BALLOFFET S.A.S.

What is a monocrystalline diamond ?

A very noble and high quality material !

Natural diamonds are formed at great depths in the earth's interior from a combination of carbon and a catalyst, as well as high pressure and temperature.

The "diamond", the name comes from Greek word "adamas" this means "Invincible", is the hardest known natural mineral, factor 10 on the Mohs scale. The tetrahedral crystal structure shows carbon atoms tightly bonded in strong and covalent bonds, achieving its high density and extreme hardness.

In addition to its excellent wear resistance, diamond shows a very high thermal conductivity and an extremely low coefficient of friction, which makes it very efficient in extreme industrial applications such as wire drawing and material calibration, metals and liquids.

What is a synthetic monocrystalline diamond ?

A very interesting alternative !

Developed and produced by the HPHT method (high pressure/high temperature), with addition of carbon and binder material.

These synthetic monocrystalline diamonds have the same characteristics as natural diamonds with the same excellent thermal and similar friction qualities due to their 111 crystalline structure.

Balloffet works with the best manufacturers and suppliers in the world, tested and certified for repeatable and consistent quality for SSCD diamonds (Synthetic Single Crystal Diamond).

What is a polycrystalline diamond ?

A very versatile material that offers an excellent return on investment !

Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) is a synthetic material researched by two Swedish developers in 1953.

Available in platelet (core) form since 1974, this material is made from non-oriented diamond crystals bonded together. This synthetic material is produced at high pressure and high temperature using a bonding metal.

PCD combines hardness, friction resistance, strength, toughness and very high thermal conductivity. These advantages and unique properties make it a perfect high performance material for drawing dies for various materials. It is also suitable for many other applications where accuracy and wear resistance are important.

Polycrystalline cores are used for our drawing dies as pure PCD core (Self-Supported), or as PCD core with a carbide support ring (Tungsten Carbide Supported). Thermally stable cores (without metallic bonding material) can also be provided for high temperature or electrically non-conductive applications.

The choice of material we use, natural diamond, synthetic monocrystalline diamonds or polycrystalline diamonds, depends on the application, the desired drawing die expectations, the technical and economical expectations of our customers.

PCD cores allow us to cover a range from 0.030mm up to 38mm, very well as a forming die (triangle, square, rectangle, oval or other desired shapes according to drawings) to produce profiled wires, tubes, rods or similar.

We use for the production of our tools the leading well-known manufacturers of PCD cores (Compax™, Sumidia™, ...) whose quality has been tested for years.

Of course, our in-house research and development department tests various PCD cores that we use. This allows us to give a guarantee on the longevity of our tools.

We have a very large stock of various PCD cores with different grain sizes such as 1µm to 50µm grain size, which allows us to deliver quickly and promptly upon request with the customer-specific specification.

What is a monocrystalline diamond ?

A noble and efficient material !

Natural diamond is created in the depths of Earth from carbon combined with a catalyst under conditions of high pressures and high temperature. 

The "diamond", name derived from the Greek "adamas" meaning "Invincible", is the hardest natural mineral, 10 on the Mohs scale. Its tetrahedral crystal structure shows carbon atoms firmly linked by strong and rigid covalent bonds giving it its high density and extreme hardness.

In addition to its excellent wear resistance, diamond displays a very high thermal conductivity and an extremely low coefficient of friction, which makes it very efficient in extreme industrial applications such as wire drawing and material calibration, metals and fluids.