Carbide Slitting Saw Quote: What We Need From You
When a buyer asks us for a carbide slitting saw, the first reply is almost never a price. It is a short list of questions. We ask them because a slitting saw that is a little wrong for the job shows up fast: early wear, chatter, or a slot that is not what the drawing says.
Here are the six things we ask, why each one matters, and how to answer them. If you send these in your first email, we can usually quote in one round. We reply within 1 working day.
First, the two series of carbide slitting saws we make
Almost every answer below comes back to this table. We supply two series of solid carbide circular slitting saws, TC10 and TC20.
What we designed it for | Wood, plastics, composites and non-ferrous metal | Steel and harder or tougher materials |
Typical workpieces | Non-metals such as plastics, wood and non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, brass, free-cutting materials such as cast iron, mild steel and medium carbon steel | Pure copper, Bronze,Alloy steel, stainless steel, titanium alloy, etc. after heat treatment |
Carbide hardness | approx. HRA 90 | approx. HRA 92.5 |
Typical pitch | Coarse teeth | Fine teeth |
The rest of this article explains how we use your answers to choose between them, and to choose everything else.
1. What material are you cutting?
This is the most important question, and we always ask it first. Your workpiece material decides the series: TC10 for wood, plastics and non-ferrous metals, TC20 for steel, hardened steel, cast iron, stainless steel and titanium alloy.
Please tell us the material and its condition, not just the family. "Stainless steel" is a start. "Stainless steel, annealed" or "hardened steel" is better, because a hardened part and a soft one can call for different saws. If you cut both non-ferrous and ferrous parts on one machine, tell us. We will probably suggest two saws rather than one compromise.
2. Coarse teeth or fine teeth?
We decide the tooth count together with you, and it follows the material. Our rule is simple: coarse pitch for non-ferrous metals, finer pitch for ferrous metals. For example, one of our standard saws is a 20 mm TC10 with 20 teeth (coarse), and another is a 50 mm TC20 with 80 teeth (fine).
You do not need to know the right tooth count before you write to us. Tell us the material and the slot you need, and we will propose it. If you already run a saw you like, send its tooth count and we will match it.
3. Are you cutting a slot, or Cutting-off?
This changes the tooth form, so we ask it every time. We make two tooth forms, built to DIN 1837 and DIN 1838.
3.1. Form A, DIN 1837, fine teeth
Smaller tooth pitch and chip pockets.
Suitable for shallow slots and thin-walled sections.
Particularly suitable for brittle materials that produce short chips.
Less chip capacity, so deep cuts can cause chip clogging.
3.2. Form B, DIN 1838, large teeth.
Larger tooth pitch and chip pockets.
Better chip evacuation in deeper cuts.
More suitable for thicker sections and solid workpieces.
Type C uses alternating roughing and finishing teeth to divide chips.
3.3 Comparison table
Feature | DIN 1837 | DIN 1838 |
Standard tooth form | A / AW | B / BW / C |
Tooth design | Fine, angular | Coarse, curved or special profiles |
Chip pocket | Small | Larger |
Chip evacuation | Limited | Better for larger chip volumes |
Typical cutting depth | Shallow | Medium to deep |
Thin-wall cutting | Excellent | Suitable, depending on tooth form |
Solid-section cutting | Limited | Generally preferred |
Best suited for | Short-chipping materials and fine slots | Deeper slots and heavier cutting |
3.4. Which one should you choose?
Choose DIN 1837 if you need a narrow, precise slot in a thin workpiece, or if the material produces short chips.
Choose DIN 1838 if you need to cut deeper into a solid workpiece, especially when chip evacuation is a concern.
Please inform us your cutting condition, our engineers will advise the suitable blade teeth and sharps.
4. What saw are you using now?
We ask whether your current saw is HSS or carbide. It tells us what to improve.
If you are using an HSS slitting saw blade today, a solid carbide slitting saw may be worth a look. In a case we publish on our carbide slitting saws page, slitting abrasive materials such as cast iron or aluminium-silicon alloys (Si > 10%), the tool life of our carbide saws reached 8 to 10 times that of an equivalent HSS saw, and the machining cycle time came down to 1/4 of the HSS saw. That is the result of that case. Your own gain depends on your material and your machine, which is why we ask.
If you already use a carbide saw, tell us what you are not happy with: how fast it wears, whether the edge chips, or whether the slot width drifts. We use that to adjust the grade, the tooth form or the thickness.
5. What machine will the saw run on?
We ask whether it is a CNC milling machine, a planetary saw machine, or manual equipment. Our solid carbide saws are used mainly for precision slots and cuts on CNC milling machines, but many buyers run them on other equipment, and we want to know before we recommend a size.
Please also send the arbor details, or the holder you use. A saw has to sit true on its arbor, so we match the bore to your arbor. We supply arbor shank holders for slitting and slotting saws too, with several shank sizes and lengths and two fixing methods, so we can quote the saw and the holder together.
Since solid caribde saw blades are only suitable for use with CNC equipment or specialized machinery with high, adjustable rotational speeds, they should not be used with a planetary cutting machine or manual tools with low speed.
6. How many do you need?
Quantity changes how we handle the order, so we ask for it early.
Standard sizes. Our online store stocks standard metric saws from 10 mm to 100 mm outer diameter, in both TC10 and TC20. For a few pieces, ordering there is the fastest route: toolingbox.store/collections/carbide-slitting-saws.
Custom saws. Outer diameters above 100 mm or any size, including those with specific dimension or tooth count requirements are made to order, and metric and inch sizes can be customized. About 80 percent of our orders are made to customer requirements, so a drawing or a sample is welcome.
Samples and volume. Tell us if you want a sample first, and the quantity you expect afterwards.
For custom orders, our general lead times are about 7 working days for a sample if we have no stock, and 10 to 15 working days for a volume order, depending on quantity. The minimum order quantity will be determined by the size of carbide saw blade.
Also send these, if you have them
Slot width and depth, and the tolerance you need
Outer diameter, thickness and bore, or the existing saw you want to match
Metric or inch
A drawing or photo of the part
Destination country, for shipping
Our standard saws are made to a thickness tolerance of +/- 0.01 mm (+/- 0.005 mm on request), an outer diameter tolerance of +/- 0.05 mm, a bore tolerance of +0.01 to +0.02 mm, and an outer diameter runout of 0.03 mm, with a mirror finish on both faces. If your slot needs something tighter, say so in your first email.
Send us your answers
Email sales@toolingbox.com or require a qoute with your answers to the six questions. Our team replies within 1 working day. If a standard size already fits, you can order it directly from our online store: toolingbox.store/collections/carbide-slitting-saws.
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