What do you normally do with the equipment, devices, and appliances you no longer use? Are you simply throwing them into the trash or giving them away? If so, you are throwing money away. Yes, money. Every piece of metal product that you are discarding has some type of value to it. The value of the appliance or device will be determine by the type of metal or material the item is made with.
One type of scrap metal that can make you really happy with your decision to sell or recycle is carbide scrap. Sometimes a machine shop can throw out several pieces of metal because they can not use them for anything else. These pieces of carbide scrap can easily be sold and recycled, and they can be turned into another useful item. Selling this scrap to a dealer that purchases scrap or a recycling company is a surefire way to make a little extra cash. Not only will you make extra money, but you will also be contributing to helping keep your environment safe.
There are probably several recycling companies and scrap dealers in your area, and you may not have realized it. When you are out searching for carbide scrap, you should collect every bit of piece that you can. It doesn’t matter if those pieces were used often or not at all. These scraps will generally be melted and used to create other products, such as tools. Tungsten carbide scrap is definitely a popular piece of metal, and scrap metal dealers are constantly looking for this metal.
Now that you have an idea about what kind of metal you should go out to collect and how much money you can make, you probably also realize that you have already thrown some money away. You no longer have to throw out metals and money. Take a look around your house for some things to recycle:
Ball point pens: The rotating ball in the tip of a ballpoint pen is made from tungsten carbide.
Guitar slides: Some guitar slides are made from tungsten carbide.
If you have sports equipment:
- The trekking poles used by hikers for balance generally use carbide tips to gain traction. The carbide tips last longer and are harder than other metals.
- Roller ski tips are usually made of carbide since they need to be hard enough to break through layers of ice.
- Sometimes carbide spikes are used on the tires of snowmobiles.
- Some bike tires have tungsten carbide studs for traction on ice because they wear better than steel studs.
You might also check out that jewelry you have laying around. Some jewelers are using tungsten carbide in jewelry because of it’s durability.
Carbide Recycling 