What Is A Slotting Machine and How Its Structured and Operated?

The slotting machine is actually a vertical planer, and its mechanical structure principle is similar to that of a head planer. The inserting knife moves back and forth in the vertical direction as the main movement, while the processed object is intermittently moved horizontally or on a circular arc as the feed motion. The slotting machine is mainly used for cutting planes, forming surfaces and key-ways, etc., and is suitable for single or small batch production.

A slotting machine can be divided into the following main components:

• Base: The base becomes a bed or box, which can support the entire slotter.
• Cross-Slide: Install on the top of the cross-slide rail and cross-slide again.
• Handwheel: Move the table by preliminary or horizontal rotation by operating the handwheel.
• Column: The column is also a beam-column of the machine. It is made of cast iron and has a driving function. The column can be moved up and down by precision machining as a vertical object.
• Ram: Carry the slotting tool and move at right angles to the table to process the workpiece.
• Table: The table used to fix and placed the workpiece. It can be rotated in advance, horizontally or around the center to adjust to a suitable position.

The slotting machine mainly performs below processing:

• Used to cut slots, splines key-ways for both internal and external jobs such as machining internal and external gears.
• Used for shaping internal and external forms or profiles.
• Used for works as machining concave, circular, semi-circular and convex surfaces.
• Used for machining vertical surfaces, machining angular or inclined surfaces, machining of shapes which are difficult to produce on a shaper machine and machining dies and punches.
• Used for internal machining of blind holes.