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bdrmachine

Aluminum
Joined
Mar 21, 2017
I have a job that requires a .131 inch +/- .002 wide slot cut .700 deep in 1/2” square 1018 steel. As there are quite a few of these I would like to figure out a jig to hold them and cut a group at a time. I was thinking about using a 3 inch diameter 30 tooth .125 inch wide HSS slitting saw and cut them in 2 passes to achieve the .131 width. A starting rpm of 90 and 8 IPM feed. Is this the way you seasoned professionals would handle this? There is a Great deal of experience on this site so any suggestions are gratefully appreciated.

Or would the tool chatter be easy to manage if I used a 1/8 endmill with a length of cut of 3/4 inch??
 
I’m no seasoned professional, but when I ditched the HSS slitting saws and went with custom carbide my slitting operations went from PITA to easy. Custom saws were remarkably reasonable in price. You could probably get a .131” thick saw made and finish in one pass.

There’s no way I’d try this with a 1/8” EM .7” deep. It would take forever and results would be marginal.
 
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Yes I agree with Eric. Carbide is the way to go. I was going to suggest insert type saws, but wonder if the custom made idea might be more cost effective, as the insert ones can get expensive. Yet my experience with them was that they didn't leave perfectly finished sidewalls. Even if you roughed with a carbide slitting saw and then finished with a carbide endmill, I think you'll still be better off than using HSS.
 
Definitely do not do it with an end mill. It will be a waste of time and money. This is what slitting saws are for.

I think you are fine with the HSS saw. I would go with about a 72 tooth set spinning at 125rpm and about 8ipm feed.

A custom carbide to do it all in one pass is a good idea, but I wouldn't get it unless this was a recurring job.
 
Who would be a good source for custom width saws?

MITGI
Robb Jack
Internal Tool
Gloor (mostly joking, they're the most expensive, and super long lead times, but they ARE very nice)
Camden Tool

In my order of preference/quality/delivery.
 
You could certainly try the recut method, but I suspect there'll be too much saw deflection on the second cut to maintain tolerance. Even if you did get it to work, saving a second (and third and fourth and ...) pass could be worth the custom saw.
 
You could certainly try the recut method, but I suspect there'll be too much saw deflection on the second cut to maintain tolerance. Even if you did get it to work, saving a second (and third and fourth and ...) pass could be worth the custom saw.

I agree with this.

Trying to take .006" off one edge for the second pass is just going to have the saw flex away from the cut.
 
Is the material HR or CR? Cold finished material is gonna move around when you cut that deep, you may need multiple cuts to straighten it out.

Ed.
 








 
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