Woodruff Cutters

Woodruff cutters are vital for a range of milling operations, allowing users to efficiently cut T slot tracks and grooves without hassle.

Cromwell stocks a great range of quality woodruff cutters from trusted brands used by professionals around the globe.

What are woodruff cutters?

Used to cut the keyway for a woodruff key, woodruff cutters are fitted to a milling cutting tool. They consist of a number of staggered teeth on one side, designed for shaping and cutting.

Woodruff cutters are primarily used for milling woodruff key slots into all kinds of materials and workpieces. The woodruff key slots themselves are a small pocket that can accommodate a key (which is used to connect rotating or moving machine elements to shafts) that allows joined parts free movement in a secured manner. This is often called a 'keyed joint'.

Why a woodruff cutter?

Woodruff cutters are second-to-none when it comes to creating key slots, as they are designed to cut quickly with minimal mess or downtime.

The staggered design of a woodruff cutters' teeth allows them to remove more stock at higher speeds than equivalent straight-teeth models, and vastly reduces vibration and chatter. This allows users to perform precise work in a quick and efficient manner.

When are woodruff cutters used?

Woodruff cutters are primarily used to cut key slots in a wide range of workpieces and materials across various industries - including automotive, aerospace, and machining industries. Woodruff cutters can also be used for:

• Drilling
• Sawing
• Creating tapered cut-outs
• Creating channel grooves
• Other general machining applications

If you're looking for the ideal woodruff cutter (or any other milling equipment) for your job but aren't sure about the best one for your needs, feel free to ask our experts for specialised advice.

Considerations when choosing a woodruff cutter

• Material - When browsing woodruff cutters, you'll be faced with a few different material choices. The commonly available ones are HSS (high speed steel), carbide and cobalt.
HSS is the cheapest and most commonly available of the three, however HSS woodruff slot cutters cut the slowest. Despite this, they usually get the job done effectively on common materials.
Cobalt woodruff cutters boast greater durability and can cut faster - at a higher price point.
Carbide woodruff cutters are the heavy-duty choice, offering class-leading speed, durability, and heat resistance. They can easily cut key slots into hard materials, such as cast iron and alloys.
• Coatings - Modern woodruff cutters usually come with coatings improve the durability of the woodruff cutter. Whilst not always necessary, coatings such as titanium diboride and aluminium nitride may help reduce the wear and friction inflicted upon your cutter.
• Cutter diameter - A fairly obvious concern, however it's crucial to ensure the cutter diameter is suited to achieve the desired key slot size.