Patent ID: 8500834

Claim:
A compact with a cubic boron nitride (cBN) portion and a non cBN portion, the compact comprising: (a) between about 71 and about 93 volume-% cBN; (b) between about 1 and less than about 20 volume-% of aluminum oxide; (c) between about 3 and about 26 volume-% of one or more refractory metal compounds selected from the group consisting of: i. a compound having the general formula MZ (1-x) ; ii. a compound having the general formula MC (1-x) N x ; and iii. a combination or solid solutions of two or more compounds each having the general formula MZ or MZ 2 ; wherein: Z is selected from the group consisting of C, B, N and combination thereof, M is a metal from any of groups IV-VI of the periodic table, and x is a number between 0.01 and 0.99; and (d) between greater than 6 and about 20 volume-% of a source of one or more non-oxide aluminum compounds; wherein the total aluminum content in the non cBN portion of the sintered compact exceeds about 30 weight-% and wherein the total tungsten content is greater than 0 and less than 1 weight-%.