Carbide blades offer superior wear resistance, hardness and cutting performance for high strength, high-precision industrial applications, but are brittle and difficult to machine. Other inserts offer advantages in machining flexibility, toughness and cost for a wider range of applications, and perform particularly well in situations where extreme hardness is not required of the insert.

Carbide inserts (also called tungsten carbide inserts) have several significant differences compared to other inserts:

Material Hardness and Wear Resistance: Carbide inserts have a very high hardness and wear resistance due to their main components of tungsten and carbon. They are usually much harder than ordinary steel blades and are able to stay sharp over long periods of time, reducing wear and making them suitable for cutting hard materials.

Cutting performance: Carbide inserts provide better cutting performance, especially when machining harder materials such as metals, wood, and plastics, carbide inserts are able to keep cutting for longer periods of time, while other inserts may be more prone to wear.Heat Resistance: Carbide inserts have high heat resistance, which allows them to work at high temperatures for long periods of time without failing. For example, when cutting metals or in high-temperature environments, they can withstand higher temperatures than ordinary steel blades.

Corrosion Resistance: Carbide Blades: Carbide has better corrosion resistance, but may still corrode in wet environments compared to some stainless steel blades. Therefore, additional anti-corrosion treatment is sometimes required.

Other blades: Stainless steel blades usually have better corrosion resistance and are suitable for long-term use in wet environments.

Price: Carbide blades are usually more expensive than ordinary steel blades because of the complexity of the manufacturing process and the higher cost of raw materials.

Toughness and brittleness: Although tungsten carbide blades are very hard, they are relatively brittle, and therefore prone to breakage when subjected to impact or severe bending. While ordinary steel blades are relatively more ductile, suitable for some need to withstand the impact of the occasion.

Fatigue Resistance: Carbide Blades: Although carbide blades are very hard, their brittleness under prolonged loads makes them susceptible to cracking or breaking, especially in high impact or more complex cutting environments.

Other blades: Steel blades usually do not break easily over long periods of time due to their higher toughness, but may wear out more quickly.

Lifespan: Due to their excellent wear resistance, carbide inserts typically have a longer lifespan than regular steel blades, especially in high-intensity work environments.

Surface Smoothness: Carbide blades: Due to their high hardness, carbide blades usually have a smoother surface, which helps to reduce friction and improve cutting efficiency.

Other blades: Ordinary steel blades may not have as smooth a surface as carbide, especially if the blade has not been specially treated, which may cause some friction.

To summarize, carbide blades excel in machining high hardness materials, but are also somewhat brittle; while other blades, such as steel blades, are better suited for some applications where toughness is required.