I was talking to my six year old son about diamond being the hardest substance known to man. I asked him what he thoght was used to cut diamonds and he realised that only another diamond would do the job. He then made the very good point that surely to cut something as hard as a diamond you need something harder than diamond. I said I would try to find out the answer. Can anyone help?
2006-11-01 00:18:05 · 6 answers · asked by judge mark 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Diamonds are the hardest naturaly occuring material on earth! On Mohs Hardness scale, Diamonds get a rating of 1500.
As an example, Quarts only gets a rating of 100.
The toughest thing a diamond can cut through is another diamond.
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2006-11-01 00:25:32 · answer #1 · answered by Amanda 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason that a diamond can be cut by another diamond is to be found in its crystal structure. Due to the way the atoms are arranged in a diamond crystal it has what is called a grain (if you think of a piece of wood it is softer along the grain and harder across the grain). To cut a diamond, diamond powder is used, in the powder the tiny particles are random which means some have their hard side up and on some it is down. The cutter uses his skill to work out the directions in which the grain runs in the stone he is about to cut and moves it so that each facet he is cutting has its "soft" direction running in the same direction the cutting disc (scaife) is rotating which means that some of the powder which is randomly positioned will have its hard side in contact with the soft side of the stone being cut so allowing the job to be done.
2006-11-01 11:06:10 · answer #2 · answered by U.K.Export 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are several stages in cutting a diamond, and none are really "cutting" in the way you cut wood or paper.
The first stage will be cleaving. That is, crudely, placing a wedge of hardened steel on it and hitting it with a mallet. This causes the diamond to break on its natural cleavage. Get it right and a large stone is cloven into sutitable base gems for shaping. Get it wrong and you've got thousands of worthless shards.
Supposedly the man who cut the famous Cullinan Diamond passed out with relief afterwards. These days many hours are spent studying X-rays of the stone before cleaving.
The next stage is to cut the facets that give the gem its brilliance. This is done by abrasion: the stone is fixed to a holder to keep it at the correct angle, and it is slowly ground on a revolving plate fed with water and diamond dust as an abrasive. To make a typical gem, around half of the original mass is lost.
Finally, you use extremely fine diamond dust to polish the facets.
Each of these stages is a craft requiring 7 years training in its own right.
2006-11-01 00:34:05 · answer #3 · answered by Paul FB 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No you do no longer minimize diamonds with a diamond . you like a private diamond cutter, and a diamond impregnated lapidary wheel that spins at approximately 2200 rpms. then you definitely can minimize a diamond . utilising particular commercial diamond kit and technologies. For extra effective diamonds, its terrific to apply laser technologies. It decreases the wear on your diamond placed the two on its floor and inner crystal shape. in addition they make particular tungsten carbide steel drill counsel and observed blades for commercial purposes which will additionally minimize by way of diamond gravel's .
2016-10-21 02:07:23 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
diamonds are used to cut diamonds. highly skilled job, being careful not to cut through the veins an ruin the diamond. x
2006-11-01 00:20:22 · answer #5 · answered by dmit_3228 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A diamond lazer - Yon never watched James Bond?
2006-11-01 00:21:30 · answer #6 · answered by mark leshark 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