Mens rings - Tungsten
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sunkist
Ideal_Rock
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Maybe I''m thinking about this the wrong way, but since tungsten carbide is so strong wouldn''t it protect your finger in some accidents?? It wouldn''t crush under pressure and mangle your finger as easily as other metals would. And also, I''ve read and been told that tungsten carbide would actually shatter when it reached it''s pressure limit. But I would think thats got to take a lot of force.
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Quality comes to mind. I am told that the very cheap ones on the internet are made with inferior quality Tungsten and are lighter weight than the ones you find in jewelry stores for $500 plus. I am not a metallurgist, so have no personal knowledge of the facts involved, but since I see wholesalers selling them for much more than they can be bought on Ebay for I have to think it is probably with some merit that such statements are made.
Wink
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Not necessarily true. I am told the way to take off a Tungsten ring is to squeeze it with vice grips several times until it shatters. Gold being more maleable will squash the finger and mangle it quite badly, requiring a special tool to cut it off with. Both will rip a finger completely off if caught on a piece of heavy equipment that is moving.
We seriously recommend that no rings be worn in that type of work!
Wink
sunkist
Ideal_Rock
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I had a jeweler tell me once that "they don''t carry tungsten carbide rings because they are known to shatter." Oh puh-lease
From my understanding that does not make this metal inferior. Just dropping it will not make it shatter. He was trying to make it sound like a bad thing, when I can only see it as a good thing! Can anyone see any bad sides of this?
codex57
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The only bad thing is fear or ignorance. Nothing wrong with tungsten carbide. Emergency personnel know how to take it off. You shouldn''t wear jewelry if you work with heavy machinery that can catch it. Same with playing sports simply cuz any ring can smash into your hand. A TC ring is really no different than any other metal ring.
sunkist
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Date: 6/9/2006 7:08:20 PM
Author: sunkist
I had a jeweler tell me once that ''they don''t carry tungsten carbide rings because they are known to shatter.'' Oh puh-leaseFrom my understanding that does not make this metal inferior. Just dropping it will not make it shatter. He was trying to make it sound like a bad thing, when I can only see it as a good thing! Can anyone see any bad sides of this?
Oh ya! And the other thing that made me roll my eyes at that jeweler even more is that tungsten is a metal commonly used in the barrels of guns. If it can survive THAT kind of pressure, it''s GOT to be strong and not so fragile that it will shatter if you breath on it. Man, that jeweler really got me going!
jasontb
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sunkist
Ideal_Rock
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pricescope
Ideal_Rock
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sunkist
Ideal_Rock
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pricescope
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Wikipedia.org page is a good resource, third link of External Links is http://www.memsnet.org/material/tungstencarbidewcbulk/ list Conditions for one of tungsten
carbides WC ( not THAT "WC"
, tungsten called Wolfram in other languages) as Ceramic.
Table of properties on the right lists thermal conductivity as 84.02 W/(m K), which is pretty high - it's not a semiconductor; there is another term "cermet" used for composite materials.
carbides WC ( not THAT "WC"
Table of properties on the right lists thermal conductivity as 84.02 W/(m K), which is pretty high - it's not a semiconductor; there is another term "cermet" used for composite materials.
Tungsten Carbide is a ceramic. Many type isn''t brittle as some wrote up there. I''ve friends that wear their TC wedding bands for over 2 years, they even lifted weight with them on and I have not seen any scratch on their rings.
Regarding the price, it is vary from manufactures, some will offer lifetime replacement or give out new ring when new size is needed, since you can''t size them. There are Tungsten Carbide out there are much easier to scratch like some watches and rings made my lower quality.
I would go with the lifetime warranty and buy it from company that will stand behind their products.
Regarding the price, it is vary from manufactures, some will offer lifetime replacement or give out new ring when new size is needed, since you can''t size them. There are Tungsten Carbide out there are much easier to scratch like some watches and rings made my lower quality.
I would go with the lifetime warranty and buy it from company that will stand behind their products.
pricescope
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I am afraid this statement is incorrect.
Ceramics also has to be grained composite material, usually produced by firing of powder. Diamond and gems are not.
Ceramics are MAN made, minerals can''t be called ceramics.
Diamond for example is a single-crystal of one element - C.
See more about ceramic here: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761565098/Ceramics.html.
