Silicon Carbide is an extremely hard, sharp and aggressive abrasive. It is formed inside electric furnaces, at a temperature of 2200oC, and produced from quartz and petroleum coke. It is chemically stable, has high resistance to oxidation and is also unaffected by acids and will only react to alkali at very high temperatures. As an abrasive, it is surpassed in hardness only by diamond, cubic boron nitride and boron carbide. Silicon Carbide is extremely fast cutting and can be used to clean and etch very hard surfaces that would otherwise not be possible with other softer abrasives. Products manufactured from Tungsten Carbide may also be cleaned with Silicon Carbide. Silicon Carbide is harder and sharper than Aluminium Oxide but is more friable, therefore prone to breaking down at a faster rate. Industry users include: Aerospace/Aviation, Automotive, Consumer Goods Manufacturing, Foundry/Die Cast, Granite/Stone Cutting, OEM Subcontractors and Semiconductors Manufacturing. Typical applications include: Casting sand removal, Surface preparation prior to plating, metal spraying or coating: Deburring of aluminium, alloy and non ferrous parts; Mould cleaning; Metal and crystal grinding and Glass etching.