With the continuous advancement of technology, performance requirements for mechanical products are becoming increasingly demanding. To meet this market demand, advanced materials such as ceramics, sapphire, carbon fiber composites, carbon/ceramic composites, titanium alloys, and high-temperature alloys have been widely used in industries such as semiconductors, aerospace, medical, consumer electronics, and automotive, due to their advantages such as high strength, hardness, toughness, wear resistance, and excellent corrosion resistance.

However, these materials are also typically difficult to machine, often facing numerous challenges during machining, such as severe tool wear, poor workpiece surface quality, and low machining efficiency.

PCD (polycrystalline diamond) is a composite material formed by sintering fine diamond powder and a small amount of metal powder (such as cobalt) under high temperature and high pressure. It exhibits high hardness, high thermal conductivity, low friction coefficient, low thermal expansion coefficient, and excellent anti-sticking properties. Solid PCD tools are manufactured by welding PCD composite sheets to a carbide or steel tool body. This series of tools effectively addresses the machining challenges of hard and brittle materials, composite materials, and difficult-to-machine metals. They deliver not only higher precision and longer tool life, but also help customers improve processing efficiency and reduce production costs.

In precision manufacturing, PCD micro-edge milling cutters are a core tool, offer excellent adaptability for diverse materials: they deliver efficient and stable cutting when machining aluminum alloys, and can even achieve nanometer-level precision when machining carbon fiber and plastics. Let's take a closer look at the features and value of this precision tool.

High Machining Precision and Surface Finish: From "Rough Machining" to "No Post-Processing"

Precision manufacturing demands increasingly stringent surface quality. Traditional tooling often requires additional grinding and polishing steps after machining, increasing costs and potentially leading to dimensional deviations due to secondary processing. PCD micro-edge milling cutters, with their sharp cutting edge (cutting edge radius can be controlled to less than 5μm) and stable cutting performance, achieve "one-time finish" from the start. The precision advantage of PCD tools is particularly pronounced in aluminum alloy machining. A study published in the journal Nature in 2023 showed that when end milling AA6061 aluminum alloy, using a PCD micro-blade milling cutter (edge radius 3μm) at a cutting speed of 3000m/min and a feed rate of 0.1mm/z, the surface roughness Ra can be as low as 0.08μm. Under the same parameters, the Ra value of a carbide tool is 0.52μm, a difference of more than 6 times. More importantly, PCD tools can still maintain stable precision during high-speed cutting. When the speed is increased to 5000rpm, its Ra value only increases to 0.12μm, while the Ra value of carbide tools has soared to 1.2μm due to edge wear. For difficult-to-machine materials such as composite materials that are prone to "delamination and burrs", the precise edge design of PCD micro-blade milling cutters can significantly improve processing quality. Aerospace industry standards require CFRP component edge burr height to be ≤0.1mm. Traditional carbide tooling often produces burrs as high as 0.3-0.5mm, requiring manual polishing. However, using PCD edge-finished micro-edge milling cutters reduces burr height to 0.03-0.05mm, fully meeting the standard and eliminating the need for subsequent cleaning. This alone reduces CFRP component processing cycles by 25% and labor costs by 40%. PCD tools are even more indispensable for high-finish machining of 3C products. When machining aluminum alloy mobile phone midframes, PCD micro-edge milling cutters can achieve a mirror finish of Ra 0.05μm, directly meeting the "anodizing pre-treatment-free" standard. Traditional tools require an additional two hours of electrochemical polishing, increasing the cost by 3 yuan per part. Using PCD tools has increased the overall yield rate for midframe machining from 82% to 99%, resulting in annual cost savings exceeding 20 million yuan. Silicon Carbide (HV2,700) Machining - Milling Instead of Grinding, Achieving a Mirror Finish

Solid PCD micro-edge milling cutters are an excellent choice for efficient, high-gloss, and high-precision machining of hard, brittle, and composite materials. These cutters have a minimum blade diameter of D0.4mm and a maximum blade diameter of D45mm. Huixian utilizes laser grooving to ensure surface quality, enabling blade widths down to 5μm and a maximum of 300 flutes. For machining silicon carbide (HV2,700), milling instead of grinding achieves a mirror finish with a roughness of ≤ 5nm.

Silicon Carbide (HV2,700) Machining - Milling Instead of Grinding to Achieve Mirror-Finish Results

Solid PCD micro-edge milling cutters are an excellent choice for efficient, high-gloss, and high-precision machining of hard, brittle, and composite materials. These solid PCD micro-edge milling cutters have a minimum blade diameter of D0.4mm and a maximum blade diameter of D45mm. Utilizes laser grooving to ensure surface quality, achieving a minimum blade width of 5μm and up to 300 flutes. When machining silicon carbide (HV2,700), milling instead of grinding achieves a mirror-finish finish with a roughness of ≤ 5nm.

