Industrial ceramics are amazing. Kodak made their own small ceramic hammers so they could tap in tiny little roll pins without bending them from the friction of the hammer face against the end of the pin. You could swing that hammer as hard as you were able without putting as much as a nick in it.
Railroads use ceramic inserts in the plates that go under the rails that move back and forth at track switches to reduce friction - which is a huge maintenance issue for them.
I cut 55+ Rc steel in my lathe with ceramic inserts now and I love it, way better than diamond IMHO. If you try and use them on soft steel they break down almost instantly, but they seem to last forever in the hard stuff. The chips are glowing bright red coming off it too, it just keeps cutting and gives you a mirror finish without any coolant either.
A pack of 10 weights about as much as 2 comparable carbide inserts as well.