ROTOGRAVURE ENGRAVING WITH DIAMONDS Critical Features continued Quality of the Copper Variations in copper plating can have large impacts on the performance (especially lifetime) of diamond engraving tools. Hardness, ductility, pits, and inclusions from grinding can cause the diamond tool to wear out prematurely, or even to fracture. Handling Diamond engraving, tools are often damaged during handling: Diamond is extremely hard, which makes it very resistant to abrasive wear. But, with this fardnese comes brittleness, which makes it susceptible to breakage. Breakage occurs when the forces on the diamond exceed its strongth. It doosn't take much force to break the sharp point or chip the sharp edges of a diamond stylus. Touching the tip of the stylus with your finger, or wiping it with a cloth can create enough force to chip the diamond. The "Scratch Test" that many engravors use for alignment purposes is anothor way to broake or chip the diamond. And once chipped, it will produce unacceptable cells, or have a short life, or both. When -ve work with a diamond, the only thing that touches the finished edge is a clean soft cotton swab that been moistened with alcohol.