Classification of Metal Bonds

There are two basic manufacturing methods for metal bond diamond abrasives:

Sintering Method and Electroplating Method.

Sintered metal bond is often simply referred to as metal bond in common usage.

While electroplated metal bond is usually simply called electroplated bond.

Both the sintering method and the electroplating method are not only used to manufacture diamond abrasives but also to produce other types of diamond tools, such as drill bits, saw blades, dressing tools, and so on.

Sintered metal bonds can be roughly classified into the following major categories according to the types of metals or alloys of their basic components: copper-based alloy bonds (bronze bonds are the most commonly used), cobalt-nickel alloy bonds, iron-based bonds, and cemented carbide-based bonds. Currently, copper-based bonds, especially bronze bonds among them, are widely used in manufacturing diamond abrasives and glass cutting saw blades. The other types of bonds are mainly used in manufacturing tools such as geological drill bits and stone saw blades.

In the abrasive manufacturing industry, the binders used are basically tin bronzes. This is because tin bronze not only can meet the performance requirements of abrasives, such as high strength, high hardness, and high brittleness, but also has a small shrinkage rate and is prone to generating dispersed shrinkage cavities, making it suitable for manufacturing sintered products with complex shapes and a certain porosity. In addition, the thermal conductivity of copper is second only to expensive silver and higher than that of other metals among all metals, which is conducive to reducing grinding temperature and preventing burns. This is also one of the reasons why copper-based alloys are commonly used as abrasive binders.