toughness of dremel diamond wheel

tylerdurden

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I want to cut a notch in the blade of a small screwdriver (as described by Don here). I used a regular cutoff wheel, which worked fine, but the notch is a little bigger than I would like. I thought about the diamond wheel (545), since it's much thinner than a cutoff wheel. The description says it's for "hard materials" but they list "marble, concrete, brick, porcelain, ceramics, epoxy and hard woods" - not metal. I don't want to spend $15 for one of these if it's going to shatter into a xillion diamond-encrusted shrapnel daggers the first time I use it.
 
I use one to clean up the tips of my lathe bits. Works like a charm. I've also
used it to cut through screws and to re-slot screw heads.

They seem pretty sturdy. I've not had one bind yet.

Daniel
 
yup, go slow, otherwise you will burn off the grit in oh, about a third of a second! Otherwise they last a couple of hours....
 
I'm using the thinnest cutoff wheel, the non-reinforced el-cheapo one, and it's still thicker than I'd like.

Will a diamond wheel last longer than a cutoff wheel for things like aluminum or brass? Probably not enough to make up for the price difference.
 
You might want to try American Science and surplus. Here is a copy and paste of one of their deals:

Diamond Cutoff Wheels
Set of (5) diamond cutoff wheels and a mandrel. The wheels are 13/16" dia, the mandrel 1/8" dia x 1-3/4" long. Made in China, and a great buy. Just the item to complete your Dremel" type tool kit....$15.00

I've used them quite a bit and they last pretty well. Also they have all kinds of other related material interesting to CPF'ers

Trader55
 
Paul,

I don't know about the diamond cutoff wheels, but I use diamond bits to trim glass lenses to fit applications and glass is pretty tough. I don't know about $15 for a single cutoff wheel though.
 
I use them pretty often and have no yet had one shatter, even cutting hard steel screws, etc. As mentioned above, you can strip the diamond off if you bear down on them during cutting. I also cool the blade and item with water as they get very hot, very quickly cutting hard materials. Try to cut as straight as possible as any binding adds heat and strips diamond.

I bought my last 5 pack at Harbor Freight for 6 or 7 bucks.
http://www.harborfreight.com I am near one of their stores but they also mail order. Most, if not all of their items are imported but most seem to be at least decent quality
 
Paul-

I own some genuine Dremel diamond wheels and the Chinese 5-pack as well. The Dremel is superior for fine work, and it lasts a LONG time. It is thinner, slightly larger in diameter and made to tighter tolerances (it is more flat and round). I use the cheaper ones when I little bounch is OK, or I figure I'm gonna burn the thing up anyway. The Dremel one I use for fine work, and it just keeps on working. I use it for grooves in E-cans, etc. Hard metals are no problem, and I have used it to cut sevearl feet of glass with no problems at all. Just run it as slow as you can, and you're golden.
 
What's the trick you guys use fo so that a the flimsy cutoff wheel don't break all the time. It seems that one out of every five cuts my wheel crack & fly off wacking my garage door. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
It's a good idea to use your expensive diamond wheels as little as possible on steel; there is some sort of chemical reaction that is destructive to the diamond. Sorry to be vague; that's all that remains of some old machine shop knowledge.
 
jsmn4vu, I think what you are refering too is caused by the oil on the steel, it's nothing inherent in steel itself. And it is the adhesive that is affected, diamond itself is pretty inert. It's a valid point, tho, using oil on a diamond whetstone will quickly strip the diamond off...
 
Hi Modamag,

The real trick to not break them all the time is to cut as straight as possible and back off the pressure a bit. The standard cut-offs break very easily when pressure is applied to the sides.

I also got tired of breakage and wear-down in tougher jobs and bought a 20? pack of reenforced cut-offs. Those are about twice as thick as the standard, but are about 10x as strong, IMO.

If you use a standard wheel long enough, the diameter decreases as the edge wears down. I tend to save these even when they aren't large enough for my current project. Sometimes I find that the smaller diameter of the worn wheels are better for tight spots in other projects.

pb
 
Here's what I found at http://abrasives.globalspec.com:

"Diamond is not useful in grinding steel or ferrous alloys because carbon or diamond readily dissolves or reacts with iron."

I believe that's referring to a heavy-use production environment. I would expect for the problem to be minimized if cutting fluid is used, thus keeping temperatures below those needed for chemical reaction. Just speculating.
 
I have been using diamond bits, burrs and wheels for many years and they work well on a bunch of stuff! Another source that hs good quality for decent price is Lasco Diamond .

They have a D40 disk/ wheel that is great for notching, grooving and other stuff! There are a lot of burrs there with different size shanks for dremel or flex shaft tools! You can even go for different grits.
 
[ QUOTE ]
modamag said:
What's the trick you guys use fo so that a the flimsy cutoff wheel don't break all the time. It seems that one out of every five cuts my wheel crack & fly off wacking my garage door. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
My trick was to buy the diamond wheels. I must have hundreds of the standard cut-off disks that I no longer use... or rarely use. Seriously, that's why I moved to the diamond disk. One you go there, you won't go back.
 
The Lasco D40 burr looks nice. Is it about the same thickness as a regular dremel cutoff wheel? I like the thick wheel for some notches, the diamond wheels look too thin for some uses, and I would imagine side-to-side pressure is a big no-no for the thin wheels.
 
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