Randomly impregnated diamond cluster tools have proven their cost
effectiveness in the truing and dressing of abrasive wheels for many
years. However, although far from a new concept, the continued
development of diamond and bond combinations has meant that the
impregnated tool still has an important role to play in modern
grinding. It is particularly effective for the more severe and
dimensionally less demanding applications. Hamilton Lichfield
manufacture a range of these tools which have been designed to cope
with a variety of common dressing operations where they supersede the
traditional single point dressing tools.
Hand-set multipoint diamond cluster tools are manufactured in many
differing shapes and sizes to cater for a variety of applications
ranging from general machine shop usage to precision grinding. The
Hamilton Lichfield range is detailed in the data sheet, however this
only represents a selection of the most commonly used types, any
variation or special tool can be manufactured on request.
Many modern materials such as high silicon aluminiums, glass filled epoxy resins and even some hardened steels may now be machined utilising the enormous benefits of polycrystalline diamond and cubic boron nitride superabrasives. In order to make these superabrasive cutting materials more 'user friendly', Hamilton Lichfield manufacture tipped inserts which are interchangeable with the conventional ISO range of tungsten carbide and ceramic cutting inserts now found in most machining environments. Therefore, whenever a change of workpiece may dictate the use of superabrasives the appropriately tipped PCD/PCBN insert may now simply be fitted to the current toolholders, with minimum machine downtime.
Recent years have seen the adoption of Polycrystalline Diamond
(PCD) routers, characterised by their free cutting ability and long
life, for many applications especially in the wood work and plastics
industries. PCD is now the first choice for machining materials such
as MDF, laminated chipboards and many of the glass filled epoxy
resins. Hamilton Lichfield manufacture a complete range of these
tools the great majority of which are to customers' specific
requirements. The following notes offer a guide to the choice of
tools available and to our standard products.
Hamilton Lichfield manufacture a well proven range of Precision
Blade (PB) and Precision Needle Blade (PNB) tools which may be used
on all straight pass and all but the most exacting profile dressing
operations. These tools have been shown to provide considerable cost
savings over conventional tooling such as expensive chisel tools,
both in initial cost and in machine down times.
Hamilton Lichfield manufacture a wide range of Single Point
Dressing (S.P.D.) tools to suit every possible application and
compliment this by offering a rapid resetting service for used
Dressers. The diamonds used fall into one of two quality bands,
General (G) and Precision (P). A General quality diamond will have
points which are slightly more rounded than those on Precision
quality stones. They may also contain flaws or defects although these
will be away from the dressing point. 'G' quality Dressers are
suitable for almost all workshop use, 'P' quality Dressers need only
be specified when a very sharp point is required for fine
dressing.
These drills are making a large impact in the Aerospace and Automative industries where carbon fibres, silica glass resins and metal matrix composites are widely used. The full-helix, PCD drill offers a tool life of between 10 and 50 times that of conventional carbide equivalents when drilling abrasive non-ferrous high strength materials. This extended life, together with increased machining speeds and feeds will lead to substantial increases in productivity and reduced machine downtime. Significant additional benefits are consistent surface finishes and the maintenance of tight size tolerances over the whole working life of the tool.
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Last updated: 17 April 1999 |
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