Customize Your Dovetail Cutter for the Exact Results You Need
Dovetail cutters are tricky tools. Due to their highly specialized shape, special considerations need to be made in order to achieve long tool life and superior cutting results. You can be sure that you are in good hands with these considerations when it comes to Aronson-Campbell Custom Grinding. We will talk you through all the dimensions and geometry we need to know, and make sure your custom dovetail cutter can handle anything you throw at it (within reason, of course).
A Specialized Workhorse
So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, maybe you’re asking yourself: what do dovetail cutters do? They create a dovetail groove, of course! But in case that’s not helpful, we can translate that into layman’s terms. Dovetail cutters are tools that cut a trapezoidal shape into the material to be machined – straight sides, wider at the bottom and skinnier at the top. With dovetail joints, the narrow side of the trapezoid is usually at the joining point, and the wider part set into the body of the workpiece for added strength. Machining that specific shape into a part is hard to achieve without a specialized tool, so that’s where dovetail cutters come in.
However, they are not a one-trick pony, as they can also handle undercutting and deburring jobs or to cut o-ring grooves. Many milling machines are o-ring slotting, which means they require that a tool drop into the spindle and lock in before you can begin cutting. Dovetail cutters can create those o-ring grooves so that you can mill with a wide variety of tools.
Choosing the Geometry You Need
Dovetails cutters can come in seventeen included angles to make sure you can cut your trapezoidal grooves to exactly the right angle required for your job. These tools are also offered with sharp and radius corners for different applications. Depending on the strength and speed and chip evacuation you need, you can start at 2 flutes and go up from there to whatever works for you. Depending on the material you’re working with, choose between HSS, solid carbide and solid carbide tipped for your tool material.
Make sense? Start an order form! Sound as unintelligible as ancient Greek? We get it! Contact us any time to ask questions or talk to one of our experts about what will work best for your job.