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And some articles miss the mark as well (and I think the encarta article misses by exgtending the deffinition of ceramic to gemstones).
Ceramics is a confusing suject and the use of the term has changed over the years.
I remember discussions about the different possible meanings in my metalurgical and materials engineering classes.
This is a confusing subject - and there is some truth to the concept that "tungsten" could be considered a ceramic.
Tungsten itself is a metal. The problem is that it is extreemly difficult to work with in its pure metal state (or even modestly alloyed metal state). It is extreemly rare to find an application where tungstun metal was cast into a solid shape for use.
In almost all tungsten items - tungsten powder is sintered toghether in a mold at high pressures and temperatures. Often a binding element is also used. Densities up to 97% are common for the sintered product.
Depending on the tungsten alloy, binder added, other fillers, pressure, and sintering temperature - a range of brittleness - or toughness is achieved.
I am sure that all tungsten rings are sintered. My guess is the real difference between a $50 dollar one and a $500 dollar one has everything to do with the alloy, amount and type of binders and fillers, and pressure and temperature used. The higher priced rings are better for reasons that really cost more.
Now if you take the definition that a ceramic is "a manufacturing articles prepared from pliable materials that are made rigid by exposure to heat" then you could claim that most tungsten items are in fact a ceramic by the manner in which they are made.
If you modify the definition to eliminate "sintered metals" then you eliminate them from a ceramic classification (note that bronze and steal are also sintered in processes similar to what is used for tungsten for certain parts - and I have never heard anyone claiming that sintered bronze or steel was a ceramic).
Synthetic gemstones are items that are made under heat and pressure by allowing molucular building of a crystal. That is much different than the normal type of ceramic reactions that occur under heat and I cannot find any reasonable way to streach the definintion of a ceramic to that. large single metal crystals can also be formed in a similar manner (and are); although for other things there are other ways to make large single crystal metal objects (many feet long).
As for carbon: Classically there were three forms of carbon recognized: Bulk random assembly (as in coal), graphite (layered atomic pattern), and diamond (crystal pattern). More recently it has been suggested that there is at least one additional form - and perhaps two. Buckmasterfullerence has two forms (shorthandedly described as "Bucky": Bucky-tubes, and Bucky-balls. It has also suggested that one of those forms could be assembled into bulk assemblies as a ceramic (I forget which one).
Oh for those who are wondering: A Bucky-ball looks like a geodesic dome (round shape built from triangles). Buckmaster Fuller was the original designer of those - and was recognized by the science community by naming the molucular shapes that can form into balls and tubes after him (built of trianglular atomic bonds). Hence: Buckmasterfullerence...
So:
I would say: Tungsten is a metal - but is most often formed in a sintering process; which some may call ceramic manufacturing.
Tungstun carbide and many other items are pure ceramic (including my dinnerwear).
Dimaonds, and other gemstones are not ceramic.
Carbon may have a ceramic form as a Bucky-ball or Buck-tube: it is not availabel as a bulk product for commercial use yet (although there are industrial uses for loose carbon Bucky-balls, and perhaps loose Bucky-tubes).
I hope this helps clarify.
Perry
Ceramics is a confusing suject and the use of the term has changed over the years.
I remember discussions about the different possible meanings in my metalurgical and materials engineering classes.
This is a confusing subject - and there is some truth to the concept that "tungsten" could be considered a ceramic.
Tungsten itself is a metal. The problem is that it is extreemly difficult to work with in its pure metal state (or even modestly alloyed metal state). It is extreemly rare to find an application where tungstun metal was cast into a solid shape for use.
In almost all tungsten items - tungsten powder is sintered toghether in a mold at high pressures and temperatures. Often a binding element is also used. Densities up to 97% are common for the sintered product.
Depending on the tungsten alloy, binder added, other fillers, pressure, and sintering temperature - a range of brittleness - or toughness is achieved.
I am sure that all tungsten rings are sintered. My guess is the real difference between a $50 dollar one and a $500 dollar one has everything to do with the alloy, amount and type of binders and fillers, and pressure and temperature used. The higher priced rings are better for reasons that really cost more.
Now if you take the definition that a ceramic is "a manufacturing articles prepared from pliable materials that are made rigid by exposure to heat" then you could claim that most tungsten items are in fact a ceramic by the manner in which they are made.
