More popularly known for its bright luster and beauty, it is easier for us to imagine diamonds as precious trinkets rather than as grimy machining equipment. Diamond tools are most commonly used to cut, grind, and drill through extremely tough materials such as ceramic, stone, and other gemstones. As the hardest substance existing on earth, it should come to no surprise that many industrial and mechanical fields make use of diamonds in their technical processes. However, since diamonds are essentially heat pressurized carbon, they cannot be used to drill through steel or iron as carbon would dissolve into the work piece, leading to tool wear and product defects. Most diamond machining companies use synthetic diamonds rather than the natural variety as they are relatively more affordable and much easier to attain. There are several types of diamond equipment. Diamond saw blades and grinding wheels have diamond crystal-encrusted segments welded to the cutting edges. As the diamond tools grind against highly abrasive objects, the segments wear away to expose new ones, ensuring the blade’s sharpness and durability. Diamond polishing pads have the same mechanism, except that the crystal segments are layered on the polishing surface. There are also diamond machining tools, such as diamond tipped grinding cups and drills that make use of a whole specially sharpened diamond chunk rather than diamond crystals bonded into metallic powder. These tools are usually used for drilling and precision contouring. Aside from being used in mechanical industries for cutting, grinding and drilling, diamond tools are also largely used in the development of delicate electronics such as printed circuit boards and as part of aerospace equipment.
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