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Brazed carbide scrap, saw tips and carbide-tipped blades
We buy brazed carbide scrap of every kind: carbide-tipped circular saw blades, loose saw tips, brazed lathe tools, boring bars and router bits. Send photos through the quote form or call (877) 838-9920, and tell us whether the tips are still on the blades.
What counts as brazed carbide
Brazing fixes a small piece of carbide to a steel body with a thin layer of braze. ITIA lists brazing alongside laser, pressure and projection welding as ways carbide is joined to steel.
The brazed carbide we buy includes:
- Carbide-tipped circular saw blades from table saws, miter saws, panel saws, sliding saws and metal-cutting cold saws.
- Loose saw tips that came off during resharpening or retipping, or were knocked off worn-out blades.
- Brazed lathe tools: square steel shanks with a carbide tip brazed on the end.
- Other brazed tooling such as boring bars, form and grooving tools, router and shaper bits, masonry drill bits and carbide-tipped planer knives.
A USGS report on tungsten recycling lists saw tips among the used cemented carbide parts in old scrap, next to inserts, end mills and woodworking cutters.
Sources: ITIA: Cemented carbides, a success story; USGS Open-File Report 2005-1028: tungsten recycling.
How to tell a carbide-tipped blade from steel or Stellite
Look closely at one tooth. A carbide tip is a separate little block seated in a pocket on the tooth, with a thin seam of braze where it meets the plate. If the teeth are cut and set from the plate itself, the blade is all steel.
Two look-alikes are worth pulling out. The common one is the bimetal blade. ITIA notes that on an M42 bimetal blade "the teeth of the saw blades are made of HSS". We buy high-speed steel scrap too, in its own pile.
Some sawmill blades are tipped with Stellite, which ITIA names as a cobalt-based alloy, and OSHA warns that sharpening Stellite-tipped blades throws off a fine dust that carries cobalt. Those go with our cobalt and Stellite buying rather than the carbide. Stack diamond-tipped (PCD) blades separately too, and mention them in your quote request.
Loose tips give themselves away by heft. The NTP lists tungsten carbide at a density of 15.6 g/cm³ and NIST lists iron at 7.874, so a carbide tip weighs roughly twice what a piece of iron the same size would. Our guide on whether carbide is magnetic covers the magnet question.
Sources: ITIA: Tungsten in steel; OSHA: Cobalt dust (sawmills eTool); ITIA Newsletter March 2017: superalloys; NTP Report on Carcinogens: cobalt-tungsten carbide profile; NIST: element densities (X-ray mass attenuation tables).
The steel body and the braze
On a tipped saw blade, most of what you are lifting is the steel plate. The carbide is the ring of small tips around the rim.
The steel and the braze both have to come off before the carbide can be recycled. In ITIA's words, "In the case of brazed parts, the solder has to be removed prior to processing." A USGS report describes the same step in the zinc process, where scrap is sorted by grade and cleaned of any brazing before it is crushed.
So with a brazed lot, tell us two things: whether the tips are still on, and roughly how much there is. You do not have to strip anything. Blades with their tips, loose tips and brazed tools can all come to us, as long as you tell us which is which.
Please do not grind tips off. Grinding carbide throws fine dust that carries cobalt, and OSHA reports that among 12 workers who made or ground tungsten carbide tools and developed interstitial lung disease, eight died.
Sources: ITIA: Recycling of tungsten, part 1; USGS Open-File Report 2005-1028: tungsten recycling; OSHA: Cobalt dust (sawmills eTool).
Sorting and packing blades and loose carbide saw tips
- Keep carbide-tipped blades in one stack, with steel-tooth, bimetal, Stellite-tipped and diamond blades in stacks of their own.
- Put loose tips in a jar, a small pail or a heavy bag by themselves.
- Bag brazed lathe tools and other brazed tooling apart from the blades, and away from solid carbide such as inserts and end mills.
- Keep everything dry and free of oil, and shake off loose sawdust before you pack.
Saw teeth will slice through cardboard. Stack blades flat with a sheet of cardboard between each one, tape the stack together, and pack it tight so nothing can slide. USPS requires dense items such as tools and machine parts weighing 20 to 45 pounds to go in a box of at least 200-pound test board, and it accepts no mailpiece over 70 pounds, so split a big load across several boxes. More on shipping your scrap.
Sources: USPS Domestic Mail Manual 601: mailability and packaging; USPS Domestic Mail Manual 201: weight and size limits.
How to sell brazed carbide and saw tips
Start with photos. Take one close shot of a few teeth, one of the whole pile and one of any loose tips. Add a rough weight or a blade count and whether the tips are on, then send it through the quote form, email help@carbidebuyerusa.com, or call (877) 838-9920.
Sellers anywhere in the US can ship blades and tips to us, and we pay the shipping. In California, Arizona and Nevada we also come to you and pick up, in every city of all three states.
We pay cash where state law allows. Arizona sets its rule by dollar amount, not by metal: a scrap metal sale of $300 or more may not be paid on site, and the payment is a check or money order mailed to the address on the seller's ID. The statute exempts industrial accounts that preregister their authorized sellers each year. Nevada requires a check or electronic transfer when a scrap metal processor buys scrap metal worth $150 or more. That statute's definition of scrap metal does not name carbide or tungsten. Our guide to the scrap metal rules walks through all three states.
Sources: Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647.
Questions sellers ask
Do I need to knock the carbide tips off my saw blades?
No. Send blades with the tips on, loose tips, or both. Tell us which you have when you ask for a quote, and keep any loose tips in their own container.
Are steel-tooth or bimetal saw blades carbide scrap?
No. Teeth cut from the plate are plain steel, and bimetal blades have high-speed steel teeth. Keep those blades out of the carbide pile.
Do you buy new or barely used carbide-tipped blades?
Yes. We buy carbide in any form, including blades that are new, dull, chipped or missing a few tips.
I am outside California, Arizona and Nevada. Can I still sell carbide saw blade scrap?
Yes. Ship it to us from anywhere in the US and we pay the shipping. Pickup is only in those three states.
Keep reading
Carbide inserts
Used indexable inserts, coated or uncoated, any shape
Learn more
High-speed steel scrap
HSS and cobalt drills, taps and tool steel
Learn more
Cobalt and Stellite
Cobalt alloys, Stellite and hardfacing
Learn more
How to sort carbide scrap
Keep it clean and separated to get the most for it
Learn moreGet a quote for your carbide
Tell us what form it is in, about how much it weighs, and send a few photos. Ship it to us from anywhere in the US and we pay the shipping, or we pick up in California, Arizona and Nevada.