A Decade of Deep Cooperation in Cobalt Alloy Tips
In 2008, a woodworking tools company was seeking a local Chinese partner capable of producing cobalt-alloy saw tips. At that time, our company had no capability to produce cobalt alloy saw tips by powder metallurgy. With the 3 samples supplied by the company, our team launched a dedicated R&D initiative, investing over several million RMB and devoting five years to overcoming countless technical hurdles. SYTOP successfully produced cobalt alloy saw tips using the powder metallurgy process.
After successfully developing ST 12 & ST 1 series saw tips, we spent over a year conducting on-machine tests across different woodworking scenario, from frozen wood cutting to processing corrosive timber with acidic sap. The consistent performance in fracture resistance, cutting stability, and durability earned widespread customer recognition, laying a solid technical foundation for our subsequent market expansion.
Because the cost of cobalt alloy was higher than that of tungsten carbide in the past, cobalt alloy saw tips were mostly used in specialized woodworking applications, such as frozen wood cutting and processing corrosive wood with acidic sap. For these extreme conditions, we chose the powder metallurgy process to produce ST 12 & ST 1 series, enabling the products to maintain excellent fracture resistance and cutting stability even in low-temperature and corrosive environments. During the ten years, we continuously upgraded production capacity and quality control systems, realizing dual improvements in product precision and delivery efficiency from small-batch customization of multiple specifications to large-batch standardized mass production, laying a solid foundation for subsequent market expansion.
In 2025, the global tungsten price surged sharply, leading to a significant increase in the procurement costs of tungsten alloy saw tips and exerting tremendous pressure on the client’s profit margins and market competitiveness. Based on industry experience and technical knowledge of cobalt alloys, we suggest that the customer plan to extensively replace tungsten alloy saw tips with cobalt alloy saw tips. By combining experience in special operating conditions, we fully demonstrated the adaptability and cost advantages of cobalt alloys in conventional woodworking cutting applications. It helped the client effectively offset the cost pressure from rising tungsten prices and successfully retain core profit margins, while also expanding its share in the mid-to-high-end woodworking cutting tools market through the better durability and adaptability to working conditions of cobalt alloys.