Letter 24045

Cleaning cobalt alloys

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Will a hot caustic cleaner etch or otherwise damage tools made of a cobalt alloy if it is used to remove cutting fluids?

Andrew Farrow
- Johanessburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Well, I guess it would depend on the particular alloy used- but all of the commercial alloys I normally think of (MP35N, Elgiloy, L-605, Stellite 6B) would laugh at hot caustic solutions. Nor would I expect hot caustic solutions to affect cemented carbides with cobalt binder.

Lee Gearhart metallurgist East Aurora, NY