During the 1990s, a new cutting material was introduced for the processing of non-ferrous elements: PCD (poly-crystalline-diamond).
PCD is a “collage” of diamond crystals, combined with tungsten particles and attached to a hard metal layer through a chemical process.
Minuscule quantities of diamond are sintered under very high pressure, at a very high temperature and in the presence of a catalysing metal and a solvent (usually cobalt).
The presence of tungsten, along with the WIDIA sub-layer in the PCD, gives a high degree of compactness, but above all electrical conductivity that would not be present in any individual diamond particle.
What are the applications of polycrystalline diamond?
Polycrystalline diamond has excellent cutting qualities and great resistance to wear, so it can be used in unstable situations such as with non-ferrous materials, including specific alloys of aluminium, copper, titanium, platinum, ceramic, graphite, carbon fibre, rubber, wood and polycarbonate.
The advantages of polycrystalline diamond are revealed in its use with the following materials:
- Chipboard
- Plywood
- Laminate
- MDF and HDF
- Solid, very hard (exotic) woods, containing sand particles
- Drawn aluminium alloys
- Fibreglass and carbon fibre
- Plastic
- Polyesters
- Methacrylate
- PVC
- Ceramics
- Laminated flooring
Is PCD recommended for working wood?
Polycrystalline diamond’s abrasion resistance makes it a high-performance ultra-resistant material, so it is used extensively in many sectors including furniture manufacturing, where it is used to machine chipboard, laminates, MDF, HDF, etc.
What are the advantages of polycrystalline diamond tools?
PCD tools improve the performance of the machines on which they are used, and have a life span about 285 times higher than other tools.
