Sell Carbide Inserts: Turn Used Tooling Into Cash

This number was written for your bucket. The buyer boards pay $8–$15/lb for tungsten carbide. I pay $18–$20/lb — firm — for clean, sorted tungsten carbide inserts (plus end mills and drills at the same standing offer). Boxed, loose, chipped, coated — if it is clean, sorted carbide, it earns the number. Text a photo to 312-880-8174.

A carbide insert is a small, replaceable cutting tip that locks into a lathe or mill holder — when the edge dulls, the operator swaps it and tosses the old one. Here is what most shops miss: that "dead" insert is still nearly solid tungsten carbide. The cutting edge is gone, but the tungsten never went anywhere, and tungsten is what the number is built on.

Machine shops generate inserts by the bucket. A busy CNC shop can fill a 5-gallon drum with worn inserts in weeks, and at 40 to 50 pounds per bucket of inserts, the weight — and the value — adds up fast. Inserts are the cleanest, most consistent carbide stream there is, which is why they grade at the top of the board. See where they sit this week at Scrap Carbide Prices.

Keep inserts away from brazed tooling

This is the single biggest money move. Inserts are solid carbide; brazed lathe bits have steel shanks. Mixed together, the whole drum prices to the cheaper brazed grade. Two buckets instead of one is worth real money.

Coated vs. uncoated does not need separating

Those gold, blue, or copper-colored coatings (titanium nitride and similar) are microns thin — they do not change the grade. Do not waste time sorting by coating color. Just keep inserts with inserts.

Boxed, loose, chipped — all welcome

New-old-stock inserts still in the box, loose used inserts, chipped and broken ones — I buy them all. Boxes with grade markings actually help, because the label tells me the grade before the XRF even comes out.

Watch out for cermet

Some inserts are cermet (ceramic-metal composite) rather than true carbide — they look similar but grade differently. When in doubt, text a photo to 312-880-8174 and I will tell you straight what you have before you ship anything.

Text photos of your inserts to 312-880-8174 with a rough weight — a bathroom scale works fine. I grade them from the photos and give you today’s firm number. Small lots mail in with a prepaid label I provide; Chicago gets same-day pickup; larger lots anywhere get a scheduled run. The full process is at Sell Carbide Scrap, and I also buy end mills, drills, and brazed tooling from the same shops.

Regional sellers in Northwest Indiana — Gary, Hammond, Merrillville — are on my scheduled pickup runs. See all service areas.

What are used carbide inserts worth?

My standing offer is $18–$20/lb — firm — for clean, sorted tungsten carbide inserts (end mills and drills earn the same standing offer). The buyer boards pay $8–$15/lb. This week’s insert ranges are on my scrap carbide prices page. Your firm number comes from a photo of your actual lot: text it to 312-880-8174.

Do you buy inserts of any brand?

Yes — Kennametal, Sandvik, Iscar, Widia, Mitsubishi, Kyocera, and every other brand, plus no-name imports. The brand does not set the number; the grade does, and XRF reads it in seconds.

Do coated inserts pay less than uncoated?

No. Coatings are microns thin and do not change the underlying grade. Gold, blue, black, or bare — they all grade as the carbide they are.

What about broken or chipped inserts?

Still carbide, still bought. A chipped insert lost its cutting edge, not its tungsten. Send them with the rest.

How should I pack inserts for mail-in?

A flat-rate box with the inserts in a bag or small box inside — they are dense and will punch through a bare envelope. I provide the prepaid label; you just pack and drop it off.

Can I sell inserts on a recurring schedule?

Yes. Production shops generating inserts daily can set up recurring pickup — a bucket or drum on a schedule, graded and paid each visit. Text 312-880-8174 to set it up.