On singling out the right diamond drill bit, tool operators achieve the results they desire. That’s a simple enough assertion, but is the selection process really that easy? Well, that depends on several job factors. What’s the material? What kind of surface is being drilled by the diamond bit? Wall thickness is another headache inducer. Thin tiles don’t usually cause too much trouble, but thicker, more abrasive materials can complicate matters.
Selecting Thin-Walled Diamond Drill Bits
It’s true; there is a range of thinner bits. Actually, their cutting diameters and diamond-edged circumferences are sized according to a job’s requirements. It’s the wall thickness of the tool bit that’s thinner than normal. Slotted into a solidly anchored drill mount, these diamond-edged drills cut through valuable or precious materials. An expensive form of crystal glass would benefit from this low material-loss option. By the way, thin-walled core drills are also designed to minimize surface deformation problems.
When To Use Metal-Bonded Diamonds
Sintered diamond drill bits abrade their way through ultra-hard materials. If the wall or item to be drilled is made of a dense type of ceramic or a refractory substance, tool operators opt for softer metal-bonded drill sintering alloys. This way, the bonding matrix breaks down to reveal new, fresh layers of abrasive diamonds. Alumina or sapphire, steel or ceramic, the work will go smoother if the work surface is assigned a recognized hardness level. Upon identifying that surface, someone can look up its Vickers or Mohs hardness, then the appropriate diamond drill bit, plus its sintered bonding matrix, will become that much easier to screen.
Fine-Finish Drilling Projects
Let’s check out the mesh size of the inlaid diamonds. This feature, which is also known as the grit size, controls the hole finish. If someone is attempting to create a series of chip-free, ultra-smooth holes on a frangible crystal, then 3 Micron diamonds deliver the desired 8000 Grit drilling power. Less like abrasive cutting and more like polished material subtraction, a refined finish is guaranteed. If, on the other hand, the tool is cutting through a slab of concrete or a rock wall, the mesh size drops. Larger, coarser diamonds drill more aggressively.
Unlike conventional drilling applications, there are scores of knock-on effects to deal with when using diamond drill bits. On the whole, a core-type bit is going to get the job done, although there are blunt-nose bits out there, too. To select the right bit for the job, there’s no way around it, the material being cut must be identified. After a cut area has been analysed, that’s when the diamond mesh and bonding matrix type receive attention, for its those tooling specifications, plus several others, that determine finish quality and aperture depth.
