Significant advances in the development of cermet materials for applications in the cutting-tool industry have been made. During the 1960s, several companies began to market cermet inserts with improved toughness with the addition of tungsten carbide (WC) and tantalum carbide (TaC). The additional elements produced a more stable cutting tool; however, the mechanical structure provided levels of toughness well below those of traditional cemented carbide materials. Applications of cermet materials was restricted to light finishing cuts with light feed rates. Such a restriction adds an expense to the manufacturing process and limits that expense to a single operation in the process. The expense would, in most cases, outweigh the value of the cermet cutting tool.