I need to cut some timing belt pulleys. I have a fourth axis and an R8 spindle but also have the Tormach tooling system. I need a recommendation for a shell mill arbor and mills to cut the teeth on the pulleys. The pitch is .2 if that matters. Can I get away with import tooling on this or am I going to regret it?

Okay...color me confused....you're going to use a shell mill arbor to cut the teeth on the pulley....Oh, I get it...you have a fourth axis......yes you can get by with import tooling.....do I assume you also have an indexer??

I cut my pulleys with a hand ground 1/4" toolbit in a homemade 90deg flycutter. Not sure how you plan to use a shell mill to cut them... maybe you're thinking of sidecutting milling cutters?


Tiger

ViperTX<-- sorry, Should have said CNC machine with 4th


White Tiger <-- forgive me but I thought a shell mill was a side cutting milling tool. Isn't it? Can I get a thin enough side cutting tool? I would think that for a .2 inch pitch I would have to almost get a saw blade. What size should it be? When I say size, I'm talking about the kerf size. What angle and size do you grind into your tool?

you need a slitting saw and a holder here are some examples i found real quick on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/R8-SLITTING-SAW-ARBOR-BRIDGEPORT-LATHES-ETC_W0QQitemZ7592255478QQcategoryZ633QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/SLITTING-SAWS-3-x-0-057-x-1-BORE-HSS-170-TOOTH-3-pcs_W0QQitemZ7600195648QQcategoryZ58257QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
the holder should work in your R8, but the saws are just the first ones I saw. You will need to find one that is the right thickness. you may want to get one that is under size because they tend to runout a couple thousands in my experince.