Only Use Nylon Brush For Cleaning Diamond Grinding Wheels

Even fairly new diamond grinding wheels can suffer blunting due to glazing or grime buildup. Glazing is the result of using incorrect speed settings or incompatible work piece material that leads to over-generation of heat. The heat causes the metal binder to soften and move, covering the diamond abrasives. With the diamond abrasives unexposed, the grinding wheel loses its bite.  Grime buildup is caused by dust and filings grinded off from the work pieces that attaches to the surface of the grinding wheel. It has the same effect as glazing in which the diamond abrasives become covered. Unlike glazing, grime buildup is easier to fix. All you have to do is clean the grinding wheel which is a very straightforward task.

In cleaning, what you need is a mineral spirit, cloth, and brush. Soak the cloth with mineral spirit and wipe it on the grinding wheel. The mineral spirit will loosen up the grime. Just wiping with the cloth will remove 90 percent of the grime. For the remaining grime, you will need to use a brush.

In cleaning diamond grinding wheels, many make the mistake of using brass or steel brush. Either of the two does remove grime very quickly. However, the metal bristles of these brushes are too hard and can damage the grinding wheel. These brushes can cause premature wear of the grinding wheel. Use a nylon brush instead. It may not remove the grime as quick, but it helps protect the diamond grinding wheel. If the grime is hard to come out, you can just re-soak with the mineral spirit then brush it again.

Remember, only use a nylon brush for cleaning diamond grinding wheels.

Cleaning Up Aluminum Weld

Aluminum has low weight, high strength, excellent malleability, and great corrosion resistance. It makes great material for various applications. Aluminum components can be joined through welding. The weld beads can be cleaned up to tidy up the joints, improve or fix fitment issues, remove surface flaws that can weaken the bead, or prepare it for finishing.

There are various tools for cleaning aluminum weld. An already neat weld would only require a wire brush to remove surface bumps. Weld beads that are protruding too much can be fixed with diamond grinding wheels or grinding points.

The grinding wheels are used for smoothing flat and accessible joints like butt joints, edge joints, and even corner joints. The diamond grinding points are used for angled joints like lap joints and tee joints, or joints in tight spots that are impossible to reach with grinding wheels.

Why used diamond grinders? Diamond grinders provide the fastest and easiest way of cleaning up aluminum welds. The diamond abrasives used in grinders cuts into the aluminum weld material rather effortlessly. This allows the user to use the grinders without using so much strength for adding pressure, resulting to better control which ultimately leads to more precise work. Also, some aluminum welders use weld materials that are much stronger and harder than aluminum to produce very strong joints. In such cases, other grinder materials are unable or struggle with the cleaning up the beads.

Diamond Grinders

Grinding is a type of machining process that uses abrasive grains to remove material from the work piece. Abrasive grains are made into discs, wheels, or points mounted on a machine with a rotating motor. Together with the motor, the entire machine is called a grinding machine or grinder. The grinder can be a power tool or machine tool. A power grinder is operated by hand and portable. A machine grinder is a fixed structure with constraining mechanism that holds the work piece in place and guiding mechanism that moves the grinding discs, wheels, or points about. Grinders are used for various applications such as forming, sharpening, surface finishing, and deburring.

Between grinding discs, wheels, and points, the latter two are more similar to each other and makes use of actual grinding action in which material is grinded off from the work piece whereas grinding discs are primarily used for cutting apart work pieces.

The main difference between grinding wheels and grinding points is that grinding wheels are operated as machine tools while grinding points are operated with power tools.

Diamond is one of the hardest materials available. It can be grounded into tiny fragments that can be used as abrasives. Diamond grinding tools are excellent for working with raw materials that are too hard for traditional grinding tools.

Diamond grinding wheels and diamond grinding points provide faster processing. However, diamond is not an all-in-one solution for grinding. The tools cannot be used on steel and certain carbon-rich materials. Minerals on steel and steel alloys can react with the diamond particles. So does the carbon from the carbon-rich materials.

Diamond Grinding Wheels And Points

Grinding tools are essential to any work shop. Grinding wheels are used for producing pieces that have precise outer geometry and high quality finish. Grinding points are used for removing surface imperfections of interior surfaces. Both grinding wheels and points have functional surfaces covered with abrasive particles that removes materials off the work piece. As the grinding tools spin, these abrasive cut into the work piece and removes materials bit by bit to achieve the desired shape or finish. The type of abrasive material used on the grinding tools vary.

The hardness of diamond makes it an excellent choice for abrasives on grinding tools. Its hardness allows it to cut materials more efficiently than conventional tools. Diamond grinding wheels and points are used for working on materials like carbide alloys, hard and abrasive non-metallic materials, and non-ferrous metals.

Diamond tools are more expensive than their conventional counterparts. Using them properly is essential to keeping them in good working conditions. The right speed, pressure, and suitable work piece materials are required to prevent the tools from getting damaged. Take diamond grinding points for example, using too much pressure can cause the pointed tip to break. Using the wrong speed setting can cause the functional surface to overheat and cause glazing which renders the tool useless or inefficient at cutting. Diamond tools are not ideal to be used for steel as carbon from the diamond can react with the elements found in most steels and steel alloys.

Dulling Of Diamond Tools

It is normal for any cutting tool to become dull after a good amount of use. How long the tool is able to retain its sharpness and cutting power depends on the material used. The harder the material the better the tool is at retaining its sharpness. Diamond is one of the hardest substances known to man. That is why it makes the perfect material for cutting tools. Diamond tools are used for materials that are impossible or too time-consuming for traditional cutting tools. However, these tools can be very expensive. And although the diamond is very hard, diamond tools are not immune to premature dulling. The reason for this has to do with how the tools themselves are made.

Tools like diamond grinding wheels are made of very small diamond particles held together by a bonding agent. In a normal use, the worn and dulled outer diamond particles fall off to reveal the sharp particles underneath. This process happens repeatedly throughout the life of the tool, until the tool is completely worn out.

Although the diamond particles themselves are very strong and able to retain their sharpness, the bonding agent that holds them together is vulnerable to thermal and physical damages. Using the grinding wheels at speed well-above what is recommended by the manufacturer can produce excessive heat that can cause the bonding agent to become so malleable that it forms a layer over the outer diamond particles, dulling the tool.

Grinding Wheels

Grinding wheels are made up of thousands of minute abrasive grains that are bonded together. Every abrasive grain acts as a cutting edge.  The abrasive grains are made of very hard materials. The diamond grinding wheels features the hardest material known to man. The grain cuts a small chip to leave a smooth and perfect surface as it passes over the work piece. As each abrasive grain becomes dull, it breaks away from the bonding material to expose sharper grains.

The abrasive grains used for grinding wheels are differentiated between natural and manufactured. These days, the natural abrasives have largely been replaced by manufactured abrasives. The diamond tools are the last of the grinding wheels that use natural material. And even then, the natural diamonds are starting to get replaced by synthetic diamonds.

Manufactured abrasives are easier and more affordable to produce than natural abrasive materials that need to be mined and then processed. Manufactured abrasives also offer more consistent cutting quality due to the controlled conditions of the manufacturing process. The most widely used abrasives for grinding wheels are aluminum oxide, cubic boron nitride, diamond, and cubic boron nitride.

There are few remaining grinding wheels that use natural abrasives today. Most of these tools are able to subsist because of traditions. An example is in sword making wherein the inconsistency of natural abrasives give the blade a unique and attractive patterns.