tungsten carbide magnetic?

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Original poster: "David Rieben" <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi all,

I have a question about the tungsten carbide drilling blanks that
I will be using for my ASRSG. I've noticed that they somewhat
have an attraction to a strong magnet. I know that pure tungsten
is not magnetic so I was wondering what additional materials
are generally added to the tungsten carbide alloy that makes
it somewhat magnetically attractive? I know that iron would
be a "bad" thing to have in your RSG electrodes. It seems
like I've heard that cobalt is a metal that's alloyed with tung-
sten to make tungsten carbide and cobalt is indeed a mag-
netically attractive metal (is paramagnetic the correct term for
tis?). I know that cobalt is also extremely hard, too but I'm
not sure how it stacks up for SG electrode use in alloy with
tungsten or the typical tungsten/cobalt ratios of the carbide.
I don't think there are many complaints from the tungsten
carbided users as to their suitablility for SG electrodes al-
though I do realize that pure tungsten is the first choice for
this. I just thought that I would run this question by some of
you more metallurgically inclined list members for your opinions ;^))

David Rieben


David