knife steel will be between 58-61 on the Rockwell "C" scale.  Hence the 61RC.  Some of the alloys contain vanadium, tantalum or some of the other rare earth elements and are used for specific applications such as tig electrodes.
Cheers,
John Brimson



On Oct 24, 2010, at 2:58 AM, peter fels & phoebe palmer wrote:

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