Engineers know diamond drill bits are equipped with unstoppable cutting power. Thanks to Hollywood movies, even a tool-ignorant onlooker knows a gem-tipped drill can penetrate practically any substance. Stepping beyond the tattle and the tale, though, what are the hard facts? How unstoppable is this tool, really? Without further ado, here are some of the most important diamond-tipped facts, ones that are expressly intended to prove this material options worth.
Diamond Embedding Configurations
Not all diamond drill bits are created equal. There are single-layer diamond bits and multi-layer variants. The tiny gems are sometimes bonded via heat treatment technology, aligned so that a cut-efficient interfacial bond provides an optimally configured cutting surface. Alternatively, sintered drill bits embed the gems in the tool metal. Sintered diamond drill bits don’t cut as fast as their bonded peers, but they cut deeper and last longer.
Designed to Work on Harder Materials
Use a dense carbide steel drill bit on carbon-hardened steel. Use HSS (High-Speed Steel) when cutting openings in wood. On ultra-hard materials, however, we turn to diamond drill bits. The hardest known natural material makes short work of hole cutting jobs on glass, ceramic, porcelain, bricks and concrete, and other densely structured substances. Tiny diamond drills are even used to cut other gemstones, so they’re the tool bit of choice in the jewellery sector.
Keeping Diamond Bits Cool
An average drill bit can be forgiving when it’s operated at high speed and given a shoulder nudge. With diamonds in the mix, that forgiving quality dries up fast. This tool should be operated at a rated speed and operator pressure. If the predetermined operator thresholds are ignored, then the life expectancy of this potentially expensive tool drops dramatically. Know the hardness and abrasive qualities of the surface medium. Keep drill speeds and operator pressures consistent. To really keep the diamonds cool, use a lubricant.
Hollow Structures
Geometrically speaking, most diamond drill bits look like cylinders, with their cutting gems arranged around the cutting disc. There’s also a range of diamond-film coated parabolic drill bits on the market, but this series is the exception to the rule while hollow diamond core bits represent the majority group. Incidentally, equipped with that empty cavity, it’s not difficult to introduce a cooling/lubricating medium to the drilling operation.
When every job parameter is configured just-so, the drill bit penetrates a surface effortlessly. The thing is, the tool user needs to know which diamond bit to use in the first place. Speed and pressure configurations need to be set, lubricant/coolants introduced, bonded or sintered products selected, and so much more. Do know these procedure-impacting factors before undertaking a heavily abrasive diamond drilling project.
