Frequently Asked Questions

As an innovative type of material, carbide – also known as 'widia', 'tungsten carbide' or 'wolfram carbide' – is characterised by its extremely high hardness; it is almost as hard as diamond. This makes the material particularly suitable for operations which lead to the rapid wear of the industrial tools.

Tungsten Carbide (widia), because of its high level of hardness, significantly extends the service life of the equipment. This in turn reduces production downtime and maintenance costs.

Plastic manufacturers use machines combining rotorknives or cutting rotors and a stator knife to granulate plastic strands into small plastic pellets.

The return on the investment in carbide parts is remarkably swift. For one thing, you can be assured that the output from your machines will be much higher.

We make every granulator knife and cutting rotor entirely to order.

As a result, we offer plastics manufacturers a solution for any equipment they may have, regardless of type or brand. We make the rotor and stator knives to the supplied specifications.

First of all, you buy directly from the designer/manufacturer of these carbide parts. Not having to deal with intermediaries allows you to get unbeatable value for money.

There are more than thirty different types of tungsten carbide. On the strength of our long-standing expertise in this innovative type of material, we determine the suitable carbide grade, depending on the type of wear.

The cutting rotors are made with carbide, steel or ASP. We also offer you the service of repair and regrinding.

We always aim to forge a long-term relationship with our customers to ensure we can further optimize the carbide grade.

Tungsten carbide (also known as widia) knives / blades are characterised by unparalleled hardness. They are almost as hard as diamond, making them particularly suitable for industrial processes prone to wear.

The transformer manufacturing process involves cutting the magnetic lamination or silicon steel. Magnetic lamination or silicon steel is particularly abrasive, causing traditional steel knives to become blunt quickly. This rapid wear leads to the formation of burrs, with production downtime as a result.

When you choose a carbide (widia) knive / blade, you already increase the service life by a factor of ten to twenty. The drop in sharpening frequency is just as spectacular.

You can expect a quick return on the higher initial investment for the carbide knive / blade because of your machine's increased efficiency. In addition, you get a higher quality end product because there is less burr formation.

Each knive blade used to cut transformer lamination ( silicon steel ) is 100% custom made by ICC. This means that for every machine – regardless of type and brand – we can deliver the suitable knive blade. We supply directly both transformer manufacturers and machine builders.

Such customization requires a great deal of expertise. For example, we braze a tungsten carbide strip from one part of the steel body. This technique allows us to guarantee that the carbide will bond extremely well to the steel, something that cannot be achieved with adhesives ( glued knives ).

Since there are no seams, unlike in screw-blades, for example, we eliminate any risk of frittering between the seams and markings on the cut plate.

Besides substantial savings, you will enjoy additional benefits when you order directly from the designer/manufacturer like ICC. For instance, there are more than thirty different types of tungsten carbides. Choosing the right carbide is paramount. We analyse the technical situation, and we select the right type of carbide in relation to your application to prolong the service life of your equipment even further.

The long-term relationship we've built with our customers has helped us optimize the carbides grades over the years. This requires a delicate balancing act, where ICC's long-standing experience in tungsten carbide plays a major role.

In addition to the knives used to cut the transformer lamination, we also supply the necessary punches, dies, and any other parts prone to wear. We also make these parts to order, based on the technical design submitted by the customer.

The potential applications for tungsten carbide are endless. Tungsten carbide (also called widia) is an extremely hard material, almost as hard as diamond. This makes tungsten carbide much less susceptible to wear than the conventional steels used to make industrial components.

Tungsten carbide parts offer a better alternative in the case of industrial parts subject to wear. These include knives and blades, moulds, punches, guides, etc.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you want to explore the option of using a tungsten carbide alternative to replace a specific component. We supply 100% customized parts made to the supplied specifications. In the process, we recommend the appropriate tungsten carbide grade for each application.

Our objectives? Maximize the service life of your tools which in turn will minimize downtime. As a result, you will save on maintenance costs and increase the return on your machines.

We've listed below some of the components prone to wear that we make to order in tungsten carbide (widia). This list is meant to give you an indication of our capabilities and is certainly not exhaustive:

• Roller rings
• Plain bearings in pumps
• Mechanical seals
• Moulds: deep-drawing moulds, cutting dies, punches, dies, etc.
• Homogenisation plungers and homogenisation valves
• Wire guides
• Rod mills
• Threaded inserts
• Scrapers
• Atomizer blocks
• Cores for brickworks
• Mill crusher pins
• Mill crusher hammers (glass recycling)
• …