Diamond Cutting and Grinding Tools

The three requirements of a cutting or grinding tool material are hardness, toughness, and chemical stability. Diamond meets the first since it isthe hardest material. However, it is inherently brittle, haslowtoughness, and reacts readily with carbide-forming metals, thus limiting its use. 

Super finishing hones Fine-grit grinding wheels 

Chemical Stability of Diamond Tools. Diamond reacts with carbideforming metals such as iron. In contact with these, diamond dissolves rapidly and is considered unsuitable to machine steel and cast iron. Likewise, it is not recommended for superalloys. 

PCD can be produced as blanks, cut Into specific shapes, and bonded to a tungsten carbide substrate for a fast-growing range of applications such 8IS machining euid cutting ceramics and ceramic composites, and oil-drilling bits (Fig. 12.11). 

Applications of Diamond Tools. Most industrial machining operations are performed with coated cemented-carbide tools, usually as indexable inserts. Diamond (and PCD) increasingly competes with these materials, in particular in the machining of non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, copper, magnesium, lead, and theiralloys since it does not react chemically with these materials. 

---