I’m making an 8x8 1/2" aluminum tslot board for my Nomad and I need a tslot cutter to handle the job. Does anyone know of a tslot cutter with a 1/4" shank? I seem to only find 1/2" shanks. The slot needs to be 5/16" wide.
Also, any thoughts on if the Nomad can handle this cutting. The aluminum is 1/2" thick. I cut the grooves/channels without a problem. Tried using a 5/16" routing bit for the slots and even at extremely slow feeds/speeds it locked up.I made a complete board in MDF but want to make an aluminum one and add mdf strips to the top.
I don’t know of a tee slot cutter, but, should you find one, I don’t think this is really in the capability of the machine. There is a lot of good to the Nomad, but the compromise it low torque.
(edit: selected post by mistake…)
The only suggestion I can make is try the smallest keyseat cutter you can (I have a few that are 1/8" shank and 6mm shank. Not cheap, but they sometimes are needed) Try micro-100 as one source.
FOllow-up: just looked at the catalog for Micro-100
You might be able to get away with: KC-250-375-020, KC-250-375-025, etc (the last 3 digits are thickness of the business end.
It is 1/4" dia cutter, 1/8" dia neck, 0.020" thick. It will take several passes, and feed slowly. Narrower cutter will take less torque, but will require more depths, and there is a good risk of breaking the tool in such a use. These cutters are designed to cut keyseats in solid material, and when there is only material on one side, many designs will fail.