Wire Drawing Die Lapping And Polishing
What This Process Needs To Solve
A wire drawing die is a polished hole. PCD, tungsten carbide and natural diamond dies are all finished by lapping and polishing the bore with diamond in a paste or slurry, and the finish of that bore sets both how long the die runs and what the wire surface looks like. This is the finest polishing application we supply, and the useful sizes start below one micron.
We supply the full ladder from 0–0.25 µm to 40–60 µm. The grade for die work is HDY monocrystalline micron powder, our yellow high-grade material, with HDG as the economical alternative where the die shop runs a wider tolerance. HDYM and HDYMC nano grades cover the final polish on mirror-finish dies.
Sub-micron work is a powder problem, not a machine problem
At 0.5 µm and below the limit usually comes from the powder rather than the lap. Agglomerates behave as coarse particles and leave a scratch that shows up as wire breakage weeks later. A wide distribution cuts unevenly across the bore, so the die finishes out of round. Poor dispersion settles in the paste container, so the concentration changes as the operator works through the batch.
Where the material is used
Die shops running PCD, TC and natural diamond dies; die repair shops re-polishing worn bores; mould cavities where a mirror finish is specified. The requirements we work to are a uniform crystal shape, good dispersion and no agglomeration.
Recommended Grades For Die Bores
The range is split between geometry work on the bore and the polishing that follows, because the two run on different sizes.
| Working step | Recommended grade | Size range | Why this grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bore preparation and geometryPCD, TC and ND dies, mould cavities | |||
| Bore preparation | HDY / HDG micron powder | 40–60 µm, 20–40 µm, 10–20 µm | Cuts without loading the lap or ovalising the bore |
| Geometry finishing | HDY micron powder | 8–15 µm, 4–8 µm | Controls taper along the bore length |
| Polishing and superfinishWire drawing dies, mirror-finish moulds | |||
| Polishing | HDY monocrystalline, precision grade | 3–6 µm, 2–4 µm, 1–2 µm | Uniform crystal shape for an even scratch pattern |
| Superfinish | HDY / HDYM sub-micron | 0–0.25, 0–0.5, 0–1, 0–2 µm | Sub-micron finish with no agglomerates |
Paste and slurry formulations are matched to the carrier the customer already runs. Top cut and distribution are reported on the batch certificate.
What has to hold
- Uniform crystal shape
- Good dispersion — no agglomeration in paste or slurry
- Narrow distribution across the sub-micron range
- Low metal impurity
Where it ships
Factory Direct Since 1990
Zhecheng Hongxiang Superhard Material Co., Ltd. is an integrated manufacturer and exporter of synthetic diamond powders since 1990, located in the Diamond Capital of China.
- Own manufacturing base in Zhengzhou, Henan — powder, coating and grading on one site.
- In-house particle size and SEM inspection on every batch before packing.
- Export packing with neutral or custom label, plus sample quantities for process trials.
What To Include
Describe your workpiece, process and target result. We will match the diamond grade from the existing product range.