Making tools from Stainless?

Wow- that is very helpful Mike! I was having trouble using my speeds and feeds app with all these teeth! It happens that the blade arriving today is from Martindale. Now I can figure out if I ordered the right one haha!
Thanks again for the help!
Stuart
 
You do not want too many teeth in the cut either. The gullets will fill up with chips and then jam the blade in the cut. If you have a long length of cut then you will need a correspondingly coarser blade.
 
I work in a machine shop where there are 4-5 people running mills all day, can always tell when someone is using a slitting saw by the rhythmic throbbing sound, they always sound awful. We do a recurring job of 500 to 1500 parts from 3/8" CR steel round bar that have a .160"flat tang on one end using 2 saw blades spaced apart on the arbor, 3 parts in 3 vices on the table of a Fadal 4020, when the saws get dull it sounds like a helicopter landing in the parking lot, they maintain size but the finish is awful when dull. Nice finish and quiet when new however.

Slitting thin or hollow sections such as tubing can be very loud indeed.

As far as making a saw arbor from stainless, why not? Would not be my first choice but if you have it then use it.
 
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StuNY said:
I have started making my own r8 arbor's for slitting saws etc and for the first couple grabbed a bar of 416 stainless that was the right diameter. They cut very easily, gave me a nice finish and work very well in the mill. Any reason I shouldn't be using stainless for these (other than cost)? I like the idea of not having to worry about rust etc, and they sure are purty! I am not planning to harden them so wonder if I am fine with it or should be using regular carbon steel/tool steel. They are 5-6 inches long and at widest point 1.25" diameter, turned between centers and I am using carbide inserts in toolholder.
Thanks!
Stuart
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If you have a cheap source of S/S why not, I tend to hoard the rare pieces that I can get, because it's expensive. The only down side with S/S it can be prone to chloride (salt) stress cracking, but in a hobby workshop it's not likely to be in contact with chlorides. so enjoy the nice shiny pieces.
 
Thanks guys. Still working through different steels for different purposes but enjoying the journey! Just a hobby for me so tool steels seem a little overkill for now. I got a pretty good deal on the 416 drops and like the way it machines. 12L14 is a lot of fun to machine too but it sure seems to rust quickly! I had written off 1018 due to surface finish and difficulty machining in the past but spent the day with it yesterday on the lathe and mill with carbide tooling running at full feeds and speeds and have to say I have changed my mind. Finish is coming out as good as 12L14 and it machines much faster than I had imagined. On my lathe and mill I can run pretty much full speed for most uses- I was using 200 RPM in the past hehe! I am finding it very helpful to keep the Little machine shops feed and speed calculator on my phone as I work.
 
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