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DYI Diamond Grit surfacing

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ajhalls

Aluminum
Joined
Feb 16, 2013
Location
Utah
While looking for some better Phillips screwdrivers, I came across the Posidrive setup and some diamond coated Phillips bits. You can get a fair amount of diamond grit on eBay for $7 (1 carat / 2 gm 99.99% Diamond Polishing Powder 4/5 Grit Mesh | eBay) and was thinking of just trying to improve some things around the shop / house.

I have diamond coated tweezers, Dremel burs, dental burs and so on. In doing some research, I have found 4 main methods of attaching / embedding diamond grit.

1. Sintering, mixing it with a low melting point metal / clay and firing it.
2. CVD, Chemical Vapor Deposition
3. Electroplating - Electroless Nickel Plating
4. Phenolic Resin

It is the last 2 options that seems most attractive since it shouldn't mess with the temper of the materials. The resin sounds easy, and should hold up well with something like tweezers, but seems it wouldn't work well for Dremel bits or Screwdriver bits, but maybe someone has some input on that.

Electroplating may work out, but from an articles I was reading I am not sure what kind amperage for a power supply to use if it is supposed to catch the diamond particles in a suspended state. There is the Electroless method (http://krc.cecri.res.in/ro_2002/065-2002.pdf), but from what I understand, the solution has a very short shelf life

Has anyone played with this that wouldn't mind some tips?
 

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ajhalls said:
While looking for some better Phillips screwdrivers, I came across the Posidrive setup and some diamond coated Phillips bits. You can get a fair amount of diamond grit on eBay for $7 (1�� carat / 2� gm 99.99% Diamond Polishing Powder 4��/5�� Grit Mesh | eBay) and was thinking of just trying to improve some things around the shop / house.

I have diamond coated tweezers, Dremel burs, dental burs and so on. In doing some research, I have found 4 main methods of attaching / embedding diamond grit.

1. Sintering, mixing it with a low melting point metal / clay and firing it.
2. CVD, Chemical Vapor Deposition
3. Electroplating - Electroless Nickel Plating
4. Phenolic Resin

It is the last 2 options that seems most attractive since it shouldn't mess with the temper of the materials. The resin sounds easy, and should hold up well with something like tweezers, but seems it wouldn't work well for Dremel bits or Screwdriver bits, but maybe someone has some input on that.

Electroplating may work out, but from an articles I was reading I am not sure what kind amperage for a power supply to use if it is supposed to catch the diamond particles in a suspended state. There is the Electroless method (http://krc.cecri.res.in/ro_2002/065-2002.pdf), but from what I understand, the solution has a very short shelf life

Has anyone played with this that wouldn't mind some tips?
Click to expand...

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the pollution control laws. laws of hazardous chemicals. the technical expertise alone its usually cheaper to have experts do it. many places will coat parts. a lot of race car parts are coated.
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technical expertise how to explain. a genius has to be told or learn how to do anything. say i want call somebody in California. obviously need to be told or learn what phone number to use.
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or got combination lock. without knowing combination going to take time to open the lock.
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experts spend decades learning stuff often a lot is not written down. or worse you want to know only one thing and the manuals are 10,000 pages. i have seen many factories not everything is fully documented. they loose key people and literally spend millions trying to relearn key information. hard to describe but i see stuff like that everyday
 
Thanks guys, I am definitely a Harry Homeshop, but that doesn't mean I don't have a fair amount of the equipment already needed or available cheap. I like the idea of bashing it with a hammer, I have 200 carats I can play with, so smashing some won't hurt.

I was thinking of picking up a fair sized transformer (~250lbs) from an electric locomotive I have access to and rewiring it for a single turn current transformer which should provide ample amps without spending thousands on the transformer. I have a fair sampling of acids (hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric, chromic...) used to produce various electroplating compounds, so again, not much out of pocket. I also have a 350amp tig / arc welder if voltage isn't an issue.

It would be great if I could just have a sludge of diamond grit / plating solution and connect the cathode to a tool / item and dip it for 5 seconds and have it come out with a thin layer. I have been doing some reading on electroforming from the Nickel Institute, but I need to get my current transformer setup first.
 
Long time ago I used to make my own diamond laps and slitting saws (all small size for cutting and polishing sapphire) by pressing diamond powder into copper discs. This is done with the disc rotating slowly and pressing the diamond slurry (sometimes dry as well) with a ball-bearing. With so many available diamond tools now it is hardly worth making it yourself.
 
I have made a few different diamond laps from just mild steel in the shape i needed and rolling the diamond in with a roller bearing, once charged they last a really long time before needing recharging.

When it comes to Phillips screws first google cross head screws, there's at least 4+ common flavors and using the correct bit will give you far more of a chance of removal than any diamond coating will buy you.
 
ajhalls said:
Electroplating may work out, but from an articles I was reading I am not sure what kind amperage for a power supply to use if it is supposed to catch the diamond particles in a suspended state. There is the Electroless method (http://krc.cecri.res.in/ro_2002/065-2002.pdf), but from what I understand, the solution has a very short shelf life

Has anyone played with this that wouldn't mind some tips?
Click to expand...

Plating sounds fun but I suggest avoiding it at all costs in a home shop. There is good reason why the plating industry was the very first target of the EPA. Little details often get over looked, mistakes suck, and they are hard to get rid off. It is amazing how fast stuff will rust in a garage when you start playing with acids. If you ever wonder how they treat acid burns to the eye google "morgan lense". I spent a few hours with a pair of them installed last week. That was from a exploding industrial battery though.. I would like to give CVD a try though(Maybe in a rented space).
 
Those pozidrive bits are for pozidrive screws only, just as a warning. If you're thinking of diamond-plating regular Phillips bits or what have you for driver bits, you're going to find yourself camming out way more often. We tried a CVD experiment on our bits in our rock shop thinking we'd extend the life of our bits - nope - we ended up causing more gouging damage to our rock-working saws and grinders because of camming out while using a diamond-plated bit. The bit loves to slip. Turns out carbon makes for an interesting friction-reducing surface in most of its forms.
 
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