Do slitting saws with side teeth work better than normal blades in plastic?

[rk9268vc]

Ive got a bunch of UHMW parts to part off. I order thicker stock than I need so I have something to hold in the vise, then part them almost all the way off with a slitting saw, and finish with a hack saw so the part doesnt go flying

Ive been using standard HSS slitting saw blades, and the UHMW gets melty when I start to go deeper from the saw rubbing

I noticed that McMaster sells slitting saws with side teeth as an option. Double the price, but do yall think this would work better in UHMW?
Im kinda thinking that when it shrinks back or melts, this will have wider teeth to keep the slit clear to reduce rubbing

Anyone use slitting saws with side teeth before? Do you like them? Ive only ever used standard ones

Thanks

 

[PeteM]

They will have less area with zero clearance in contact, so less able to heat up the plastic.

Nice and sharp tools, side clearance, run not too fast, with coolant can help. You want a combination of rake, speed, and feed that yields chips that evacuate rather than gooey strings that get stuck in the cut.

 

[specfab]

Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: PeteM has some good suggestions. If it's possible to have a continuous air blast (instead of coolant) this will both function as cooling and help clear cut chips off the saw and out of the sawed slot. Heat is the #1 enemy.

 

[rk9268vc]

Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: PeteM has some good suggestions. If it's possible to have a continuous air blast (instead of coolant) this will both function as cooling and help clear cut chips off the saw and out of the sawed slot. Heat is the #1 enemy.

Yeah I figured out that heat is the enemy, turned my nice parts into bananas because it got too hot. Trying to see if I can bake them in an oven to un-banana them

I'll try picking up one of the blades and try it out.

 

[ManualEd]

I’ve done a lot of slitting with carbide tipped saw blades for wood working.

More generous relief between the teeth and blade than a slitting saw, dirt cheap and readily available.
Huge variety of tooth count, blade thickness, kerf, and diameters is very handy.

They last forever in aluminum and plastic, and a lot longer than you might expect in steels. If you need something a little beefier for steels you just get a metal cutting saw blade.

 

[DavidScott]

The HSS saws with side relief will wander less. My favorite is carbide saws for battery powered mini Skillsaws. Mine is close to 20 years old and is a Makita 1mm x 85mm with a 15mm bore. Funny thing is it has a max rpm of 2240. You will have to bore out the center hole to what size you want but what I have is simply the best saw for plastic, and will last until you crash it.

 

[Scruffy887]

The last 2 posts. Believe it.