Microstructural and mechanical characteristics of recycled hard metals for cutting tools

WC–Co-based materials are widely used for cutting tools, however, powders for the materials preparation are rare and research is addressed to recycle worn materials. This paper presents a comparison between recycled and traditionally prepared WC–Co-based materials for cutting tools. Evaluation of efficiency in turning with application to 100Cr6, AISI 304 and Inconel 718 was considered, using uncoated and PACVD coated tools. Results show that carbides produced via recycling presented some residual porosity and larger grain size distribution, with different performance in cutting. Coating minimises the differences in performance between recycled and traditional hard metal tools.