Surface Finishing of Electrically Conductive Diamond Tools by Electrolytic Machining

This paper deals with a new surface finishing method of electrically conductive diamond materials by making efficient use of an electrically conductive nature of the workpiece material, instead of conventional methods such as grinding, lapping and polishing using diamond abrasives. The authors focused on the electrolytic machining method and not on the electro discharge machining method for the two advantageous features of the electrolytic machining in addition to the general view that a better surface roughness could be obtained. One of those features is that no higher heat is generated at the machining point. This can eliminate a risk of the film delamination in the case where a workpiece is the CVD diamond coated tool. The other is that a wider machining gap is available between an electrode and a workpiece. This was thought to allow the electrolytic machining to be applied to a tool with a complex shape such as a drill and an endmill. Based on these concepts, electrolytic machining experiments were conducted on the electrically conductive diamond materials. From the results, it was found that the surface of the electrically conductive diamond could be smoothened enough by electrolytic machining though relatively long period of time was required.