Your Carbide Buyer: We Buy Tungsten Carbide Scrap Nationwide

Here is my number, printed where everyone can see it. The buyer boards pay $8–$15/lb for tungsten carbide. I pay $18–$20/lb — firm — for clean, sorted tungsten carbide inserts, end mills, and drills. Not "up to" twenty. The number, honored on every lot that grades as clean and sorted.

Text a photo of your pile to 312-880-8174 and I will confirm your grade and today’s firm number — fast, free, no obligation. The number you accept is the number you get paid.

A carbide buyer is not the same as a scrap yard that happens to take carbide. A general yard treats your inserts the way it treats a load of mixed steel: everything gets blended together and paid at one blended rate. Your high-grade inserts end up priced like the cheapest thing in the drum, because the yard has no reason to sort what it does not specialize in.

A dedicated carbide buyer does the opposite. I sort every form separately and grade it with an XRF analyzer — a handheld scanner that reads the metal’s actual composition in seconds. Inserts, solid end mills, brazed tooling, and heavy alloy each carry different value, so each gets its own number: today’s firm number for that grade. Nothing gets averaged down, nothing gets guessed at.

They grade in front of you

A buyer worth your material tests it where you can watch. I run the XRF scan in the open, show you the reading, and explain what grade it means before any number is discussed. If a buyer will not show you the test, that tells you everything.

They quote firm numbers from photos

You should not have to ship material across the country to learn what it is worth. Text photos of your pile to 312-880-8174 — a picture of the material, any grade markings, and a rough weight — and I will give you today’s firm number for each grade before anything moves.

They pay fast with honest weights

Pickup and drop-off deals pay when the material changes hands, with you watching the scale. Mail-in lots are graded and weighed on arrival, then paid out. No re-grading games at the dock, no surprise deductions.

They are reachable — a person, not a form

When you text 312-880-8174, I answer. I am Sonny, the owner, and I am the one who grades your material and makes the offer. There is no call center and no broker taking a cut in the middle.

I buy carbide inserts, solid carbide end mills, carbide drills and reamers, brazed carbide tips and tooling, grinding sludge and swarf, and tungsten heavy alloy — loose, boxed, or in drums, from a single coffee can to full shop cleanouts. Machine shops, tool rooms, maintenance departments, and estates all sell to me.

Chicago-area sellers get same-day pickup. Sellers anywhere else in the country mail in with a prepaid label or schedule a pickup for the right load — I travel nationwide for serious tonnage. Start at Sell Carbide Scrap for the full process, and check Scrap Carbide Prices for this week’s market ranges by form.

What does a carbide buyer pay for scrap carbide?

My standing offer is $18–$20/lb — firm — for clean, sorted tungsten carbide inserts, end mills, and drills. The buyer boards pay $8–$15/lb. Brazed tooling grades lower and gets a custom number from photos; sludge prices on contained tungsten. Market ranges by form are on my scrap carbide prices page. Your firm number comes from a photo of your actual pile: text it to 312-880-8174.

How do I sell carbide scrap to a buyer?

Text photos to 312-880-8174 with a rough weight and your location. I grade it from the photos, give you today’s firm number, and we set up mail-in, pickup, or drop-off. You deal with me directly — no forms, no middlemen.

Do carbide buyers pick up material?

I do. Same-day pickup covers the Chicago area, I run scheduled trips across the Midwest, and I travel anywhere in the country for the right load. Smaller lots anywhere mail in with a prepaid label.

Is there a minimum quantity a carbide buyer will take?

Not with me. I buy a single bucket from a home shop and drums on a schedule from production shops. If you have carbide, it is worth a text.

Why sell to a carbide buyer instead of a scrap yard?

A yard blends carbide into mixed loads and pays a blended rate. A specialist buyer grades every form separately with XRF, so your inserts are never dragged down by brazed tooling in the same drum. On a full drum, that difference is real money.

How do I know my material is really carbide before I call a buyer?

Real carbide is heavy for its size — roughly twice the weight of steel — and only slightly magnetic, while tool steel grabs a magnet hard. When in doubt, text a photo to 312-880-8174 and I will tell you straight what you have.

Based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, I buy carbide across the Chicago area and run scheduled trips through Northwest Indiana, including Gary, Hammond, and Valparaiso. See all service areas.