How is a DIAMOND shaped? What are "Industrial Diamonds" (2 topics in 1) => 35 photos

 This diamond, which you see here, was the first stone my Father polished and ultimately learned his profession with. Although the stone was of mediocre quality, it was used solely to teach my Dad what techniques were available 100+ years ago, (circa 1929).

 The holding device is named a "Dobb", these two 'arms' grab the stone very tightly against the "Girdle Facets" and the "Culet" (bottom point) is resting within a hole in the pedestal.

 These photos are from my 1,200-power Digital Microscope, which makes this tutorial essay easy to view and saves it for our 'family archives'. What a great legacy for the next many generations!

 How many of my 'teaching associates' can display this diamond-polishing process to their own students? 

 The words that I will use are common within the diamond polishing profession. One word is "Brutting," which is used to create the "Girdle Facets" of the diamond to the desired shape from the crystal's natural four corners.

 "Girdling" is a process that prepares the diamond for the multitude of Facets to be cut on the rotating steel wheel impregnated with diamond dust. "Only a diamond can be shaped with the aid of diamond dust."

 This is a 'natural' diamond that has just been removed from the Earth in a layer that is found in volcanic pipes named "Kimberlite Pipes". These 'pipes' are 150-200 km (90 <> 120 miles) below the surface of the Earth. An intense pressure of 725,000 pounds per square inch turns a piece of (Carbon) coal into a diamond.

 BTW, this process could take billions of years to create just one stone. The hardness of any diamond is on the "Moh's (Hardness) Scale" of 10, out of 10.

 This crystal could be of 'VG' or very good colour and quality; eventually, it will be a gem-quality stone. But it has to pass the "GIA" series of internal testing to have the "VG" sign given to it.

 Here is the 'DOBB' that is holding the diamond crystal while being put against the rotating wheel.

 This photo is of my (beloved Dad) taken at his office in London, England, circa 1935. He shows two other fellows how to shape a diamond while using his equipment. (He is on the right.)

   I just 'found' this page that is written in Flemish (which is the official language of Holland). It is the first book that my Dad studied in Antwerp in 1923 to be a Diamond Polisher. It shows all of the initial 'Faceting' that is taking place

  While the diamond is being tightly secured against a rotating steel wheel. This steel wheel has 'diamond dust' attached to the surface of the wheel using high viscosity of oil.

 IT IS THIS 'DIAMOND DUST' THAT LITERALLY CUTS & SHAPES THE MULTITUDE OF FACETS. There is no other material on this planet that can cut another diamond.

  These are the actual vials of diamond powder that contains the very important 'Diamond Dust'. This Diamond Dust is literally finely crushed diamonds from previous shavings.

  It is this "DOBB" that officially holds the diamond TIGHT against the rotating wheel.

 The Diamond Polisher craftsperson will measure the angles of the Pavillion against this gauge. The brass bar is where the "Table Facet" will sit while being examined. 

 These 2 numbers are the only degrees that the polisher must be concerned with.

 Trust me, these two 'arms' are holding this diamond so very TIGHT. Under this 600-power magnification, you can see the internal blemishes, aka inclusions.

  At an increased 1,200x power level of magnification, you can see the new facets being created. Here are the beginnings of the "Girdle and Table" facets taking shape. (I changed the colouring from brown to 'white' just for this photo).
  You can easily see the 'Natural' blemishes, all of these surface defects MUST BE  IMMEDIATELY REMOVED.  

  Can you imagine how many times the diamond crystal must be manoeuvred to get all 57 facets above the Girdle, then again more under the Girdle? For a very large diamond, this process could last for many days.

  All of these Diamond Facets must adhere to prescribed angles, this alone is a definite profession and skill. 

 The only method in faceting is to expose one side of the stone, create a facet, rotate the stone, facet it and do it again around the crystal. Keep repeating this process until the whole stone has been 'shaped'.

 TOPIC #2  WHAT ARE "INDUSTRIAL DIAMONDS"?

 

 These next photos of diamonds are not meant for jewellery. But these dark-multi-coloured diamonds are very successful with 'industrial applications'.

 

 

 These photos are not of 'mountains with ridges and caverns', but of one 'industrial-quality' diamond. But these are still great-quality diamonds.

 These stones that are used for industrial purposes were embedded in brass soldering powder put under great heat. This heat melted and it was solidified into a solid substance thus holding each diamond against any sudden movement.

 Many times a client wants a series of stones placed into a steel holding rod. These stones would be fantastic in cleaning many areas of an 'abrasive cutting wheel'.

These numbers refer to a catalogue that had other 'diamond tools' that were in my Dad's collection.

 The letters CDT refer to his company name "Canadian Diamond Tool", every tool that he sold had this identification stamped on to it. It was his trademark! 

 Every exposed diamond had its sharp corners made to be used and once they got worn down the tool had that diamond rotated to expose another sharp corner.

  A diamond tool that had 3 stones embedded into it could last for weeks under constant use. Then it went back to the technician who would rotate the 'rounded diamonds' to expose sharper corners laying underneath. 

 This photo shows in great detail how a 1/4, or a 1/2-carat diamond appears with the brass material that holds it in the diamond tool. The 'halo' is actually the brass compound.

  This one photo shows how many 'corners'  or 'sharp edges' could be used in creating an "Industrial Diamond Cutting tool". The colour of the stone bears no problem in where it is finally used.

 This particular diamond has 'rounded' edges to it, but under certain conditions, it's the strength of the diamond that makes it durable.

 The final application of this abrasive cutting tool is paramount in creating an "Industrial Diamond Tool". The client needs to know how many diamonds will be needed in their varied projects.

 In this example, he asked my Dad (before each of the tools was created) were the grinding wheels be used in a wide cutting wheel. Thus the need for a catalogue with 'identification' marks beforehand.

 Each of these diamonds was individually mounted into one steel rod. The 'corners' were set in such a position that each stone had a 'wider surface' to cut, instead of a pointed stone, as seen above.

 

 (ANOTHER MINI-TOPIC) 

 In this particular series of photos, you can see varied positions of the 'natural' facets. In this 'what you see, is what you get', I wanted to capture this scene, 'that not every diamond has smooth edges', the 'diamond polisher' must do a lot of difficult cutting to bring out the lustre in every stone. 

 Even the slightest imperfection on the 'rough' shaped girdle displays a 'natural' facet created by Nature. This deep facet must be removed by "Girdling" or resurfacing the stone, to remove these slight imperfections before any further 'Faceting' has started.

 Not all watches had jewels to help the 'gears' to rotate. This watch had only one jewel, many watches today have 18 jewels which is better and to little friction as the pins of the gears are rotating. Even with batteries in a watch, there are still little gears rotating.

 These four photos that are seen here, were taken with my 1.200x power digital microscope. This culminated in almost 2 hours of 'editing, texting and rotating the positions' of each photo.