The wear of diamond tools turning mild steel

Abstract Previous experiments on the wear of diamond tools turning mild steel have shown that the very high rates of wear of the diamond arise from the degeneration of the diamond to graphite, the details of the wear mechanisms depending on the cutting conditions. The present experiments on a larger number of tools show much greater differences in the wear rates of different diamonds than have been reported previously. It appears probable that these differences in wear rates arise from differences in the chemical constitution of the diamonds.