Oakland Diamond Tools provides the professional rework and repair service of PDC cutters to save drill bit manufacturers and bit repair facilities cost. This typically refers to the machining of new or used PDC cutters with damaged edges into smaller specifications.

For example: The Φ1916 PDC cutters can be processed to be Φ1613 or Φ1308 PDC cutters.

Our customers have realized substantial savings, up to 90% of the original cost of the cutters with ODT.

raw used PDC cutter Arrow New reworked PDC cutter

What can be reworked/ resized?

How does it PDC Cutter rework work?

How much would rework cost?

What is the quality of reworked cutters?

How do you know which cutter can be reworked? How do you ensure quality?

Does it matter if my cutters were leached or not leached?

I have a lot of cutters, how much/ how quickly can you process?

How can I make my cutters last even longer?

What should I do now?

What can be reworked/ resized?

1. New PDC cutters with contour defect due to processing errors, such as: tilt of cylinder, damages on the diamond layer.

2. PDC Cutters that have been used once in the oil well and taken down from the bit bodies.

Both of these kinds of PDC cutters can be recycled and reworked as long as their intrinsic qualities have not been damaged.

How does it PDC Cutter rework work?

PDC cutters comprise a polycrystalline diamond top layer integrally sintered to a tungsten carbide substrate by using a high-pressure, high-temperature process, and they are vastly applied in drill bits in oil & gas drilling industry.

Reworked size of PDC cutters is related to the damage status of PDC cutters before reconditioning. Our highly skilled team dedicated to customer satisfaction will help recondition these used cutters or cutters with defective edges at a low cost.

Large damaged PDC cutters can be processed into new smaller cutters which can be used on new drill bits, hence offer significant cost savings for the bits manufacturers and PDC bit repair and retipping facilities.

Used PDC cutter Arrow New reworked PDC cutter

How much would rework cost?

Processing cost of reconditioning of used PDC cutters will be only 10-20% of cost of the new PDC cutters. The quantities ordered affect pricing and monthly blanket releases will offer the best savings.

What is the quality of reworked cutters?

The tool life expectancy of a reworked cutter is close to 100% of a new, which makes the cost savings even more attractive.

How do you know which cutter can be reworked? How do you ensure quality?

Since the used PDC cutters have undergone high temperature processing twice and the violent impacts in the oil well, the core quality of these cutters often have serious damages.

To eliminate waste of time and processing and to improve efficiency, we have the diversified quality control methods such as C-scan imaging to test and quality the cutters to see whether they are or not for recycling process. We only process the cutters that are qualified enough for further recycling purpose.

Our strict Incoming quality control (IQC), process control management and Outgoing quality control (OQC) guarantees the quality of the reworked PDC cutters.

Does it matter if my cutters were leached or not leached?

No. Reworking the PCD cutter is not influenced by the electrical conductivity of the materials. Currently the surface of PCD layers of many PDC Cutters do not conduct electricity due to removed cobalt.

The processing cost and efficiency for PDC cutters are not affected by the electrical conductivity because of unique combination processing techniques of laser cutting, EDM, mechanical grinding and lapping.

Used PDC cutter arrow New PDC cutter

I have a lot of cutters, how much/ how quickly can you process?

We have a Lean Six Sigma core for manufacturing and work place, so we are continuously improving our capacity and getting more efficient. We process millions of PDC Cutters annually upon the market demands thanks to our powerful production and processing capability. On average, we can have the reworked cutters back to the customers within three week time period.

How can I make my cutters last even longer?

Oakland Diamond Tools has included Mirror Polishing on top of our precise laser cutting (within micrometers) into our PDC rework and repair service to prolong the life and increase the value of the cutter.

We utilize C-Scan Acoustic Microscopy analytical testing to inspect the cutters prior and following rework to ensure cutter integrity.

What should I do now?

Just ship us your used cutters and we will sort and identify what can be reworked. We will return the PDC cutters which cannot be reclaimed back to the customer. On-site evaluation is also offered at no extra cost.