Laser Cutting Machine Produces Sharp Corner Radii in PCD

Rollomatic’s LaserSmart laser and ablation machine produces sharp corner radii in the polycrystalline diamond (PCD) industry with a maximum radius on the cutting edge below 1.0 micron; it can also produce a defined radius of 3, 6 and 9 microns. This machine is designed to provide higher quality in the production of high-performance PCD, cubic boron nitride (cBN) and CVD cutting tools, which traditionally require production by a double process of spark erosion and polish grinding.

Fine laser cutting achieves a superfine cutting edge with a surface finish said to be unachievable by grinding, EDM or EDG. The company says that conventional grinding with diamond wheels will invariably “pull out” entire PCD crystals while laser cutting will slice through the crystal, leaving a portion of the crystal in the matrix. Linear technology on the linear and rotary axes is designed to provide highly-accurate trajectories for the complex cutting paths.

According to the company, continuous testing over the last four years reveals that sharper cutting edges and superior surface quality in PCD tools enable longer tool life and higher feed rates during machining. Laser ablation enables optimization of tool geometries and manufacturing chip-form geometries in PCD is performed by the machine using the ablation process. Tools with HSK63 shanks can be accommodated on this machine.