Solid carbide die nibs & inserts
The heart of the heading die — full published solids money, $18–$27/lb.
CARBIDE DIE BUYER — FASTENER COUNTRY
We Buy Cold Heading Carbide Dies
Worn heading dies, punches, and wire dies are solid money. Solid carbide dies pay the published $18 to $27 per pound, cased dies are priced on the carbide core, and pickups run through the Rockford fastener corridor. Based near Chicago, buying nationwide.
DIES ARE A PAYCHECK
Heading dies wear out on schedule. The carbide inside pays on schedule too.
Cold heading and fastener shops cycle carbide dies constantly — worn nibs, retired punches, draw dies that finished their run. Most of that material sits in racks and buckets because nobody local buys it like they mean it.
Ironcrest does. Solid carbide dies pay the published $18 to $27 per pound, cased dies are priced honestly on the carbide core, and the Rockford fastener corridor gets scheduled pickup runs. Nationwide, dies mail in or freight in like every other lot.
DIE MATERIAL I BUY
Every die form on the rack.
Carbide punches & pins
Heading punches, knockout pins, and transfer fingers with carbide working ends.
Wire drawing dies
Worn draw plates and carbide wire dies from wire mills and fastener plants.
Extrusion & swaging dies
Carbide extrusion dies, swaging dies, and reducing dies of every bore.
Cased dies
Carbide cores in steel cases, priced on the core — see the honest pricing note below.
Die plates & bushings
Carbide bushings, guide dies, and wear plates pulled from die sets.
CASED DIES, PRICED HONESTLY
The ring seam tells the story.
A cased die shows a fine ring seam where the carbide nib was shrunk into its steel case. The carbide core is the money; the case is steel. I weigh the piece, XRF the core, and price the carbide fraction in the open — you see the math on your settlement.
That beats both bad options sellers usually get: yards paying steel money for the whole piece, and buyers quietly weighing the case as carbide and making it back somewhere else. My steel-in-your-bucket guide shows the seam up close.
HOW DIE SELLING WORKS
Photos to payment in four steps.
01
Text photos
Send photos of the dies and your total weight. Stampings and seams help Me grade faster.
02
Get your firm number
Solid dies price inside the published range; cased dies get a firm core-based quote. In writing, before anything moves.
03
Pickup, mail, or freight
Scheduled pickups run through the Rockford fastener corridor and Chicago. Everywhere else: prepaid label at 40 lb+, freight at 500 lb+.
04
Paid on the spot or in 24–48 hours
In-person pickups are paid before the truck leaves. Shipped die lots are paid in 24 to 48 hours on verified receipt.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions, answered straight.
Are cased dies worth less than solid dies?
A cased die carries a carbide core shrunk inside a steel case, and it is priced on the carbide it carries. Solid dies pay the full published $18 to $27 per pound; cased dies get a firm custom quote from your photos based on the core size. The steel case is weighed and accounted for, never quietly counted as carbide or quietly counted against you.
Do you buy broken or cracked heading dies?
Yes. Cracked, worn, and retired dies are scrap carbide — the value is in the metal, not the working face. Send photos of the lot, including any stampings, and I will price it.
How much die material do I need to sell?
A bucket works, and a drum works better. Fastener shops clearing a die rack or a full storeroom can run the whole cleanout on one agreement with freight arranged at 500 lb and up.
How fast are die lots paid?
Chicago-area pickups are paid on the spot. Shipped lots are paid in 24 to 48 hours on verified receipt, and die cleanouts at 500 lb and up follow the big-load ladder: 50% at pickup scan, balance within 24 hours of verified weight.
GET YOUR NUMBER
Clear the die rack.
Text photos of the dies — racks, buckets, or a full storeroom — and I will put a firm number on the lot. Solid dies at the published $18–$27/lb, cased dies priced on the core.
RELATED
Keep going.
Used carbide
Every form of used carbide bought by the pound.
Sell used carbide →Steel in your carbide bucket
The cased-die seam and the two-minute sort.
Read the guide →Big loads
Die cleanouts at 500 lb and up, with the payment ladder.
Sell a big load →Sell carbide
The main selling page for every carbide form.
Start here →