Mechanical Processing Industry.
A good high-speed steel turning tool becomes dull after a cutting length of 8 km, while a carbide tool can only cut 34 km, and a diamond turning tool can cut 1,968 km. Diamond turning tools can process ultra-hard materials such as carbide and ceramics (materials that cannot be processed without diamond). Grinding wheels made of fine-grain diamond are an effective tool for grinding carbide. Diamond's grinding capacity is 10,000 times greater than that of silicon carbide abrasives.
Optical Glass and Gemstone Processing Industry.
Previously, processing optical glass with silicon carbide was inefficient and associated with poor working conditions. In the optical glass industry, workers used silicon carbide abrasives, requiring a handful of sand and a spoonful of water to work, while also manipulating heavy fixtures. The working conditions were poor, and efficiency was low. Now, all processing is done with synthetic diamond abrasives. Overall production efficiency has increased several to dozens of times, significantly transforming the entire processing landscape.
Electronics Industry.
In the electronics industry, wire drawing dies made of diamond have a service life 250 times longer than carbide wire drawing dies. They can continuously draw hard metal wires with diameters of several microns, achieving high control precision and surface finish, with tolerances as close as 1-2 μm, far surpassing other wire drawing dies. Diamond saw blades can achieve kerfs as narrow as 0.2-0.15 mm when cutting precious, hard, and brittle semiconductor materials such as germanium, silicon, and gallium arsenide, significantly reducing semiconductor material processing losses.
Other Special Applications.
Large diamond cut-off wheels are widely used in the stone and construction industries to cut granite, marble, concrete, and other building materials. Diamond saws can cut fiberglass as easily and cheaply as sawing wood, preventing the fiberglass from chipping during processing. Diamonds are also used to make indenters for hardness testers, probes for surface finish gauges, indenters for high-pressure guns, and styluses for phonographs.