Slot and Groove Cutters

Advantages of disc grooving cutters compared to normal grooving cutters

Above a certain groove depth, normal grooving cutters are inferior to disc grooving cutters due to their design. For one thing, the chip ejection of a grooving cutter is not very good with deep grooves. You are forced to interrupt the work and remove the chips from the groove. Secondly, the cutting speed of the disc groover is many times higher because of the larger diameter, which leads to a much more precise routing result. (On the other hand, it is better to use normal grooving cutters when it comes to cutting wider grooves or grooves in the surface of a component).

Areas of application for disc grooving cutters

It is particularly advantageous to use several disc grooving cutters together on one arbor. In this way, the range of applications of the cutters is extended to include the problem-free and precise production of tongue-and-groove joints, whereby the tongue can be cut in one milling pass. Depending on the thickness of the material, the tenons for mortise-and-tenon joints can also be cut in this way.

If you often cut grooves of different widths, it makes sense to consider buying a t-slot cutter set. Different groove depths can be achieved by using ball bearings (thrust rings) with different diameters.

Note that using the disc groove cutters on the narrow edges of components is much easier and safer if they are used stationary on a router table instead of in a hand-held router.