Your carbide has a number in Lucknow.
We show you how we get it.
Lucknow's Chinhat-anchored vendor belt runs Tata Motors' supply chain alongside dense general-engineering estates. Most buyers quote a flat rate off a WhatsApp photo. We weigh it in front of you, grade it by carbide content, and show the math before you agree to sell.
What actually sets your price
Not a slogan — the three variables that move the number up or down before we ever quote you one.
Solid vs. mixed lots
An indexable insert or solid forming punch is close to pure tungsten carbide and prices near the top of the range. Grinding sludge and mixed floor-sweep from a tool room run lower — we price that as its own lot rather than blending it into your clean material's rate.
The metal holding it together
Cutting-grade carbide typically carries 6–12% cobalt as a binder. Cobalt trades on its own market, so the binder ratio genuinely changes what a lot is worth — a forging die doesn't price the same as a fine finishing insert.
Steel shanks, dies and mountings
Brazed tooling — a carbide tip fixed to a steel shank, die body or holder — gets weighed whole, then separated on-site so the recoverable carbide is priced on its own. We show that split before you agree to a number.
Why the rate changes week to week
Tungsten carbide isn't priced off a fixed scrap-yard rate card. The tungsten in your inserts and dies trades on its own international market, tracked through tungsten concentrate and APT (ammonium paratungstate) prices — the same benchmarks WolfTrack's Indian Tungsten Transaction Price Index follows every week. We reassess our buying rate against that market, not against what a scrap yard down the road is offering.
Know what's in your bin before you WhatsApp
Carbide behaves differently from ordinary steel scrap — here's what to look for, and the common forms we buy.
| Typical density | ~14–15 g/cm³ |
| Feel | Heavier than its size suggests |
| Magnetic response | Weak to slight |
| Colour | Grey to grey-black, matte |
| Common binder | Cobalt, ~6–12% by grade |
- Indexable inserts & tipsHighest per-kg value in a mixed lot.
- Solid carbide rods, drills & end millsFull-carbide, no separation needed.
- Forging & press-tool diesCarbide-tipped punches from Chinhat's Tata Motors Vendor Park units, typically brazed — separated on-site.
- Brazed tool bits & die insertsSeparated on-site before either portion is weighed.
HSS (High Speed Steel) tool scrap
Not everything worn out in your tool room is carbide. High Speed Steel tooling is a different alloy family entirely — fully magnetic, no tungsten-carbide/cobalt binder — and it's priced against its own tool-steel and alloy content, not the tungsten carbide rate. We buy both, graded and priced separately on the same visit.
- M2General-purpose HSS — drills, taps, milling cutters.
- M35Cobalt-enhanced (~5% Co) for tougher jobs.
- M42High-cobalt (~8% Co), heat resistant.
- T15Tungsten-type, high vanadium, heavy-duty broaches.
- Drill bits, taps & reamersBroken or worn-out sets — most common lot.
- Milling cutters & hobsSolid HSS or carbide-tipped — sorted and priced.
- Lathe & planer tool bitsSolid HSS blanks, ground or unground.
A quick way to tell them apart before you WhatsApp: HSS responds strongly to a magnet and sounds like ordinary steel when tapped; carbide is only weakly magnetic and feels noticeably heavier for its size, with a duller, denser tap. Bring both — we sort and price each on-site.
Where we pick up in Lucknow, and why
Lucknow's engineering base runs from the Tata Motors vendor ecosystem at Chinhat through dense older estates like Talkatora to the auto-ancillary belt near the airport at Amausi — each zone with its own scrap character.
Lucknow's largest organised industrial estate — roughly 700 acres with 146 developed plots and over 100 units running. Anchored by the Tata Motors car plant and its dedicated Vendor Park, home to tier-1 suppliers like Omax Autos running sheet-metal, piston-rod and welding lines. Heavy press-tool, die and CNC work feeding the OEM generates a steady stream of carbide insert and HSS tool-bit scrap.
One of the city's oldest estates — under 50 acres but packed with 130 plots and 104 units in production, among the highest density of any zone in Lucknow. General engineering and precision-machining firms here turn over lathe and milling tooling constantly — frequent small-lot pickups rather than a few large ones.
A roughly 235-acre estate on the Kanpur Road side of the city with 150 plots and 93 units running — mixed light engineering, pneumatic components and industrial-equipment manufacturing. Job-work machining shops here generate carbide and HSS turnings alongside general MS scrap.
Sited near the airport on the Amausi–Nadarganj belt, roughly 237 acres with 91 plots and 63 units in production. Mixes auto-ancillary manufacturers with metals and electrical-equipment units — automobile component runs here are a reliable source of carbide insert scrap from CNC turning.
An older, centrally-located estate notable for hosting rolling and forging operations. Forging and rolling-mill dies wear down HSS and carbide tooling fast, making this a dependable if smaller-volume scrap source.
A newer engineering corridor extending out from Talkatora toward Kursi Road, home to growing fabrication and engineering workshop activity — starting to generate consistent carbide and tool-steel offcuts.
Why sell here instead of shipping it out of Lucknow
Carbide scrap is dense and low-volume for its value, which makes an out-of-town dealer's quoted rate look tempting on paper. In practice, three things usually erase that difference: transport cost and risk on a dense material that's easy to shortweight in transit, a re-weighing dispute at the far end with no way to verify it, and the days lost waiting on payment. Weighed and paid on your premises removes all three.
Four steps, one visit
Before you WhatsApp
What's the minimum quantity you buy in Lucknow?
50 kg minimum for pickup in Lucknow. Smaller lots are best shipped directly — ask us on WhatsApp for the courier option.
How is the rate decided on the day?
Off the current tungsten/cobalt market plus your lot's actual grade — weighed and shown to you before you agree, not a flat number quoted off a photo.
Do you pick up, or do I need to ship it?
Free pickup for lots at or above the 50 kg minimum anywhere in Lucknow. Below that, courier to us directly — ask on WhatsApp for the easiest way.
WolfTrack — India's tungsten price desk
If you're buying or trading carbide and tungsten scrap in volume rather than selling it off once, WolfTrack's weekly brief and the Indian Tungsten Transaction Price Index track the market before it moves. Rs 499 per month.
See this week's brief →Carbide Scrap Buyers — Lucknow · Prices are indicative and confirmed on weighing — WhatsApp for today's rate.