Machine Cutting

Do you need to cut a fine line in hard or brittle materials without the damaging heat?

Do you need to cut with a very high level of precision?

Do you need to cut very thin metal, like 0.125 mm sheet of tungsten, without cracking or shattering it?

Micro abrasive blasting can do it for you fairly easily. Materials such as high carbon steel, tungsten carbide, glass, and ceramics can be easily cut, drilled, deburred, abraded and cleaned using micro abrasive blasting. The micro abrasive blasting process is effective on material that is too hard even for diamond or carbide-tipped tools. It can be used on metals that are very thin or brittle. It is also effective where there is concern that the machining operation might destroy the prior heat treatment.

Crystal Mark has developed the products (Nozzle Positioning system) and (C129 Belt Abrader) that make the cutting operations fully controlled, extremely accurate and precise. The abrasive powder is directed at high velocity towards the surface to be cut. The appropriate nozzle is used to achieve the required precision and control. When required, an ionization chamber is used to eliminate side effects from the cutting operations. The entire process is extremely clean and environmentally friendly.

There are four variables that need to be balanced for the maximum efficiency for the specific jobs – distance of nozzle from the work piece, compressed air pressure, type of abrasive powder and the rate of flow of the abrasive. Selection of the right abrasive powder is critical for quality of finish and also preserving life of the equipment.

Here are a few examples where Crystal Mark’s technology is used for specialized cutting requirements:

1. Trimming silicon wafer to smoothly beveled edge. (B2-TV Edge Beveler) and (C-5100 Wafer Coring machine)
2. Cutting thin tungsten sheet to a precise contour without cracking, splitting, breaking, deforming, or deburring.
3. Abrading surface of gas turbine fuel control components that are either flame plated with tungsten carbide or made of hardened steel. This allows application of the graphite lubricant critical for operation.
4. Roughening surface of germanium and silicon crystals used in nuclear power plants. This allows for the maximum electrical conductivity between the crystal and external circuit. The micro abrasive blasting cuts down the time required to do this compared to other methods from 60 minutes to 10-15 seconds.