Claims
- 1. A method of manufacture of a PCD element comprising a body and a metallic substrate, the body comprising bonded diamond crystals and a catalyzing material, and a working surface on the body, by treating the body to render a volume adjacent to the working surface thereof substantially free of the catalyzing material to a depth of at least about 0.1 mm from the working surface while permitting the catalyzing material to remain in at least some of the remaining volume of the body and while permitting the substrate to remain substantially unaffected when treating the body.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume is rendered substantially free of catalyzing material by leaching the catalyzing material from the volume.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume is rendered substantially free of catalyzing material by converting the catalyzing material to a form in which it does not have a catalyzing effect.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume is rendered substantially free of catalyzing material by reacting the catalyzing material to form a substance which does not have a catalyzing effect.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume is rendered substantially free of catalyzing material by electrical discharge.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume is rendered substantially free of catalyzing material using a galvanic process.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume is rendered substantially free of catalyzing material using an evaporation process.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/682,419 filed on Aug. 30, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,308 which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/234,075 filed Sep. 20, 2000, and from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/281,054 filed Apr. 2, 2001.
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