Tom
Actually its a great question.
Slitting saws work great in a Lathe or Milling machine, but are not practical for deep paper thin slots where professional appearance is desired.
I know what you mean when you say paper thin slots, however actual paper thin slots (.002"-.003" / .05mm - .075mm) are sometimes required. In Model Engineering I have had to go down
to .001" or .025 mm.
Even had saw blades existed this thickness, they would not have been stable enough to make a straight deep cut. When using thin blades, they need to be stabilized per the first attached photo.
In this case, only the blade required for use is exposed by the holder. The blade is .005" or .125mm thick and is used to slot screws.
For long thin slots, the slots are the first thing that I cut. I first select a slitting saw blade wide enough and stable enough to make the required slit in a flawless straight line regardless of desired thickness.. A very basic illustration example can be seen in the second photo. Once the slit has been cut in a unshaped work piece, a piece of shim stock of the desired thickness is placed in the slot. At this point, the slot is pressed together with a machine vise or press per third photo. When the shim stock is removed, you will now have your required slot that can be
as thin as .0005" or as thin as shim stock can be purchased.
From this point I then machine the rest of the work piece as required in either the lathe as shown or the milling machine.
Jerry Kieffer
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