Performance of helical edge milling cutters in planing wood

• DOI: 10.1007/s00107-010-0517-8
• Publication Date: 2011-01-11T09:28:04Z
• Authors: Wayan Darmawan; Christian Gottlöber; Michael Oertel; André Wagenführ; Roland Fischer
• Keywords: Milling cutter; Helix angle; Solid wood

A new design of a milling cutter with solid helical edge has been developed for improving the performance of cutting wood. Development of the new helical edge milling cutter with its geometries for planing wood has been followed by some research progresses. In this work, a conventional edge milling cutter and helical edge milling cutters were tested in planing spruce wood (Picea abies). The purpose of the research work was to investigate chip flow, power consumption, noise emissions, edge wear, and surface roughness characteristics of the helical edge milling cutters in planing spruce wood. Experimental results showed that the helical edges compared to the conventional edge milling cutter provide better chip flows with nearly axial direction and low flight velocity. Though the extreme helical edges up to 75° inclination angle generate comparable or slightly larger cutting power than the conventional edge, they considerably generate lower sound pressure level of up to 5 dB(A). The helical edge milling cutters are better in wear resistance, suffer less edge fractures, and produce better surface quality of planed wood than the conventional edge milling cutter.