I have had many questions over the years regarding who makes the best wear parts. There are several companies supplying the industry — some better than others — but most use nearly the same materials. You need to find the best tip for the money. One that wears well, costs reasonable and with timely delivery.

The GrinderGuy has decided to have some wear parts made with the GrinderGuy label. Do I want the greatest long lasting tip? Not necessarily. I want the best tip for the money. So I am making a few sizes for customers to try at cost (not free) on a limited basis, and see if I can save you some money.

I need a few companies to try these tips, run them in a few different applications and then give me a review of hours and wear life. I am looking for different applications and a few different machine types — then see what common areas wear the most for like machines. If you are interested in trying these tips, call me at 813•421•2757.

My goal is to produce the most economical tip. Reasonably priced, that wears well, and doesn’t leave any of the carbide you are paying for on the tip when you need to replace it. That is actually a big challenge. Read on and you will see why.

All wear parts are different, but most everyone uses some sort of replaceable tip that is impregnated with tungsten carbide chips for longer wear life.

According to Wikipedia, tungsten carbide (or carbide as it is commonly called) is a combination of tungsten and carbon.

Tungsten, a mined natural element, is in limited supply on Earth and the supply is decreasing rapidly as its use on new and old wear applications is increasing. There are currently no manmade substances that provide the same wear resistance for a comparable price. Therefore the price of tungsten carbide is sky rocketing, which is directly affecting the cost of your wear parts. You probably have taken notice of the increase in price this past year.

A carbide impregnated surface (or coating) provides a greater wear resistance than the base steel that the wear parts are made of, but carbide is more brittle, and will break or chip off wear part surfaces when it impacts solid objects like rock or steel.

Limiting the number of edges or surfaces the carbide is placed on can reduce your costs.

What to do:

• Review your old tips that have already been replaced.
• Determine which surfaces are wearing and which are not using YOUR grinder on YOUR material.
• Why pay for carbide that you are throwing away?
• Only pay for what you are using and it is possible to save $5 per tip.
Need help figuring out what to do?

Send a photo of your used tips to grinderguy@askthegrinderguy.com.
Have a question or need more advice? Call me at 813•421•2757.
Dave Whitelaw, The GrinderGuy grinderguy@askthegrinderguy.com