Slitting saw trials

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Tozguy

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A few years ago a cheap saw mandrel and a 2'' x 1/16 slitting saw was added to a tool order to bump the purchase over the free shipping threshold.
The idea was to have one on hand for posterity but I never encountered a need for it. This week it was time for me to cut my teeth on slitting :) and give it a try just for the fun of it.
It works but boy the run out on the saw was horrific. The mandrel is the universal kind that has telescoping bushings to fit a variety of bore sizes. Not the highest precision tool ever made so I made up a brand new mandrel. With the new mandrel the saw still had horrific runout (.006'' TIR). After careful measurement it turns out that the saw is not round and the bore is not centered. Serves me right for buying cheap stuff?
All this leads me to ask what your experience has been with slitting saws and what are the tips and tricks for successful slitting.
 
Mine have a lot of run out as well, and I have not seen a video that they did not have run out. but just a hobbyist.
 
Can you turn the arbor undersize and indicate in the saw teeth? It will be tricky if the saw moves when you tighten the screw, but it should be doable with some patience.
 
Or you could make an eccentric bushing for the universal mandrel (or make an eccentric mandrel) and use that to offset the saw’s runout by clicking the two relative to each other.
 
Thanks folks. Along those lines, because my homemade arbor was good but the blade was bad, I used a Dremel to move the bore to the center of the blade. Then I tried to center the blade on the arbor using an indicator. That's when it became evident that the saw blade OD was not round. Run out had decreased from .006'' to .002'' TIR. This is much better but that .002'' still makes an unpleasant noise during cutting. I will try a different way of indicating and see if more improvement is possible. Stay tuned.
 
If the OD isn’t round, the high teeth will remain the high teeth. Seems like a new cutter is your best option, or just using that one to the extent possible.
 
jwmelvin said:
If the OD isn’t round, the high teeth will remain the high teeth. Seems like a new cutter is your best option, or just using that one to the extent possible.
Click to expand...

In that case you simply grind them down. Use it up.
 
If someone you know has a cutter grinder, all the teeth could be resharpened concentrically but since you have messed with the bore, that might not work too well. I have used a lot of slitting saws, and none of them run perfectly true, its just something you deal with.
 
Makes sense guyz, thanks, you have helped me to adjust my expectations and come up with a plan. Gonna name it my 'Hopalong Cassidy' tool.
 
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