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How to Identify Carbide

Carbide, which is short for tungsten carbide, is a very hard and strong substance that's used in a variety of products ranging from power-tool bits and blades to wedding bands and men's jewelry. If you need to figure out whether or not the material you have is tungsten carbide, then there are at-home tests you can do.

Things You'll Need

Metal grinder
Goggles
Protective gloves

Instructions

- 1
  Lift the metal. Tungsten carbide is extremely heavy and solid and two tablespoons of it weighs over a pound. If the metal is solid and strong and not soft like gold or lead, then it's probably tungsten carbide.
- 2
  Look at what the item is. Tungsten carbide is most often used on drills, saws and machine parts used for working metals and stones. Jewelry, especially men's rings and wedding bands, may also be made out of tungsten carbide.
- 3
  Grind the item. Put on a pair of protective goggles and gloves and grind the potential tungsten carbide. It will be very hard to damage and the sparks that it throws off will be a dull, cherry red and quite small. This is a very telling test to determine if you have tungsten carbide.

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