By Jim Tapp
Goodson Tech Services
“Aren’t all diamonds alike? Why do you guys have premium and standard grades of diamonds?” If we’ve heard it once on the Tech Line, we’ve heard it a hundred times.
The quick answer is “yes, and no.” Not much help is it? Let me explain. All natural diamonds are created the same. After sustaining millions of years of ultra-high pressure, carbon turns into diamond. So in that sense, yes, all diamonds are alike.
BUT Industrial diamonds are an entirely different breed than the glittery ones that are made into jewelry. Industrial diamonds are chosen primarily for their hardness. Unlike gemstone diamonds, they aren’t chosen because of clarity. They vary in color because while the carbon is being pressured to become a diamond, other minerals get mixed in and contaminate the pure carbon.
Even within the realm of industrial diamonds there are different types; diamond stone and diamond bort. Diamond stone is used mostly in drilling bits for mining companies and it is incorporated into single or multiple-point diamond tools, such as Goodson diamond dressing tools. Diamond bort is used as loose grain abrasive for polishing.
The bottom line is that our premium-grade diamonds are harder than standard-grade and will hold a sharp edge longer. In addition, premium-grade diamonds have more points so that they can be reset more times than standard-grade.
Yes, diamonds have a higher unit cost than most other materials, but they also outlast virtually everything so they become very cost-effective.
To learn more about industrial diamonds, check out these two sources: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/diamond/diamomyb03.pdf and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond#Industrial-grade_diamonds
As always, if you have technical questions about any Goodson product, call 1-800-533-8010 to talk with one of the Goodson Techxperts. Be sure to check out our Technical Library for a wide variety of tech tips.