High-Temperature Alloy Machining - Achieving a High-Gloss Finish on End Faces

High-temperature alloys are typically difficult-to-machine metals, characterized by high hardness, strength, and low thermal conductivity. This makes them prone to high surface roughness during machining. Huixian, using solid PCD micro-edge milling cutters, has helped customers achieve efficient, high-quality machining of end faces and side surfaces of high-temperature alloys, earning high customer recognition. In this case, the customer's original plan used diamond-coated cutting tools, but the end and side roughness did not meet the requirements. Using Huixian's integrated PCD micro-edge milling cutter, the end face roughness Sa decreased from 135nm to 45nm, a 67% reduction, achieving a high-gloss finish on the end face; the side roughness Sa decreased from 1427nm to 289nm, a 79% reduction.

Low Cutting Forces and Heat: From "Machining Deformation" to "Dimensional Stability"

The forces and heat generated during the cutting process are the primary causes of workpiece deformation and dimensional deviations, a particularly significant impact in the machining of thin-walled parts and precision components. The physical properties of PCD micro-edge milling cutters fundamentally alleviate this problem. In terms of cutting forces, the sharp cutting edge and low coefficient of friction of PCD cutters significantly reduce cutting resistance. Experimental data shows that when machining 6mm-thick CFRP sheets, the peak main cutting force of a PCD micro-edge milling cutter is 80N, while that of a carbide cutter is 130N, a reduction of approximately 40%. This low cutting force is particularly important for thin-walled aluminum alloy parts (such as mobile phone cases with a wall thickness of 0.5mm). Comparative testing shows that using PCD cutters reduces part deformation from 0.15mm to 0.03mm, and increases the dimensional acceptance rate from 75% to 98%. Regarding cutting heat management, PCD's high thermal conductivity (600-1500 W/(m·K), 5-10 times that of carbide) quickly dissipates heat away from the cutting edge, reducing heat accumulation. When machining high-silicon aluminum alloys, the cutting edge temperature of PCD tools is approximately 200-300°C, while that of carbide tools reaches 400-500°C, a temperature difference exceeding 200°C. This low-temperature advantage prevents dimensional deviations caused by thermal expansion of the workpiece. In the machining of aircraft engine blades (titanium alloy with ceramic coating), using PCD tools reduced thermal deformation by 60%, meeting precision requirements of 0.01mm.

The initial purchase cost of PCD micro-edge milling cutters is relatively high (approximately 3-5 times that of carbide), but the overall cost advantage is significant. This is due to the triple advantage of "extended life, improved efficiency, and simplified process." In terms of unit part cost, Telcon Diamond's drilling comparison experiments show that when drilling through-holes in CFRP plates, the cost per hole for a carbide drill is $0.26 (lifespan of 100 holes, cost per tool $26), while the cost per hole for a PCD drill is only $0.08 (lifespan of 3,500 holes, cost per tool $280), a 69% cost reduction. An automotive parts manufacturer's calculations are more straightforward: after using PCD tools on its cylinder block production line, annual tool procurement costs increased from 800,000 yuan to 1.5 million yuan. However, due to reduced tool change downtime and the elimination of secondary machining, the overall machining cost dropped from 32 yuan per piece to 18 yuan, resulting in annual savings of over 5 million yuan. Shortened production cycles also create hidden value. Data from an aerospace supplier shows that using PCD micro-edge milling cutters to machine CFRP wing components reduced unit processing time from 12 hours to 4 hours, shortened order delivery cycles from 20 days to 7 days, increased customer satisfaction by 30%, and increased new orders by 20% annually. IV. Summary: Redefining the Core Value of PCD Micro-Bladed Milling Cutters

PCD micro-bladed milling cutters are far more than a simple "tool upgrade"; they are key drivers of a revolution in precision and efficiency in manufacturing. In machining materials such as aluminum alloys, CFRP, and high-silicon aluminum alloys, they achieve a 20-100x increase in tool life, surface quality reaching Ra 0.08μm, and a tenfold increase in tool speed, ultimately resulting in a 30-70% reduction in overall costs. For companies pursuing high-end manufacturing, choosing PCD micro-bladed milling cutters is not only a pragmatic approach to reducing costs and increasing efficiency, but also a strategic choice to address material and quality upgrades. In the future, as PCD manufacturing processes advance and costs decrease, its application scenarios will further expand, making it an indispensable core tool in precision manufacturing.

----EDITOR: Doris Hu

---POST: Doris Hu