Recycling technique for CVD diamond coated cutting tools

Abstract

Due to the thinness of the films produced by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), a cutting operation should be discontinued if the diamond-coated tool shows even a small amount of abrasion or wear on the substrate surface. For that reason, a recycling technique for CVD diamond-coated cutting tools is being sought with keen interest. In this paper, we propose a new technique for recycling CVD diamond cutting tools by completely removing the worn thin film from the tool and then applying a new film to the de-coated surface. We then performed durability-cutting tests and compared the results of a re-coated diamond tool with a newly coated diamond tool. The effectiveness of this technique was authenticated by the cutting tests.