They used to be expensive as hell back in the day. Now they are throwaway. Yes, China, of course, but is that the whole story?
The glue to attach the carbide cutting points are also better and the process is easier. I think the carbide materials cost less now also. Combine that with lower tool costs in general from automated manufacturing equipment.
ETA: and there’s a cycling down of costs as carbide and the tools get less expensive so do the tools used to make the tools and the life span of the cutting edges increases further lowering the costs of manufacturing the tools. And then the tools that make the tools that make the tools …
ETA:ETA: and with your user name you should have realized that.
Out of patent? (1923).
I think that the process of making sintered carbide is capital intensive. It costs $100 million to make the first one, 1c to make the second…
Depends on what you mean by carbide tools. the tools I used with the CNC router i was operating are still over $250 each. It doesn’t look like they’re getting any cheaper.
I don’t know, but I agree that back in the day “solid carbide” meant slightly less costly than “solid gold”, but not by much.
These days if I want a new 3/8 solid carbide end mill, I can find one on eBay for ten bucks, and it will show up at my door in a few days. All from China, and all very high quality.
It’s an excellent time to be a home shop machinist!
I think he means that things like say… a carbide tipped 50 tooth combination blade is something you can now buy at Home Depot for $37. It might have cost $40 back in 1986 as well (Same brand even!).
But $40 in 1986 dollars is worth somewhere around $100 in today’s dollars, so it’s not quite 1/3 the price that it used to be.
Why? No idea. Maybe manufacturing is cheaper, maybe the raw materials are cheaper, maybe it’s free-market competition with Chinese stuff. Or some combination of all 3.
Let’s not forget that “carbide” for tools is really “tungsten carbide” and China has about 75% of the world’s supply of tungsten. So, yeah, China, and it is the whole story.
Glue? Really?
Am I on candid camera?:eek: