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Tungsten composite separation

April 9, 2009

Sir,

I am looking for a simple, or not, method of separating a LARGE quantity of tungsten from a brass alloy. my company fabricates carbide composite drill bits for the oil field industry. we have several thousand pounds of that material that is in need of recycling. the material is applied and removed with a acetylene torches at approx. 1400-1500 deg. the "wash off" is collected and saved. I am looking for a way to extract the tungsten from the material. electroplating was an idea that I had and would like your advice on the matter. we have tried a forge method that was too involved to be profitable. my question is, do you know if an electroplating method or perhaps a part of the process could be used to effectively remove the brass from the tungsten? the tungsten wash off material is more or less in small hand sized blobs. the tungsten material varies in size from 1/16" to 5/16" rocks. any help would be appreciated.

Chris

Chris Sprague
Tungsten carbide fabricator - Kilgore, Texas

Acids would remove the surface brass, but not any that is buried or alloyed. Some cutting tool insert manufacturers used to buy used carbide inserts. I think that you will be better off trying to find a carbide OEM or recyclers that will give you a pittance for it than doing it yourself.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
April 27, 2009