Slitting Saws and Arbor?

[JRT]

I purchased a mill a year or so ago without much knowledge of actually using one but with high hopes. I've learned a lot and still have a lot to go. With the tooling the gentleman supplied with it came this arbor and all of these cutters, which I've not used. All of them are marked USA and for the most part seem sharp enough but I don't really know anything else about them. If any of you have knowledge to share I'd be really grateful. I will probably use a thin one in some 6061 Aluminum in the near future so I wanted to see if any of you had some specific advice in regards to what they actually are and any specific uses they are intended for. I'll be using a thin one to make a slit through a side of a collar after I drill and tap a hole for a screw to go in and tighten down on a separate piece, if that makes sense. The larger diameter ones fit this arbor on the right, which I can only assume he had made for them but the cutters are keyed and this arbor does not have a key way. Also, the "neck" that they slide onto is too long and would require washers in order to get a tight fit. -John

 

[mmcmdl]

These are really not slitting saws but rather slot cutters . They'll require a pretty large mill with low rpm most likely horizontal if that's what you got . For a vertical BP or clone , a right angle head and horizontal attachment with arbor would be advised .

 

[JRT]

Okay, thanks. Good to know. It's an old Rockwell 21-100, smaller than a Bridgeport for sure. I'm not sure if he ever used them on this mill or not so maybe I wont try it. -John

 

[markba633csi]

Yes those are horizontal milling cutters- intended to be used on a horizontal milling machine-
most of those are too fat to be considered slitting saws
You can try playing around with them on aluminum but I would not try them on steel
with your Rockwell, it would stress the machine too much- they would probably slip on the arbor anyway

 

[JRT]

I’ll just get a slitting saw. Any recommendations for decent quality but not real expensive? Place to order from?

 

[JRT]

Is this a slitting saw?

 

[markba633csi]

Slotting saw is what I would call it. Slitting saw blades are usually fairly thin like a hacksaw blade. Around a millimeter or even less
Depends on what you need
You can buy them from McMaster, Ebay, even Amazon. I got some from Toolmex once. Bore diameter varies

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Is this a slitting saw?

Yes. I have an arbor with a key way but it also runs the blades without the key way, I am not impressed with the saws without the key way.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Is this a slitting saw?

Kinda, but not for what you’re looking to do.

You want at least 3 teeth on the material at any given time, preferably more if you have not done this or are using a machine with a lot of flex.

For your application it sounds like something .020-.030 thick and fine toothed would work well.

Use lots of oil.