Diamond-coated ®bres, produced by a hot ®lament chemical vapour deposition technique and having a high facet density, have been prepared for use as abrasives. Two grinding wheels containing such ®bres have been fabricated with the ®bres placed in a radial orientation. One wheel contained a single ®bre, the other contained multiple ®bres. The single diamond ®bre wheel was used ®rst to evaluate the potential for ductile grinding of BK7 glass. A ductile±brittle transition was found, occurring at a depth of cut of ¹1 mm over a range of feed rates (5±50 mm/s). The multiple diamond ®bre wheel was then used to grind an area, using parameters identi®ed by the single ®bre tests. Microstructural analysis revealed that material removal was predominantly in the ductile mode.