Knowing a Cutters Material?

[komatias]

Solid carbide is not steel. It is a tungsten carbide grit material that is held together with 6-9% Cobalt. Some alloying agents may be used too. The only reason it is slightly magnetic is because of the cobalt.

Tungsten steel has some 0.5% to around 5% tungsten as an alloying agent. It does not significantly alter the magnetic properties.

A sure fire way to tell if you have a steel or a tungsten carbide is, as already mentioned, the weight.

A 6mm endmill that is 40mm long should weigh around 9grams. A solid carbide will weigh around 17 grams. If you do not have scales to hand but you have time, dip the blunt end in vinegar and see which one rusts.

[Tenson]

Given the amount of material removed from the cutter to form the flutes it is a little tricky to tell the weight it would be in each material, unless you have an identical HSS to compare with. That said, the ones I've got seem bloody heavy for the size.

Actaully it is easy to tell as I have a larger 'HDS' cutter and it is less heavy than the smaller carbide one. So I guess I can trust it is solid.