I have been evaluating diamond vs CBN tooling in our shop for various precision grinding and cutting applications, and the differences in performance really show up depending on the material being worked.
From what I’ve seen:
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Diamond abrasives are excellent for non-ferrous hard materials - ceramics, carbides, glass - because they maintain cutting edges at very high hardness levels.
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CBN (cubic boron nitride) tends to outperform diamond on ferrous materials and hardened steels, largely because it resists chemical wear and thermal degradation at elevated temperatures.
For anyone weighing the choice between these two superabrasives and how bond types affect behavior, this comparison page does a good job breaking down the structural and application differences: https://ukam.com/diamond-vs-cbn-cubic-boron-nitride-tools/
Would be interesting to hear how others decide between diamond and CBN in real shop workflows - what materials or finish requirements make you choose one over the other?