Cutting spiral and helical slots in tool steel

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  1. #1
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    Default Cutting spiral and helical slots in tool steel

    New here; so many fora; none seem particularly appropriate to my question, so I'll ask here and hope to be redirected appropriately.

    I need to know what type of machine, cutter, and the practical limits, for cutting two different kinds of 'slot' into tool steel:

    1) A radial spiral slot (think: clock spring inverse) into the face of a round workpiece.

    2) An axial helical 'slot' through the depth of a cylindrical workpiece.

    My naive questions include:

    a) Which type of machine (mill, lathe, other) is appropriate for each type of cut?
    b) What type of tool (rotating side cutter or end cutter; lathe parting-tool type; other)?
    c) How thin can I make the slot?
    d) How deep can I make the slot?

    Thoughts?

    Cheers, Buk.

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  2. #2
    Community Moderator Jim Dawson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cutting spiral and helical slots in tool steel

    Quote Originally Posted by Buk View Post

    My naive questions include:
    I'll take a stab at this. There are a lot of variables here and without any other parameters other than stated it's difficult to give a definitive answer.

    a) Which type of machine (mill, lathe, other) is appropriate for each type of cut?
    A lathe with live tooling and a C axis or milling machine would work. A milling machine might give better tool path options due to the CAM software available.

    b) What type of tool (rotating side cutter or end cutter; lathe parting-tool type; other)?
    A rotating tool would be what I would use. Due to the changing radius of a helix, a fixed grooving tool would not work well.

    c) How thin can I make the slot?
    I have slotted steel with a 1mm endmill. Requires a rigid machine and good control.

    d) How deep can I make the slot?
    At least 5x the diameter of the cutter, maybe deeper with some care and ideal conditions.

    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA


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    Default Re: Cutting spiral and helical slots in tool steel

    Bit late, but Jim answered it pretty well.
    We did exactly what you are inquiring about making round dies for the plastic extrusion world
    We used a Horizontal Boring mill as it gives the best rigidity for 3 or 4 axis work
    Using a Lathe or Vertical mill with indexing head can give flex to tough work.
    We used Ball Endmills for most cutting- as it was smooth grooves we wanted.
    Using a Horizontal solves the chip evacuation problem as well , so deep depths were not an issue



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Cutting spiral and helical slots in tool steel

Cutting spiral and helical slots in tool steel