00:00How can an ordinary drill bit cut through tungsten, one of the most difficult metals to machine?
00:05The answer isn't simply that the drill bit is sharp. This drill bit is made from a material
00:11called high-speed steel. And this isn't simply iron. And it contains several elements working
00:17together. Iron, carbon, tungsten, chromium, vanadium, and molybdenum. And some types of high-speed
00:28steel also contain cobalt. Together, these elements form an alloy with properties suited for cutting
00:34metal. That's why the cutting edge can keep working even as its temperature rises. As we can see in
00:41this video, the drill bit actually manages to drill a hole into tungsten. But what actually makes
00:49tungsten so difficult to machine?
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