Start with what you need to purchase
A grade name is useful only with the supplier's specification behind it. Begin by identifying the supplied material: WC powder for further formulation, or a ready-to-press mixture whose composition and processing characteristics have already been specified. Do not derive an orderable powder grade by joining a particle-size number and a cobalt percentage.
Kennametal describes ready-to-press, spray-dried powder families for metal forming, metal cutting and wear components, with varying binder compositions and grain-growth inhibitors. Request the composition and supplied condition of the particular grade, rather than assuming every RTP powder is the same mixture. Kennametal: ready-to-press powders
For a replacement, provide the existing supplier grade and specification, drawing, current service life and examples of worn or broken parts. For a new part, describe the working environment and acceptance requirements. The application name alone does not determine the material recipe.
Write powder and finished-part requirements separately
FSSS is a powder air-permeability measurement that estimates an average equivalent particle diameter. It is not a direct measurement of the grains in a sintered component. ASTM B330 also excludes mixtures of different powders and powders containing binders or lubricants from its method. Confirm which material and preparation a reported result describes. ASTM B330: public scope
For the finished microstructure, ISO 4499-2 describes metallographic WC grain-size measurement. Use the test relevant to the acceptance question instead of treating a powder result as a guarantee of finished grain size. ISO 4499-2: WC grain-size measurement
| Put this in the request | Include these details | Resolve before ordering |
|---|---|---|
| Material identity | Supplier grade, WC or RTP form, specification revision | Exact composition and supplied condition |
| Powder acceptance | Required analyses, methods, units and limits | Which results are measured on each lot |
| Finished material | Required properties and microstructure checks | Test methods and typical versus guaranteed values |
| Processing | Equipment, forming route and existing qualified process | Supplier guidance and any trial requirements |
| Working conditions | Drawing, contact materials, loads, fluid and temperature | Failure modes and service-life target |
| Commercial terms | Quantity, packaging, delivery and acceptance arrangements | Written quote and treatment of a nonconforming lot |
The table is a request template, not a universal material specification. Fill in limits from your qualified process and the supplier's agreed offer. Where a requirement is still unknown, name the measurement or trial that will resolve it instead of inserting a convenient value from a different grade.
Compare complete grades
Grain size and binder content both affect cemented-carbide properties. CERATIZIT identifies the average hard-phase grain size and binder mass fraction as key parameters. A useful comparison therefore retains the whole grade designation and its test conditions, rather than predicting hardness or strength from two sliders. CERATIZIT: cemented carbide
The explorer below shows four published General Carbide examples. Their values belong to those named finished materials. Use it to compare the reported grain classes, cobalt content, hardness ranges and average bending strengths; it does not identify an equivalent NOC powder or an approved substitute.
Explore published carbide grades
Select a General Carbide grade to read its published finished-material properties. These examples are not NOC powder specifications or predictions for a powder recipe.
GC-012F
Source: General Carbide grade specification chart, page 1, marked November 2025. TRS is a bending-strength result, not fracture toughness. Compare named grades with the supplier; these rows do not isolate one material variable.
Each selection displays a row from the cited manufacturer chart. The higher-cobalt medium-grain example has lower listed average TRS than the other medium-grain example, illustrating why a universal rule that strength always increases with cobalt is unsuitable for choosing among commercial grades. These observations do not isolate every other material or test variable. Obtain the current grade specification before making a purchase decision.
Review the lot evidence and run the trial
Ask for a certificate of analysis tied to the delivered lot and compare its results with the agreed purchase limits. Distinguish a measured result from a typical catalog value or an item marked not tested. If reports use different preparation methods, units or reporting bases, resolve that difference before declaring two lots equivalent.
For a trial, agree in advance what constitutes success: acceptable dimensions and finish, wear, breakage, usable production output and service life. Record the material lot and processing conditions with the result. A failure should trigger investigation of the material, processing and application evidence; it does not by itself prescribe a fixed increase in cobalt or a fixed furnace-temperature change.
Compare total cost using current quotations and your measured accepted output. Include finishing, rejects, tool replacement and downtime where they affect the decision. Retain the successful supplier grade, specification revision and acceptance record so repeat orders can be checked against the same requirements.
For more detail, see powder FSSS measurements, fine and coarse grain comparisons, and cobalt-content comparisons.