Salvaging some carbide

[cathead]

This morning I thought I would try to make use of some cutter teeth from an old carbide tipped table saw blade. At first the plan was to desolder
the carbides and affix them to some steel. On second thought I decided to cut some pieces out of the saw blade and use them as the
cutter tool to fit in my cut off holder. One can change the geometry by cutting out the cutter at various angles. I made one just for
fun to see how it will perform and may make several more as the need arises. I ground the cut out piece of blade to 3/4 inch wide to
fit the cut off tool. The carbide measures slightly under 3mm wide and the saw blade itself is probably 2mm thick so there is plenty of clearance. This cutter looks like it will
have a little positive rake but that can be easily changed by the angle used when doing the rough sawing or some grinding on the top face of the carbide.

 

[NC Rick]

Too much suspense! Surely you have tried it?

 

[cathead]

Yes I did try it.

 

[cathead]

Another cutoff tool very similar in width(3mm) available inexpensively with inserts(MGMN300) is the MGEHR1616-3. My investment
with 10 inserts was about $15. One disadvantage is that the tool will allow about only an inch of travel so it is limited that way. That is
part of the reason I decided to try the saw blade technique. So realistically, the home made version will prove to better for several
reasons, one being cost, another depth of cut, not to mention the satisfaction one gets from a home brew tool.

This could be considered a tool review of sorts of the MGEHR1616-3 which I have used a bit and found to work relatively well.
Also, I tried the thinner tool with the MGMN200 carbides (2mm wide) and was not impressed with that at all as the holder
didn't survive very well and the inserts seemed to self destruct with regularity. I still keep it around though to make a
snap ring groove or some other similar operation. A search on E-Bay will allow you to see what these tools look like.

So, with all that said, my thought is to make a few more saw blade carbide cutoff tools. Another reason I got started with
the carbide cutoff thing in the first place was the cost and availability of the 1/8 in x 3/4 x 6 inch M35 blades. Also, it's
fun to experiment around a little with the rake angle and trying the cutter on various materials. I use a 6 inch flat face
diamond wheel for sharpening or profiling of the carbide cutters, a good investment in my opinion.

I'm lucky to have some very heavy old lathes that are quite happy to do cutoff work with little if any chatter. The bottom line will be when
I try cutting off a 4 inch diameter piece of solid steel with my home grown cutoff tool.

Thanks for reading along and have a pleasant day.

 

[Larry$]

Thanks for the inspiration.
I've got a bunch of old carbide blades. Will have to give this a try.

 

[DavidR8]

This is a genius idea!
I have the MGHER cutoff holder and the included inserts won't fit so I've never used it. Even so I thought it would have limited utility because of its limited DoC.

 

[Shotgun]

I tried one of those MGEHR1616-3 inserts. The thing snapped in two on the first use. This idea looks like the perfect use of a worn carbide sawblade.

 

[cathead]

This morning I continued to salvage some more of that old saw blade. I could see that I was only going to
get maybe three cutoff blades the way I was going at it. So, consequently I went to plan "B" which was to
make cutoffs with carbide on both ends. Several carbide teeth were on pieces of saw blade too small to
use as a cutoff tool so unsoldered those and stowed them away in brass shell casings so I would be
able to find them when the need arises.
I added a little negative rake on these two cutters as the tool holder has a little positive rake. (It evens it out a little that way.)
Also I angled the cutting tip slightly( about 5 degrees) so the part that is getting cut off ends up nice and clean. I have another
holder that has neutral rake so if I happen to want a negative rake cutoff tool, I will use that holder.

 

[pdentrem]

I am too lazy to do all that!
I take my blades to the my local sharpening shop to be either regrind and or repair a chipped tooth.
I use Iscar self holding type. Once I replaced my Atlas with a stiffer lathe, parting is not as scary as before!
Pierre

 

[Larry$]

I've got lots of misc. carbide: Solid carbide router bits, inserts, tipped saw blades, molder knife stock etc.
If anyone wants some to play with PM me.
Don't breath carbide dust!