Diamond tools refer to a class of high-performance tools that use diamond (natural or artificial) as the material for cutting, grinding or drilling. Diamond is the hardest natural substance known (with a Mohs hardness of 10), featuring extremely high wear resistance, thermal conductivity and chemical stability. Therefore, it has irreplaceable advantages in processing hard and brittle materials, precision manufacturing and other fields.

Main types

Grinding tools

Diamond grinding wheels: Used for precision grinding of materials such as cemented carbide, ceramics, and glass.

Grinding paste/powder: Used for polishing or ultra-precision processing (such as optical lenses, semiconductor wafers).

Cutting tools

Diamond turning tools: used for ultra-precision turning (such as aluminum alloys, copper and other non-ferrous metals, to prevent tool adhesion).

PCD (Polycrystalline Diamond) cutting tools: Made by sintering diamond micro-powder with a metal binder, they are used for processing composite materials, carbon fibers, etc.

Drilling tools

Geological drill bits: Used for drilling hard rock layers in oil and mineral exploration.

Engineering thin-walled drill: Drilling in the construction industry (such as concrete, stone).

Sawing tools

Diamond saw blades: Cutting stone, tiles, concrete, etc. (Diamond particles are fixed on the substrate through electroplating or sintering processes).

Wire saw: It is used for cutting brittle materials such as silicon wafers and sapphire.

Other special tools

Diamond dressing pen: Used for dressing the shape of grinding wheels.

Nano-diamond-coated tools: A corundum film is gold-plated on the surface of the tool through CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) technology.

Core advantage

Ultra-high hardness: It can process materials that are difficult to handle with other tools (such as tungsten carbide and zirconia).

Long service life: Excellent wear resistance, reduced replacement frequency, suitable for automated production.

High precision: The cutting edge can be processed to a nanometer-level finish (such as for optical components and integrated circuits).

High-temperature resistance: Diamond maintains stable performance below 800℃ (but catalytic graphitization by iron group metals should be avoided).

Application field

Semiconductor industry: Silicon wafer cutting, wafer polishing.

Optical manufacturing: Lens, laser crystal processing.

Automotive and aviation: Processing of carbon fiber composite materials and high-silicon aluminum alloy components.

Architectural decoration: Cutting and carving of stone and ceramics.

Energy exploration: Oil drill bits, shale gas extraction tools.

Technical challenges

High cost: especially for large-grained single crystal diamond or high-quality PCD.

Limitations in processing iron-based materials: Diamond reacts with iron, cobalt and nickel at high temperatures, leading to graphitization.

Brittleness: It is necessary to optimize the tool design (such as negative rake Angle and enhanced support) to avoid chipping.

Development trend

Nano-diamond composite materials: Enhance toughness and wear resistance.

3D printed diamond tools: Customizing complex shapes (such as micro-structured drill bits).

Green manufacturing: Reduce the use of processing coolant (the high thermal conductivity of diamond can support dry cutting).