Tungsten Carbide Tipped (TCT) Router Cutters

These router cutters have the body and shank machined from high-grade steel, but with tungsten carbide tips brazed onto each flute.

These are produced in a similar way to HSS cutters, but the flutes are machined to accept tungsten carbide tips, which are then brazed in place and ground to form cutting edges. Although very hard and wear-resistant, tungsten is a grained material and therefore quite brittle, so it cannot be honed to such a fine edge as HSS.

However, it is the cutter of choice for general routing applications and provided the edges are regularly honed, will produce an excellent finish. Although more expensive, TCT cutters will retain their edges far longer than the equivalent HSS ones. Estimates vary but they will probably last 15 to 25 times longer.

The downside is that they are more difficult to sharpen when they do eventually need it. Although you can use a diamond or ceramic slipstone to hone up the edges, they will ultimately need a professional regrind to maintain their best performance.

Tungsten carbide is an extremely hard material but is prone to chipping when knocked or dropped against hard surfaces or other cutters. Applications include routing natural timbers, plywood, chipboard, fibreboard including medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and hardboard, glass fibre reinforced plastics (GRP), acrylics (tinted variety) and other abrasive plastics such as Tufnol, and solid surface materials such as Corian.

 

Find our full range of router cutters here, from top brands such as Trend and CMT.

 

You may also be interested in other Guides to Router Cutters

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