Welding Journal

In 1927, motivated by the California oil boom, Stoody Co. produced the first bulk tungsten carbide in the United States (Ref. 1). Some of the resulting tungsten carbide crushed particles were eventually put in a tubular rod fabricating machine. The original oxyacetylene composite rod concept was later extended to tubular coated electrodes and open arc cored wires. However, such legacy products have been based on a low-carbon steel strip, which stands as a metallurgical limitation for tungsten carbide under arc weld..