Milling with a Slitting Saw
It’s known that a slitting saw cutter is stressed by cutting from its periphery, and this varies according to its diameter. Most often, there is no keyway in its bore either. Therefore, its seating on the arbor it’s mounted on, and its clamping, is only possible through the face surfaces of the collars on the arbor.
Let’s examine the setup shown in the image, on a short arbor shaft, along with the names of its elements.
The clamping arbor is selected according to the bore diameter of the slitting saw cutter (5). The cutter is fitted onto the thin collar (6), followed by the thick collar (7). Between the special arbor screw (8), the washer (10) and nut (11), and the collar shown with number (9), a small amount of clearance is left with the shaft so the cutter can be properly clamped.
Since the slitting saw cutter has no keyway, it should be kept in mind that if the chip is not removed in the direction the screw tightens during milling, the cutter can loosen and come off.
For the slitting saw cutter to perform the given slot examples, the cutter is mounted on the arbor into the spindle nose, and the workpiece is mounted onto the machine table using suitable devices. However, depending on the milling position, both the cutter and the workpiece can be mounted in other ways as well. (Figure below)
Milling Deep Grooves with a Slitting Saw
When working with slitting saws, because the teeth are very close together during cutting, chips fill up and cause jamming. This makes it hard for the cutter to turn freely inside the slot. Especially when the diameter is large and the thickness is thin, this can cause it to break quickly. Therefore, when milling deep grooves, the teeth need to be cleaned frequently, cutting fluids should be used, and the cutting speed should be chosen carefully.
Slitting saw cutters. Also used quite often for cutting operations.
A slitting saw cutter with a keyway cut into it, suitable for arbor mounting
Cutting a narrow groove with a slitting saw
Here too, attention must be paid to how the part is mounted and to chip removal. The sections of the workpiece to be cut are roughly marked out. The marking lines are aligned over the “T”-slots, in a way that prevents the cutter from touching the table. The cutter rotates inside the “T”-slot while cutting the part. (For long and heavy parts, mounting them directly to the table is recommended.)
Cutting equally spaced slots and grooves using a slitting saw cutter
Steps of the Cutting Process with a Slitting Saw
1 — The slitting saw is selected according to the workpiece’s size and the location to be cut.
2 — One of the mounting tools that won’t harm the job, with short or long arbors, is fitted so the machine can operate in either horizontal or vertical position.
3 — The workpiece is mounted directly to the table or vise, appropriate to its size. If clamping shoes and bolts will be used, it must be checked before starting the operation whether they interfere with the cutter, the support bearings, or the arbor shaft.
4 — Since slitting saws are thin, they most often have no keyway. Therefore, the cutter, held only by the pressure of the collars, can rotate freely during machining if it isn’t cutting. We can prevent this by mounting the arbor shaft nut with attention to direction (tightening in the direction that opposes the cutting force).
5- The cutting-location mark is brought under the cutter.
6 — By moving the table in the cutting direction, the workpiece is raised from the knee, until the cutter exits the workpiece.
7 — In cutting and grooving operations with the milling cutter, coolant should be used, taking care with the cutting speeds and RPM. During chip removal, the cutting edges should be cleaned with a bristle brush.
Generally, workpieces are not only clamped to the machine table in cutting operations. Sometimes they are also clamped in a vise and cut. However they’re clamped, the sections separated by cutting must not be affected by the clamping force. Otherwise the cutter will break.
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