Meaningful Advice For Fabricators Working With PCD Tooling
PCD tooling is very durable thanks to its polycrystalline diamond makeup. That said, there are still precautions you need to take when using these tools on various materials around your workshop.
Make Sure Sharpening Can Be Performed Multiple Times
After using PCD tooling to manipulate materials over a period of time, you'll have to resharpen the tooling at some point. That's the best way to achieve precision tooling. Just make sure you end up with PCD tooling that can be resharpened multiple times. Then you can use the same PCD tool over and over, which ultimately reduces the costs of investing in said tooling over the years.
Some PCD tools are better at supporting resharpening than others, so you need to take your time searching the marketplace to find these tools in particular. Then you'll get the most out of PCD tooling, whether it's for cutting or grinding.
Use with the Right Materials
You have to use PCD tooling with the right materials in order to get optimal fabrication. Otherwise, you could damage the materials or even fracture the PCD tooling despite it being so durable. It thus helps to know about your PCD tooling's material tolerances before getting started.
Typical materials you'll see supported include aluminum, high-pressure laminates, fiberglass, particleboard, and other composites. Basically, materials that have an abrasive nature can be treated by PCD tools in an optimal manner to where damage doesn't result.
Inspect PCD Tooling Prior to Fabrication
Whatever type of fabrication you plan on completing with PCD tooling, it's paramount to inspect it prior to getting started. That's particularly important for older PCD tooling. Then it will be easier to set up fabrication for success.
Always make a point to inspect your PCD tooling for things like surface wear, cracks, and misalignment. Any one of these issues would need to be addressed before using PCD tools on materials for real, whether that involves reconditioning the tool with a repair or swapping it out for something that isn't as damaged.
Also get in the habit of documenting issues you notice throughout your inspections. Then you can learn and keep PCD tooling in better condition moving forward.
There are a lot of amazing benefits of relying on PCD tooling for fabrication. You just need to know what this tooling works best with and follow a couple of protocols for maintenance. That's the best way to get more use out of this special tooling.
Contact a local industrial equipment supplier to learn more about PCD tools.