Slotting saw question

[ACF]

I wanted to put some screw slots in some 303SS so I made a fixture out of aluminum to hold the pieces even with the top of the fixture. Used a HSS 1.75 in. diameter screw slotting saw .064 in. thick and ran at 120 rpm using a slow feed rate (a little less than 2 in./min.).I tried .010 and .015 DOC and climb milled. Slots came out good, but the aluminum clogged up the teeth of the saw. Were these milling parameters OK? Couldn't find much about using these saws in my books. Any easy way to get the aluminum out of the saw teeth without ruining the saw?

Chris

[JCHannum]

I always use WD-40 as a lubricant when milling aluminum. It keeps it from welding to the cutter.
It can usually be removed by scraping with a scribe or small sharp chisel.

[pgmrdan]

and if you don't have any WD-40 handy try some plain old kerosene.

HTH,
Dan

[ACF]

Thanks for the help, next time I'll use WD-40. Were these milling parameters in the ballpark?

Chris

[wierdscience]

You pretty much got it,but if I understand your situation right the 303 ss was held in aluminum tooling and being cut with no coolant?The guys are right on the wd-40/kerosene thing,but if the soup includes ss,then something a little heavier sould be used like sulpher threading oil or even spindle oil because the ss cold welding to the saw teeth could be a problem real quick.

[Rustybolt]

This is just me, but I don't like to climb mill with a slitting saw. If it grabs it could shatter or bugger up your mandrel.

[Thrud]

Chris
One product that works well for slot saws is anti-sieze compound.

Thanks to Oscar O. for this excellent tip.

[ACF]

Being that I have lot's of surfurized cutting oil and more parts to slot, tomorrow I'll give that a try after I clean the AL out of the saw. The one book I have suggested using climb milling that's why I tried it, but it does worry me also. We'll try using normal milling also. Might as well get an education while we're at it. Well, I here my bed calling me so I'll check back with you fine people tomorrow. Thanks so much for the help.

Chris

[hitnmiss]

What kind of aluminum where you cutting?

Some aluminum can be very gummy and miserable to machine...

6061 T6 is very nice to machine.

[ACF]

Hit and miss,
It was 6061 T6 aluminm that I used for the fixture.

Chris