With the advent of such devices as grooving cutters on wood, modern masters have a lot of opportunities to create real masterpieces. After reading this article, you will learn about the existing varieties of this tool and what it is used for.
The principle of the tool
A slot mill for a manual milling cutter is a steel rod having a cylindrical shape. A direct woodworking tool of this type consists of a shank that provides reliable fixation of the tool in the chuck, and the working part, on the cylindrical surface of which there are several cutting edges.
In the process of woodworking, grooving cutters are untwisted under the influence of an electric motor to certain revolutions, and then they are brought into direct contact with the workpiece. Material is sampled at the expense of cutting edges located at the bottom of the tool. The expansion and alignment of the groove is ensured by the presence of lateral working parts.
Purpose of the tool
Grooving cutters are used for a fairly wide range of operations related to wood processing. They are used to create tongue-and-groove and spike joints, to select grooves in the door leaf during the installation of hinges, and also for the production of building structures and individual furniture elements.
Of course, all this can be done with an ordinary hammer and chisel. But it will take unreasonably a lot of time and effort. Whereas milling provides maximum accuracy and high speed of execution of such operations.
The main varieties of grooving cutters
Depending on what operations are capable of performing certain grooving cutters, they can be divided into several categories, including:
- shaped;
- constructional;
- fillet;
- direct.
For the production of this device, high-quality carbide tool steel of special grades is used. The most important technical parameters of grooving cutters are the total length, working height, diameter of the shank and the cutting part. When selecting the tool necessary for a certain type of woodworking, it is necessary to take into account the parameters of the groove, which must be done in the end part of the part or in the plate.
Grooving Disc Mill
This type of tool is used to process all kinds of grooves and grooves of the product. To create a narrow groove, thin disk grooving cutters are used. Angular grooves are obtained using a single or two-angle tool. To extend the life of the corner cutters, their tops need to be slightly rounded. Disk cutters can be divided into two categories:
- solid tools, which can be trilateral with straight or multidirectional blades, backed and simply grooved;
- devices with plug-in blades.
Groove cutter
Similar devices that expand the basic capabilities of a power tool are used to produce straight grooves with a curly bottom. To date, two varieties of this tool are available:
- milling cutters with rounded tips, allowing to decorate the surface of the processed board with complex decorative recesses;
- devices with V-shaped end cutting edges, allowing to produce grooves of a certain depth.
Such cutters are used for decorative processing not only the surface of the plate, but also its edges. The cost of such a tool is an order of magnitude higher than the price of straight cutters.
Shaped Milling Cutters
A similar tool is used in cases where it is necessary to apply a certain pattern to the surface. Using panel mills, door panels, furniture covers and other interior elements are made. A tool of this type is actively used for deep sampling and removal of straight chamfers at various angles, for simple and complex rounding of edges, to create complex concave profiles and edges with rounded edges.
Cutter Safety
In order to avoid injuries associated with improper use of milling machines, it is necessary to adhere to the simplest safety rules. Install and change the milling cutter in the cartridge only after disconnecting the device from the network. In the process, it is necessary to ensure that the shank is completely clamped in the cartridge. Inadequate hold can cause serious injury. The shank should not have rust, tar or oily contaminants that could cause it to slip out of the chuck clamp. The surface to be treated must be free of any foreign objects. When working with a woodworking tool, do not forget about such protective equipment as gloves, a respirator and eye glasses. This will protect you from the resulting fine wood dust.