Sltting saw, what to buy

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

I am looking to buy a slitting cutter for my mill. I will need the holder as well as the saw.

What would you reccomend for Aluminium and where is a good place to buy?

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

Hi Dave,

We really need to know a few things.

What size is your mill and what spindle fitting does it have.
What size of aluminium stock do you wish to cut. etc.

Nick

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I would guess that the biggest your machine will accommodate after consideration of what you really expect to cut, or spend.

Holders are available from the sellers on the right side of your screen. You pays your money and get the quality you pay for.

[John ReeseParticipant @johnreese12848]

Do not buy an arbor that accepts blades of several bore sizes. I have a couple. They do not run true. Buy or make an arbor that fits the arbor hole in the blade you will be using.

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

The mill is a Warco wm18, R8

Max 2.5"

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

Just to echo advice above, dont buy a multi fit arbour, they are terrible! I buy quality second hand blades from ebay as opposed to new cheap chinese ones.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

He won't need a multi fit arbor. He's only buying one saw.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I'd go for a "stub arbor" , 1" is a common size and you will be able to find slitting saws with this bore from most sources. Get one with a screw fastening as the nutted ones have a lot more protrusion beyound the blade which can stop you getting close to the work when in a vice, something like the last item on this page will do you. It will aslo take gear cutters.

As for size you can go larger than 2.5" , I would say a 4" dia saw with about 35teeth will do for aluminium, more teeth if cutting thin material. Run it slowly as they don't last long if run too fast

 

Edited By JasonB on 28/04/2017 13:17:54

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

I use a 3mt 22mm long arbor. The only problem I have sometimes is the size of the lock nut it prevents getting in close sometimes because it fouls the vice. I would make a plain shaft holder with a cap screw clamp this will allow to get closer over vice jaws. At the moment I am going to make a 1" adaptor for my existing arbor and use it as a cut off saw on the lathe.

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

Thanks

What thickness should I get and will 36 teeth be ok?

Edited By dave train on 28/04/2017 15:00:33

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Depends what you are doing with it, if you want a specific width cut then that will dictate what thickness blade you need.

If its just to cut off bits of metal then say 1/16" which won't flex too much.

36T will be OK unless cutting very thin material as I said above, the lower tooth count will allow the chips to be cleared easier on aluminium.

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

Thanks

Just one more question, if I also buy a blade for steel what tooth count wound you advide

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

75-100Teeth

Just one thing before you buy, if you prefer to work in metric then a 22mm dia arbor will be a better bet as the metric width blades tend to have a 22mm bore

Edited By JasonB on 28/04/2017 20:11:47

[Anonymous]

Posted by dave train on 28/04/2017 18:44:58:

Just one more question, if I also buy a blade for steel what tooth count wound you advide

It depends on what you want to do with the saw. Slitting saws come in two basic types, fine tooth, ie, lots of teeth, and coarse tooth, fewer teeth. In this picture most of the slitting saws are coarse, the thin one bottom right is fine:

Fine tooth slitting saws are for shallow slots, like screw heads. Use them for deeper slots and they'll jam, irrespective of the material. Coarse tooth slitting saws are intended for cutting deep slots. I use a slitting saw like the one top left for cutting up lumps of hot rolled steel. Depth of cut can be up to ½" with a tooth load of 2-4 thou. Here's a deep cut in cast iron:

Andrew

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

 

Arc do 22mm R8 arbours but the biggest saw is 80mm.

If I want to go to 4" as Jason suggested then I will need to go to 1" bore – **LINK**   It it as important metric vs imperial?

So which is the best type of arbout, the one above or this one – **LINK**

The Chronos one the saw is near the end however the Arc one looks like the locking nut will give a tighter fit?

Edited By dave train on 28/04/2017 23:41:15

[Ralph sheheenParticipant @ralphsheheen88046]

I agree with John, make your own arbor. its more rewarding.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Metric 100mm dia x 22mm bore are available, if you need to cut say a 1mm wide slot then you will need a metric cutter, if just chopping up bits of metal then it does not matter what you use. see pages 506 & 507 for metric saws in coarse and fine.

As I said earlier the ones with a locking nut mean you can't get the cut as close to the vice which means nore work sticking out or if small parts you just can't cut them. Yoy can see in Andrew's photo that if he went nearer the vice there would be a risk of the nut hitting the jaws if he moves in the Y direction too. Go for the CSK screw fixing. An Allen key will get it plenty tight enoungh, better to have the saw slip if things jam up rather than have the blade burst.

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

Ah right makes sence. Your link to Chronos for the 1" R8 arbour with CSK Fixing, however they dont seem to do the same with a 22mm arbour. Neither do ARC, and suggestion as to where else I may find this?

[IanTParticipant @iant]

Hi Dave,

If you want to save some pennies – then making your own saw arbor (from a blank taper) is a fairy easy job and you could probably then afford to have one of each – both imperial and a metric (1"/22mm). You don't mention your lathe but a saw arbor for the lathe is also very handy too…

You can buy blank R8 arbors from Chronos I believe. Mine have an additional lump of mild steel loctited onto the blank end and then the required 'hole' diameter is bored out. A 'top-hat' (with the saw fitted) slides into this hole and is secured with a screw. This enables various thicknesses of saw to be fitted, albeit with the same hole diameter. I know imported tools are cheap but buying ready made stuff all the time can mount up. My saw arbors are all MT1 or MT2 to fit my lathe/mill tapers…but no reason you can't do this for R8.

Regards,

IanT

[dave trainParticipant @davetrain79096]

I spoke to Chronos re the 22mm arbour and they said they are finding it difficults to sourse one.

So I either go for 1" or like Ian suggested buy a blank arbour and make my own 22mm one

I dont suppose anyone had a drawing of one?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I made a very simple stepped adapror to allow me to fit 22mm bore cutters onto my 1" arbor, will post a pic later.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Here you go, piece of steel turned to teh samd dia as the arbor body, recess one end that is a very good fit onto the end of the 1" arbor.

Short spigot turned on the other end that is a close fit in a 22mm saw/gear cutter. Hole through the middle for the clamping screw.

[Author]

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