Achieve Balance with (PCD) Diamond Tools

What is balance and why is it important?

If the mass is not rotating in perfect equilibrium it is said to be imbalanced. Generally, this is caused by uneven material densities, mis-formed parts and loose-fitting parts that shift the centre of mass away from the axis or distort the moments across the length of the rotating part.

The result of an unbalanced rotating mass is vibration, chatter, deflection and runout. Which have negative consequences for tool life, machine wear and quality of the machined workpiece.

Therefore, tool manufacturers invest millions into quality control measuring and balancing machines to increase the balance of the tool. The maximum RPM is the rotational speed at which the vibration, chatter, deflection and runout fits within an acceptable tolerance.

Hardness and tool life

The T04F Grade Carbide Knives used in the replaceable tip cutterhead has a hardness of 1750HV

The PCD Tips have a hardness of 6000HV+

Hardness improves the materials resistance to indentation. Indentation, even at a micro level disrupts the structure of the material and results in failure. PCD (diamond) is an incredibly long-lasting material because it is so hard.

PCD can outlast carbide 25 to 1. Therefore, downtime due to changing knives on your surface planning tool is also a valuable time saving.

The knives in the cutterhead will need to be replaced 6-7 times (rotating 4 times each) before the PCD cutter needs to be sharpened once (and the PCD tool can be re-sharpened 8-12 times!).

Speeds – all for removing 0.2-0.3mm of MDF sheet

80mm Replaceable Tip Surface Planer:

For the 100mm PCD Surface Planer:

For high output operations these time savings can equate to hours over the course of a year. This is just another example of how a tool can improve the capacity of a machine.