Industrial Tools - General Information

Diamond is a pure carbon in a cubic structure. It is the hardest of all known materials. Many applications benefit by the use of diamond tools in the industry for grinding, turning, sawing, lapping, wear resistance, etc. As it enables faster operating, extended tool's life and allows very accurate tolerance of shape and size. Use in industry are either "natural" diamond extracted from the ground, crushed and shaped to suit a particular requirement, or "synthetic" man made diamond specially for specific application. Diamond is made and graded according to its size, shape, and friability.

Diamond Applications >>>>> Water Based Soluble >>>>> Coolant

Diamond is used for cutting or grinding hard, brittle and abrasive materials, but it is not suitable for grinding high carbon - steel. This is because iron has an affinity for carbon (which is what diamond is) at a high temperature.

*Diamond tools are used for grinding hard or very abrasive materials, such as:

• Tungsten carbide
• Stone and marble
• Composite materials
• Industrial ceramics
• Re - inforced plastics
• Fiberglass
• Ferrite
• Non-ferrous metals
• Rubber
• Glass

CBN Applications >>>>> Oil Based Soluble >>>>> Coolant

Cubic boron nitride (CBN) is man made. It is a chemical bond of the elements boron and nitrogen with cubic lattice structure made in a high temperature/pressure process. It is available in different grades and sizes and is particularly designed for grinding hardened steels.
CBN is second only to Diamond in its hardness.

*CBN is used for grinding high carbon steels (over 0.7%), such as:

• High-speed steel
• Tool steel
• Die steel
• Stainless steel
• Ball bearing steel
• Nickel super alloys
• Cobalt or nickel based hard high-temperature materials

Electro Plated Diamond Tools:

Electro plating is a method of bonding diamond/CBN particles to a steel blank, using Nickel as bonding material. Electro plated tools can not be dressed.
The layer of Nickel and Diamond/CBN, follows exactly the given shape of the blank. Therefore, electro plated tools are the best choice for profile grinding.
electro plated tools can be re-plated, after succeeding the first use, the tool can be striped off and re-plated, thus, efficient & economic re - platable process can be achieved.

Vacuum Brazing:

• New method for manufacturing diamond and CBN tools.
• Manufacturing inside vacuum oven at a high temperature.
• The tool visually looks similar to e.p. tools.
• One layer plating on a metal blank.
• The method allows to control the density of the grits and to prevent clogging of the tool.
• Possibility to reach very homogeneous thickness of layer and to keep the correct profiles.
• Vaccum brazed tools are exceptionaly aggressive as the tight bond allows a very exposed grit.

Diamond Grits

FEPA - number indicates the approximate size of the particle in 0.001 mm i.e. D15, D126 etc.
The higher the number is, the bigger the grain size is.

U.S. Mesh - number indicates the number of holes on a 1"X1" mesh.

Mesh size is composed of 2 numbers. The lower indicates the first net that the particle can go through, the higher indicates the second net where the particle can not go through.

Grit Size - comparison table:

Cutting/Grinding Speed:

As far as possible, the cutting speed should be between 25 and 35 m/sec, and it is vital to ensure that the tools do not vibrate. However, the critical point at which vibrations may occur depends on the strength of the shank, the tool holder and on the projecting length of the tool. This length should, therefore, be as short as possible. In case of doubt it is advisable to start with low speed and to increase the speed gradually. See operating instructions of the machine manufacturer.

Required revolutions per minute (rpm) to obtain the following surface speeds:

Feeding Speed

The longitudinal feed of the grinding points or wheels should not be more than 2/3 of the coated width per planet-wheel revolution or workpiece revolution.
The depth wise infeed for each up and down stroke should be 0.005 to 0.01 mm.

Thickness Of Layer For Electro Plated Tools:
When designing a diamond or a CBN tool please note that the following thickness is added to the blank:

* Please note that sizes in this table may vary according to tool's shape and specifications.