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Diamond dressers are cutting tools, so their usefulness is in direct proportion to their sharpness. Dull diamonds produce a dull wheel, but a good sharp diamond that is properly set, such as sp3's DiaDress, will give more pieces on a dressing than a large flat diamond, or than other substitutes that may glaze the grinding wheel.

Grinding is a cutting operation in which the small cutting edges on the grains of the grinding wheel are like tiny, cutting teeth. They must be kept sharp to achieve a free cut and to produce a satisfactory finish on the workpiece material. Dressing, also known as wheel dressing, is the process of re-sharpening the tiny cutting edges on the grinding wheel.

sp3 delivers pure CVD diamond in its DiaDress dresser bars to offer the hardest available diamond point for dressing tools. DiaDress' inherent hardness allows the dressing tools to fracture the grains of the grinding wheel, or remove the dull grains entirely, to produce new, sharp, edges. At the same time, the DiaDress dresser cleans out the tiny spaces between the grains, thereby removing workpiece residue and other particles which otherwise could eventually clog the pores of the grinding wheel face and make it dull.

Dressing grinding wheels consumes production time, and frequent dressing wastes the grinding wheel; implementing DiaDress for dressing applications shortens dressing time and increases the amount of time between dressings, making it ideal for this application and leading to significant savings in both time and materials.

Dressing tips:

• To ensure a sharp cutting point at all times, longer wheel life and greater wheel efficiency, turn single point diamond dressers frequently.
• Diamond dressers are precision tools and should be treated accordingly. Care should be taken not to bump the tool against the wheel, as the resulting shock may result in fracture or complete destruction of the diamond.
• When grinding dry - dress dry. But, allow frequent intervals for the diamond to cool, otherwise burning or fracture may result.
• A slow traverse gives a high finish, but too slow will glaze the grinding wheel. A fast traverse results in a freer cutting wheel.
• Always take the last dressing pass in the opposite direction from the last pass the work will take, to eliminate diamond marks in the wheel.

Click here for information about sp3's DiaDress product for grinding applications.