Osmiridium vs Tungsten carbide
Osmiridium and Tungsten carbide are genuine alternatives to one another — a choice somebody actually makes — and differ on 2 measured properties, density most clearly.
Osmiridium vs Tungsten carbide
These are different kinds of thing (alloy, compound). Fewer properties mean the same thing across both, so a like-for-like reading may not be available.
Osmiridium
A natural alloy of osmium and iridium, denser than anything else that occurs in nature — and once the tip of every good fountain pen.
Tungsten carbide
WC
Tungsten and carbon in a structure almost as hard as diamond and far tougher — the material nearly every cutting tool has an edge of.
| Property | Osmiridium | Tungsten carbide |
|---|---|---|
| Density | 19–21 g/cm³ higher | 15.6–15.8 g/cm³ |
| Melting point Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 2870 °C |
| Mohs hardness Mohs hardness is an ordinal scale: values can be ranked, but differences and ratios between them are not meaningful. | 6–7 | 9–9.5 higher |