The conditions of wear from the faces of cemented carbide cutting tools are described. The particular conditions on the top surface of a cutting tool where the thin ribbon, or chip, of metal with a freshly exposed surface flows in contact with the tool over a relatively long path, lead to the generation of high temperatures at the friction surface. Examination of the worn top surface of tools of two types, one consisting of tungsten carbide and cobalt and the other of tungsten carbide, titanium carbide and cobalt, have shown that in cutting steel an alloy is formed between the steel and the tungsten carbide at temperatures of ca. 1300° C and this leads to very rapid wear. Grains of a titanium-tungsten carbide solid solution which are present in cemented carbides containing titanium carbide resist alloy formation with the steel at these high temperatures. The presence of titanium carbide greatly reduces the rate of wear. Consideration of the phenomena of wear on such tools presents a picture of the type of temperature gradient in the tool near the friction surface.