Far and away the best Diamond Grading System in the world.
Dar-Tools Diamond Sieves History 30 years ago Dar-Tools started the production of diamond sieves by drilling the holes using a CNC milling-drilling machine. After drilling only a few holes, the sharpness of the drill became problematic and the quality of the holes was jeopardized (with tolerances from 0,0 to - 0,1mm). 15 year ago, this process was replaced with punching the holes. Dar-Tools made its own CNC punching machine with a very precise guiding system but noticed that after heavy volume punching the plate was deformed due to material stress.Dar-Tools are still using this process, yielding a tolerance from 0,00 to 0,01mm on each hole. Dar-Tools continued investigating new technologies and 10 years ago turned to laser cutting as a better solution.It was found however that cutting speed and temperature still cause the plate to deform.Furthermore the holes are not round but oval shaped and an “entrance” spot occurs at the side of each hole. The best tolerance that can be achieved is approximately 0,01mm on the diameter of each hole. So, Dar-Tools explored the etching method.At first this process looked promising since it caused no plate deformation. The challenge with etching lies in the difficulty to achieve high repeatable tolerances.The best tolerance achieved is approx. 10% of the plate thickness. Resulting in minimum +0,02 to -0,02mm tolerance for a thickness of 0,2mm. After 20 years of continued research Dar-Tools discovered micro technology as the perfect way forward for the production of diamond sieves.Sieves produced using micro technology (1000 µ = 1mm) incorporate holes with a precise calibration using the most advanced "photo-laser lithography & electro-forming” technologies. This new process provides extreme precise duplication of the mandrel, resulting in perfect process control, high quality production and high repeatability. This method is very effective for projects requiring extreme tolerances, allowing Dar-Tools to produce diamond sieves with hole tolerances of up to +-1µ. Compared to other metal forming processes (e.g. laser-cutting, photo-etching, stamping and machining) it exceeds in terms of high repeatability and complexity. The high resolution of the conductive patterned substrate allows for finer geometrics, tighter tolerances and superior edge definition while guaranteeing 100% accuracy and consistency in hole diameters.New standard Dar-Tools diamond sieves have a tolerance of 0,000mm to +0,005mm, or between 0 and -5µ (Micron) with 100% circular holes. Nickel (the metal used), with its refined crystal structure, has superior properties over basic metal. The hardness of nickel diamond sieves is +- 600 HV (Vickers Hardness) compared to approx. 400 HV for stainless steel, and is far superior in hardness and wear resistance compared to other materials. Dar-Tools achieves a maximum number of holes, resulting in a faster “flow”, and higher efficiency and accuracy in sorting diamonds. Dar-Tools guarantees to deliver diamond sieves with more holes than any other sieves in the world. For some specific plate numbers Dar-Tools yields more than 3.000 holes in a plate.In a 0,5mm plate Dar-Tools produces more than 8.000 holes.Dar-Tools produces super thin diamond sieves, with a thickness of max. 0,18mm Benefits of working with Dar-Tool diamond sieves:
We did some tests with sieves cut with laser technology.
Hereby our results:
Dar-Tools Sieve
Dar-Tools Sieve
Laser-cut Sieve
Dar-Tools Sieve
Laser-cut Sieve
We measured some holes and this are the results:
Contact : Dar-Tools bvba - Zoersel - Belgium E-mail: jan@dar-tools.be Tel: +32.496.55.63.50