Slitting saw recommendation

[DavidR8]

Thanks @westerner and @mksj !

 

[davidpbest]

Take the full depth of cut in your first and only pass. Adjust your speed and feed to suit.

There is much wisdom in this suggestion.

 

[Ken from ontario]

I've bought a few items from this eBay seller(bratex IIC), he sells a lot of new old stock tools and very good quality used items , excellent after sale customer service to boot:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[markba633csi]

I got some nice 3" ones from ToolMex a while back. They were 280 tooth X 0.025 with 1/2" bore. About 9$ each but the shipping was a bit high
Polish made, good quality

 

[mikey]

David, most of my slitting saws were bought in lots as used saws on ebay. All work, none were beat up so buying used saws, especially the little 2 - 2.5" OD jeweler's saws, is a good option. You can also find decent new/mint larger saws from known makers for a lot less than retail on ebay. Almost any North American maker is fine; there were no truly junk saw makers that I'm aware of in NA.

Try to pick an arbor size and stay with saws to fit. Jeweler's saws are most common with 1/2" arbors. Larger saws come in all sizes but 1" is very common.

Remember that the bigger the arbor hole, the bigger the arbor; the bigger the arbor, the less working diameter you will have.

Contrary to what some think, concentricity of the arbor matters a lot. You can definitely make a really good one and if you do then copy the Sierra American arbor. I think Stefan's version is exactly that. Or just buy a Sierra American arbor in the size and style you need; they are hardened and very accurate. Their caps are very thin so they allow you to get close to the work. I own and recommend them, Dave.

 

[DavidR8]

Thanks @mikey!

 

[graham-xrf]

There is lots of good information here about getting good slitting saws, but I hope @DavidR8 will forgive that I use the thread to also put in a question or two about them. My experience with these is one abortive attempt that went into mangled metal scenario quite quickly, but I admit the speed was probably way too fast.

Is there such a thing as a slitting saw without quite a lot of run-out? Almost whatever I tried still came with that crunch-crunch sound. When I see slitting saws in use in videos, it is the same.

Do slitting saws only ever cut with the few teeth that contact over only part of the circumference?

 

[DavidR8]

Stefan Gottewinter did a series on making a slitting saw and he achieved extremely low runout.

 

[Cadillac]

They should cut around the whole diameter. If they were reground that could be a issue. Regrind could be off? Slop between arbor to hole or just the arbor itself. You’d have to do some investigating.

 

[mikey]

Is there such a thing as a slitting saw without quite a lot of run-out? Almost whatever I tried still came with that crunch-crunch sound. When I see slitting saws in use in videos, it is the same. Do slitting saws only ever cut with the few teeth that contact over only part of the circumference?

That "crunch, crunch" sound is usually one or two teeth that are not ground or offset exactly the same as the rest. It is not an issue, Graham.