I am a hobby mechanic and although I have used it for 30 years I am no expert. My review is for any other hobbyist who might be wondering if this grinder is worth the money. From reading the reviews it seems that the advantage of carbide is that it can run at much higher RPMs, which is exactly what it should be. At 2000rpm this thing moves metal and seems to leave the workpiece colder than a tin mill at slower speeds. This also leaves a pretty good finish for a coarse grinder.