Disposable diamond cutters

[Nick M Singer]

Anyone got some feedback on disposable diamond compression cutters? I tried one and burned it badly after about 3 sheets ouch! A collegue of mine uses them and claims he is getting 180 sheets of melamine (9 x 6) per cutter. He recommends 6500mm p/m at 18000 RPM which seems to defy logic, but then you never know.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Good day Nick,

I use PCD's all the time. Some are good but most are very limited to 300 IPM (I do not know what that converts to quickly in metric) I have been using Gladu 1/2\" up down shear on 5/8\" 2 sided MDF core melamine for about 7 + years with good success (750 to 850 IPM @ 17500 to 19250 RPM). I have tried many others and they do the same as what you have experienced and worse. Many times the weld breaks on a cutter or the plunge tip.

I also ramp down to the part at around 130IPM so this helps with the life of the plunge tip since it is usually carbide instead of diamond.

I was just at the IWF in Atlanta Georgia and went to all the tooling companies that offer PCD's to see if they could match or beat the average life of a Gladu bit (we have them range from 150 sheets to over 250 sheets) and only 2 said they would let me try theirs to compare. Most others say they are only made to go upto 300IPM for the disposable ones that are 1/2\" diameter. If you can use the 3/4\" and up then you can get an agressive one with 3-4 flutes and a thicker core.

I am limited to a 1/2\" bit for my current application.

I am also looking into insert bits but once again am limited to 1/2\" and so far no one has a bit that has an up/down shear capability, so the quest continues...

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

[Nick M Singer]

Hi Michael. Thanks for your feedback. 300IPM is about 7.6 mpm so the setting I am using is about right if not a little slower. I will adjust my ramp in as advised and see if I get the yields reported.