If you modify the definition to eliminate "sintered metals" then you eliminate them from a ceramic classification (note that bronze and steal are also sintered in processes similar to what is used for tungsten for certain parts - and I have never heard anyone claiming that sintered bronze or steel was a ceramic).
Synthetic gemstones are items that are made under heat and pressure by allowing molucular building of a crystal. That is much different than the normal type of ceramic reactions that occur under heat and I cannot find any reasonable way to streach the definintion of a ceramic to that. large single metal crystals can also be formed in a similar manner (and are); although for other things there are other ways to make large single crystal metal objects (many feet long).
As for carbon: Classically there were three forms of carbon recognized: Bulk random assembly (as in coal), graphite (layered atomic pattern), and diamond (crystal pattern). More recently it has been suggested that there is at least one additional form - and perhaps two. Buckmasterfullerence has two forms (shorthandedly described as "Bucky": Bucky-tubes, and Bucky-balls. It has also suggested that one of those forms could be assembled into bulk assemblies as a ceramic (I forget which one).
Oh for those who are wondering: A Bucky-ball looks like a geodesic dome (round shape built from triangles). Buckmaster Fuller was the original designer of those - and was recognized by the science community by naming the molucular shapes that can form into balls and tubes after him (built of trianglular atomic bonds). Hence: Buckmasterfullerence...
So:
I would say: Tungsten is a metal - but is most often formed in a sintering process; which some may call ceramic manufacturing.
Tungstun carbide and many other items are pure ceramic (including my dinnerwear).
Dimaonds, and other gemstones are not ceramic.
Carbon may have a ceramic form as a Bucky-ball or Buck-tube: it is not availabel as a bulk product for commercial use yet (although there are industrial uses for loose carbon Bucky-balls, and perhaps loose Bucky-tubes).
I hope this helps clarify.
Perry
boonerings
Shiny_Rock
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A tungsten ring can actually crack if thrown hard onto a concrete floor. It does take a hard throw though. The rings cannot be made thin because you can actually crumble one in your fingers in that case.
A big difference in cost you see is that the cheaper rings are made in China by dedicated equipment. It takes very special presses and CNC grinders to produce carbide rings because they are so hard that they cannot be machined by conventional means. These are extremely expensive machines, so the few companies that produce the rings produce lots of them. There are people that import them by the hundreds and cut margins razor thin. I''ve had companies offer them for $30 in bulk. There are patents on the process held by a person in this country, so the ones that legitimately produce them here are higher priced.
A big difference in cost you see is that the cheaper rings are made in China by dedicated equipment. It takes very special presses and CNC grinders to produce carbide rings because they are so hard that they cannot be machined by conventional means. These are extremely expensive machines, so the few companies that produce the rings produce lots of them. There are people that import them by the hundreds and cut margins razor thin. I''ve had companies offer them for $30 in bulk. There are patents on the process held by a person in this country, so the ones that legitimately produce them here are higher priced.
Keep in mind that Tungsten and Tungsten Carbide are different. Tungsten in a metal and tungsten carbide is an alloy (or argueably a ceramic). Most of the cheap rings are made from cheaper grades of tungsten carbide and probably come from China. I would challenge the makeup of these grades and say that they are poor.
There are ANSI specs for tungsten carbide grades and manufacturing that define the actual amount of binder, hardness, transverse ruture strenght, porosity, etc. The more expensive rings will probably be made from these standard.
Also, cheap grades of carbide may corrode if left in most commercial cleaning solutions for an extended period of time. This is probably a good test to see if a tungsten carbide is a high quality grade, however it is a destructive test.
You also mention patents? Tungsten rings have been made for years for industial pumping applications so I am confused how there can be patents. Maybe the claims are for something else.
There are ANSI specs for tungsten carbide grades and manufacturing that define the actual amount of binder, hardness, transverse ruture strenght, porosity, etc. The more expensive rings will probably be made from these standard.
Also, cheap grades of carbide may corrode if left in most commercial cleaning solutions for an extended period of time. This is probably a good test to see if a tungsten carbide is a high quality grade, however it is a destructive test.
You also mention patents? Tungsten rings have been made for years for industial pumping applications so I am confused how there can be patents. Maybe the claims are for something else.
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