THE USE OF POLYCRYSTALLINE DIAMOND TOOLING HAS GENERALLY BEEN ACCEPTED IN INDUSTRY FOR THE FINISH MACHINING OF NONFERROUS ALLOYS. ROUGH MACHINING APPLICATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN WIDELY ACCEPTED BECAUSE PCD IS BELIEVED TO BE TOO BRITTLE DUE TO ITS HIGH HARDNESS. ROUGH MACHINING APPLICATIONS WILL BE DISCUSSED. THE AFFECT OF DIAMOND GRAIN SIZE ON IMPACT RESISTANCE IS HIGHLIGHTED. PCD TOOLING HAS PREVIOUSLY ONLY BEEN RECOMMENDED TO BE USED ON NONFERROUS MATERIALS. THE USE OF PCD FOR MACHINING OF FERROUS MATERIALS WAS NOT RECOMMENDED DUE TO THE CHEMICAL REACTIVITY BETWEEN THE CUTTING TOOL AND THE MATERIAL BEING MACHINED. TEST RESULTS HAVE SHOWN THAT DIAMOND TOOLING CAN EFFECTIVELY BE USED FOR THE MACHINING OF GRAY CAST IRON IF THE PROPER MACHINING PARAMETERS ARE USED.
