Slab milling cutters have a cylindrical geometry with cutting teeth on the periphery of the cutter. They are categorized into: Light duty plain milling cutters and Heavy duty plain milling cutters
Light-duty Cutters
As their name implies, light-duty cutters are used for light-duty cutting operations. These cutters usually have several helical teeth with a helix angle that is less than 25°. This unique design makes light-duty cutters ideal in applications requiring large portions of material removal to form desired products.
Heavy-duty Cutters
The heavy-duty cutters have fewer teeth and a greater helix angle (between 25° to 45°) than the light-duty cutters. As a result, they are ideal for heavy-duty machining and cutting operations that require a smooth surface finish.
While light-duty and heavy-duty milling cutters can fabricate a broad range of features, machinists also pay close attention to the size of the cutters during machining. For instance, machinists usually achieve deeper cuts using narrow cutters. In contrast, wide cutters are better suited for machining workpieces with large surface areas, as these cutters reduce the number of traverses required to create a feature.
