In article , elson@pico-
systems.com says...

Ed Huntress wrote:



g It's too bad that term has stuck. I've talked to a lot of people over
the years who don't realize that "solid carbide" actually is a sintered
material, with tungsten carbide and tantalum carbide particles cemented
together with cobalt and/or other metals.

The genesis of the non-solid variety, as far as I know, is that in the
beginning, there
were cutters made with steel shanks and the cutter was welded on, probably
during the sintering process. I know this was true with carbide circuit
board drills. I'm sure nobody makes them this way anymore, at least in
modest sizes up to a couple inches diameter.

Dunno about end mills, but router bits are still made with carbide
cutting edges bonded/welded/brazed/magicked to steel shanks. Benefit is
that the steel shank is much less brittle, which is highly beneficial
with a handheld tool.