Euro Cutters - Standard/Spec?

[RzB]

There must be a Standard/Specification for Spindle Moulder "Euro Cutters". Anyone know where this might be found, or what body owns it?

I have googled etc but can't locate it....

Many thanks, Roy (UK)

[Andy Hall]

There are several standards, although I am not sure which are official.

- Spindle sizes on new equipment are almost always 30mm, so a large proportion of tooling available in Europe has this size.

- Specific cutting tools such as panel raisers and rebating heads either have fixed carbide etc. on them, can be sharpened and eventually wear out; or can have replaceable cutters. Often, the cutters can be turned twice or four times because they are symmetrical to get a new edge. They are more expensive as tools, but you can replace the cutters reasonably cheaply. The cutters seem to be proprietary on these, although there is some commonality between sources in some cases where products are private labelled.

- Universal or multi-profile systems. AFAIK, Whitehill were the originators of this system, decades ago, but blocks are widely available in steel and aluminium. If you are going to use a tool a lot, steel is a better investment, for smaller use, aluminium is OK. Professional and larger tools seem to usually be steel. For example, my grooving cutter sets from Felder are steel but >200mm diameter.

- The common sizes of universal block are 40 and 50mm and are widely available and cutters and limiters are interchangeable.

Useful places to look for tools and cutters are:

- Whitehill

Trend (get their industrial catalogue, not the routing one)

- Brueck-Freudenberg

have a selection also.

The main points to watch for are the safety standards. For spindle tooling, the standard is EN847-1. AFAIK, this only covers safety and not tool sizing. The two key things are availability of limiters. These need to be there for cutter blocks where the cutters project by more than a certain amount - I believe 1.1mm or something like that.

Another factor from the standard is the tool's designation for feed. Some are designated as "MAN" meaning that you can safely feed material manually, whereas others are "MEC" meaning that you must use a power feeder or equivalent for safety. Of course, it's also important to follow the other general safety instructions such as the proper guards are in place, making sure that everything is tightened etc.

There is a useful series of HSE fact sheets on woodworking machinery. This is the spindle moulder one....

[RzB]

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Amdy, Many thanks for your help.

I bumped into this site...

also advertise on eBay - £7.20 per cutter/limiter set. This seems quite a bit cheaper than others. Are they perhaps inferior grade HSS? That's why I was asking about a Standard - just to see what was actually specified...

Thoughts?

Roy

[Andy Hall]

I'm not aware of any particular requirement of the steel grade and it isn't mentioned in any of the catalogues I've looked in.

I suppose that one could buy a copy of the standard... You can bet that that will be a few £tens.

Another way may be to call some specialists like Whitehill and Trend and ask them to explain why their products are more expensive.

FWIW, Trend ones seem to be about £10 exc. for each pair of cutters or limiters.

I did also look a while back at the Record Power cutters. These are about £7.50 a pair. The appearance of the finish is not as good as Trend. I'm not sure of the performance.

Even lower in price is Titman. They have cutters starting at £5. I don't know about the quality of those.

Perhaps another factor is sharpening them.

I invested in a Tormek machine a while ago and that has paid dividends. There's a jig for sharpening spindle cutters....

[RzB]

Yes - probably. But where to buy? Who owns it - the EEC... Hmmm

Yes - that's a good idea - I'll whisk off an email to Whitehill/Trend later this evening. They may also know about the standard.

I too have a Tormek and have seen the jig you mention. However is seems to me that some wet and dry glued to some flat glass would be a better option. I was not keen on the thinking behind that particular jig.

Many thanks, Roy

[Andy Hall]

You should be able to get ot from BSI as BS EN 847 etc.

OK. Works OK for me.....