How Important Is A Slitting Saw Arbor?

What do you put on a stub arbor if not a saw?

A stub arbor is an R-8 mated device for attaching cutters normally intended for use on a horizontal milling machine. One inch (typical) horizontal milling cutters, including saws, can be mounted on a stub arbor. The cutters will revolve in the horizontal plane thus the workpiece will have to be clamped to a right angle plate on the table of a vertical milling machine or mill drill. Not a great idea, esp. considering the restricted vertical space available on a mill drill.

Bob Swinney

Not always. I've found the stub arbors very useful, but I don't buy them, I make my own. First, for slitting, and I've done quite a bit of that, then for longer keyways, using a bigger cutter with the piece clamped down, locating in one of the T slots. Screw slots in a 5C collet holder, indexing notches using a spin index. Lots of uses, and I've found none of them to really be hampered by a mill/drill. Then, again, I've got the damndest collection of oddball cutters that anyone can scrounge to work with. Still haven't figured out what some of them were supposed to make.

Hi Guys, I guess I will add the slitting saw arbor and a blade to my list.I don't see any need for a stub arbor in my shop,yet.Now to deside if I should get the R8 shank or 1/2" shank.I can see me cutting a casting for say a piston rod crank or what ever the proper name is in a steam engine kit.I have to be careful and not spend much more or I'll go too far and bust the good will of the wife :-).Thanks for the advice and information guys. Tom

Hmm ... if you want to use one to cut a keyway in a shaft, or gear teeth (with the help of a dividing (index) head and tailstock), you can mount the shaft horizontal and lower the cutter *beside* the shaft until it is on center. That is not going to consume too much vertical space.

Note that a stub arbor will have more give than a proper horizontal milling machine arbor which is supported at the "free" end with a pilot bearing. (Or even a right-angle milling head for the Bridgeport, with a support bearing clamped on the ram.) This should not be a problem in using slitting saws, and probably no problem up to perhaps 3/16" keyways, but beyond that, you will need to be more careful than you would on a horizontal mill, as the give will introduce problems.

Enjoy, DoN.

I have occasion to cut a thin (1/4 inch) strip of metal from a larger piece of stock. There is nothing easier than to put the stock in the mill vice, set up the slitting saw and let the power feed table run past the saw blade. Sure beats a band saw, both in ease and quality of cut. The resulting cut is a finished piece not requiring squaring, finishing or polishing. I don't know why anybody would want to do any cut in a band saw where the size in question could be cut with a horizontal plane saw blade installed in a mill with a power feed table. Somebody please comment if the above is weird use of tooling.

Ivan Vegvary

While much slower than doing it on a bandsaw..its a very legitimate use of the slitting saw and is done regularly in tool and die work.

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

I would get both. didnt realize how useful they were till i needed them. I needed to run some formed cutters to machine some carbon for a weld buildup casting repair. I didnt have immediate use for the slitting saw but later I had to make a split bushing to adapt some smaller boring bars for my toolholder and it did the trick nicely. The stub arbor makes a lot of cutters generally used for the horizontal mill available for use on vertical one. They have a keyway and come in different diameters so you might need a few sizes. Mine is a straight shank which is put in the toolholder that adapts to my brown and sharpe #9 taper but you can get them to go straight into the mill taper I think.

But a slitting saw should fit the stub arbor as well. Just a bit more projection beyond the saw with the typical setup.

I have one which is an R8 shank on one end, and which has two diameters (larger closer to the R8 shank, of course, as it represents larger loads). The smaller is 1", and the larger is 1-1/4".

I've even made a stub arbor for my little Emco-Maier C5 milling head ( M14x1 thread), as well as an adaptor for the small boring head. It works fine in brass with a 1/8" staggered-tooth milling cutter, but I was not feeding it very hard. The head likes to swivel if a cut grabs. It is really a tiny machine.

But I don't have a stub arbor for either my Bridgeport (30 taper

-- a CNC spindle) or my Nichols horizontal (40 taper), but (especially with the Nichols) there really isn't a need, as it already has serious full-length arbors with pilots for the support bearing.

Enjoy, DoN.

Thank You Guys, I think I will try to get a slitting saw and arbor for it.I have a small job in mind and am sure I will use it a few times.I'm just learning all the different things you can do with a Mill. Tom