dk8100

I'm planning on starting a new block this weekend. I am making a pin style block and I have a 1/16" slitting saw w/chip recesses that I'm going to use. I have never used on before and I was wondering if anyone had any advice. My main question is how deep to go with each pass. I'm planning a pin height of 3/16", is it safe to do 1/16" deep cuts with a slitting saw?

martin and iandh : either of you guys have any advice before i go into this?

iandh

Yes, I do have advice. When you start banging your head on the wall because you are so bored to death of cutting slits, try to use a wall constructed of wood or drywall as opposed to mortar block or concrete, as this will greatly reduce your chance of concussion and unsightly bruising on the forehead.

Vary your spindle speed based upon what seems right for the diameter of your saw. Use a thinner cutting oil to allow for good chip cleaning. Take a "convetional" cut, not a "climbing" one, this also allows for good chip cleaning.

I would suggest passes at .010" to .025" depending on the tooth depth of your saw, at a feedrate of 10-15 ipm. It is possible to make a full depth cut but can be risky. In this case the feed rate and speed really need to be tuned by hand based upon the part and slit depth.

dk8100

Hah, I think my garage door is soft enough to not cause serious brain damage. One of my original blocks I cut 8 .125 wide slots .250 deep with .010 cuts because I was going through cheap endmills too quickly. I gave up on using 1/16" endmills in copper, its just not worth the frustration. I think some good cutting oil would help this a little bit though.

I'll try those cut depths. I'm more likely to use the .010 because if this saw breaks or dulls im sol until i can get a new one shipped here. You have any ideas about where to look for cutting oil? Someone suggested I look for some drilling fluid, but if I can't find anything locally I'll just have to have it shipped in.

That new block you made is awesome by the way. You used bead blasting to get that finish on the block right?

Martinm210

I found about .010" to be a good depth to cut....lots of WD-40..

1/16" shouldn't take you too long though. My first block was a 1/32", and the last was a 1/64", took a good 3 hours or so to cut the pins.

The other thing I've been playing with is making my own saw arbor, something that will give the blade more reinforcement, especially the thinner ones. And I'd still like to make an angle block that I can bolt the workpiece down and make all the cuts in one pass. Trying to make half the cuts in a vise and then match them back up when you flip it around isn't much fun either.

Smaller diameter saws also work better, seems to be less runout. I also finally bought myself a full set of ER40 spring collets, so I hope that helps some too. I'm going to make an arbor with a 1" shank for some beefy goodness.

Any yeah, like iandh said, soft walls are very helpfull...

__________________
Flow Rate Estimator | Radiator Sizing Estimators

dk8100

So you use WD-40 for a cutting oil? I was using 3-in-1 oil a while ago but I think i need to use something better than that for this.

This is the arbor I picked up. With how much these slitting saws cost I decided it was better to just get a good arbor to prolong their life.

Martinm210

Yeah, WD-40 works really well for cutting pins. You need a thinner oil for pin cutting to wash away the chips and WD-40 works well for that.

That looks like a much better arbor than I had at first, R8 shank should be really precise.

I've been able to cut about one block per slitting saw with the cheaper $4 type saws, then they are pretty much trashed. I suppose one of the all carbide types would last alot longer. I also like the smooth cut type.

For a wide variety of saw options do a search at mcmaster-carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/

for:
jewlers slitting cutters

They have all kinds of thicknesses and types.
Grizzley also has some inexpensive types, but they are only the large tooth variety:

http://www.grizzley.com/products/cat...spx?key=240180

Post some pics when you're done..

__________________
Flow Rate Estimator | Radiator Sizing Estimators