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Saw Cutting Recommendations (Speeds & Feeds)

CUTTING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CIRCULAR SAWS
CUTTING SPEEDS & FEEDS

These are general cutting speed recommendations, and may vary from application to application. Martindale/Gaylee does not assume any liability in the following recommendations, which are basically suggestions on where to start. Please contact us if you have questions.

FEED RATES:
H.S.S. Saws:
.002”-.006”
(in. per tooth - IPT or chip load per tooth - CLPT)
Carbide Saws:
.0002”-.0015”
(in. per tooth - IPT or chip load per tooth - CLPT)

NOTE: This is a conservative recommendation as a starting point for feed rates, and may vary depending on material being cut and cutting speed (SFPM).

USEFUL METALWORKING FORMULAS
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

If a saw is working well, send it to us and we will duplicate it.

If a saw is not working well, send us a used blade. We can sometimes make recommendations from wear marks on the saw.

Variations to number of teeth, rake angle, clearance angle, bevel, side clearance, material, land, etc. may improve performance and tool life.

Teeth
    • – Thin material
    • – Thin cuts (under .025”)
    • – Slow spindle speeds
    • – Hard material
    • – Sandy castings
    • – Thin castings
    • – Work hardened
    • – Hard spots
    • – Chip clearance and tooth strength (Consider Metal Slitting or Copper Slitting style saws.)
    • – Deep cuts (over 1/4”)
    • – High speeds
    • – Free cutting material
SIDE CLEARANCE
MOUNTING OF SAWS
BREAKAGE
VIBRATION AND CHATTER
    • -Arbor bent or worn undersize
    • – Workpiece improperly supported, particularly with thin material
    • – Teeth too coarse/fine
    • – Speed too slow / too fast
    • – Dull tool
    • – Wrong clearance angles
    • – Feed too slow
    • – Climb milling recommended on CNC equipment. Conventional milling preferred on manual equipment, but climb milling may help to keep small parts from being ripped from the clamping fixture. It may also reduce burs.
EXCESSIVE WEAR
COOLANT
RESHARPENING
RETIPPING
COATINGS FOR SAWS AND CUTTERS

Cutting tool surface coatings are available upon request. Tool coatingsprovide tool wear resistance while significantly improving theperformance of saws in most applications, particularly when cuttingferrous materials. These coatings are extremely thin, harder than steeland greatly reduce friction and wear. The most common coatingsavailable for Martindale/Gaylee Saws are:

COMMUTATOR UNDERCUTTING

Once commutator has been resurfaced, mica insulation separating copper segments must be undercut. Undercutting is most easily accomplished with armature removed from machine. However, various tools are available to undercut commutator “in place”.

After undercutting, commutator must be carefully inspected to assure all copper particles removed, all bars chamfered, and all sharp edges and burs eliminated. Slots should be individually checked and reworked to remove any traces of fin or side mica.

Commutator surface should then be lightly polished with fine-grain commutator stone or rubber bond cleaning stone to properly finish commutator surface.

Three basic types of slots may be produced by circular cutters: U-slot, V-slot, and compound land slot.

U-SLOT

U-slots (Fig. 1) are generally preferred if slots are accessible for easy cleaning. If cut carefully, these slots are effective until commutator has worn down full depth of undercut. Slot should be cut 1/32”-3/64” (.031-.046) deep, or to OEM specifications. If slot cut too deep, accumulated dust will not be thrown out by the centrifugal action of the rotating commutator.

Choose cutter width to slightly exceed mica thickness (recommend +.003” / .08mm). This allows saw to remove full width of mica plus .0015” (.04mm) copper on each side of slot. If unable to determine mica width, a feeler gage may help determine required saw thickness.

Undercutting may leave a bur (see Fig. 2). Edge of bar might become work hardened, leading to nonuniform wear and possible damage to brushes. Edges of bars must be chamfered to remove bur and work hardened area through use of suitable slotting file or specialty scraper. A chamfer of 1/64” (.4mm) is usually adequate. See Hand Tools section of catalog for slotting files and chamfering tools.

For best results, go over commutator a second time with a V-cutter to simultaneously chamfer both edges of slot.

V-SLOT

V-slots keep slots free from dust accumulations at low speeds, and do not require a separate operation for chamfering of bar edges. V-slots are usually made with either a slotting file, or a “V” tooth circular cutter. Usual practice is to use a circular cutter having an included angle between cutting edges such that a cut made 1/16” (1.6mm) deep will also leave 1/32” (.8mm) free copper above the mica. Standard V-cutters are available with 40°, 50°, or 60° angles between cutting edges.

Use following table to obtain 1/16” (1.6mm) deep cut with 1/32” (.8mm) free copper above mica:

Circular cutter must be accurately centered on mica (see Fig. 4). When cutter is not accurately centered, wedge-shaped mica fins in V-slots are more difficult to remove than fins with uniform thickness left after U-slot.

Mica fins are left in slots that are:

COMPOUND LAND SLOT

Teeth on compound land mica saws are alternately ground to a special taper which reduces impact on each individual tooth and produces chips just slightly over half of slot width. This eliminates chips’ tendency to clog slot. Saw will operate cooler and clear chips better, prolonging saw life.

When undercutting with compound land saws, bottom of slot will appear flat. However, as a result of reverse taper on alternate teeth, slot bottom will have slight pyramid or convex profile.