Value the swarf and offcuts the shop produces. Enter material, weight and the current scrap rate to get the value per batch, per month and per year.
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Request a Proposal →Machining chips and worn tools are not waste -- they have real scrap value. Carbide inserts, aluminium chips, steel turnings, and copper swarf can generate significant revenue that offsets material cost. This calculator estimates the scrap value of your machining waste.
Used tungsten carbide inserts and end mills: $5-15 per kg depending on grade and condition. Solid carbide scrap (no brazing, no steel contamination): $10-20/kg. Keep carbide separate from steel chips -- mixed scrap is heavily discounted. A 5-gallon bucket of used carbide inserts can be worth $200-500.
Clean aluminium chips (6061, 7075): $0.50-1.50/kg. Mixed/sweaty chips with coolant: $0.30-0.80/kg. Briquetted chips command higher prices. Aluminium chip scrap is most valuable when segregated by alloy -- don't mix 6061 with cast aluminium or 7075.
Segregate by material type (aluminium, steel, stainless, brass, copper). Remove excess coolant (centrifuge or drain). Avoid mixing materials (steel chips in aluminium scrap ruin the melt). For carbide: collect separately; a dedicated carbide scrap bin near each machine improves recovery rates.
Enter the scrap weight per unit, scrap price per kg, and monthly volume. The calculator shows scrap value per unit, monthly revenue, and annual revenue. Separate your chips by material for the best price. Carbide scrap should always be collected separately from steel chips.
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Use the calculator freely. If the result points to a tooling or process problem, we can source the exact carbide tooling you need from vetted factories in China. Compare factory-direct pricing.
Before you commit to a spec, it helps to know what the market pays for it. These are real, publicly listed factory prices — not a quotation, and not a guess.
We source the tool families below direct from vetted Chinese factories, matched to the material and tolerance you just worked out. Every batch ships with its material certificate and dimensional record.
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Trying to work out where scrap is coming from? Our guide covers the dimensions worth checking first — a diameter sitting at the bottom of its band is not variance, it is how the tool was ground.
We source carbide cutting tools from China for job shops. We do not own a factory, which is why we can quote your drawing against two or three plants that actually run your material.
Cutting formulas with the units worked through · Speed and feed starting points for all six ISO material groups · How to read a carbide grade past its ISO code. 12 pages.
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