Precision cutting blades for Silicon

Blimey you'll need something REALLY tough....

Or maybe you mean Silicone ?

We use shears with curved blades, a bit like this ( ) for cutting silicone peristaltic pump tubes to length. What is the application?

The International Cutting Test Standard BS EN ISO 8442-5:2005 have defined sharpness specifactions for cutting tools. It was established with the intention of laying down cutting standards for food. But it has been modified to include other types of cutting actions also, like, Machine and Industrial knives, Surgical blades etc You can also make use of Sharpness test machines The jagged edge on the specimen being cut is a result of shear action of the specimen due to the knife. not sure if surface finish standrds apply to your problem. If you use a sufficiently sharp knife, then you will not face this problem

I seen round blades used on small chop saw that have a knife edge. Like a meat slicer wheel. They are use to cut rubber hose.

Should you look to have precision blades cut to specs we would be intrested in providing this service to you. Though we do not certify various steel to specific hardness, you may want to look after CPM10V or S.S., maybe even carbide as a base material to start at. As far as cutting edge, tolerances required, or surface finishes called out in your specification we can offer the wire electrical discharge machining technology (wedm) on our floor to produce what is needed for your end application. Again can we only cut the blades and I am sure we can suggest various grades of hardened tool steel to get the finished end product you desire. General conventional machining will not give you what you need. Grinding is an option, yet the forces experienced in the process may result in an inadequate end product. This is where the wedm technology may be best for what you are after. Goto www.azwiretool.com to read up and feel free to call us.

Sincerely,

Mark B.

I am not sure that EDM is appropriate for silicon.

Also be careful with solid blade cutting of the material. Diamond blade uses too much pressure to get the proper cut. You will impart too much residual strain at the edges of the cut. Also big chance of blow out on on the back side.

Best course may be wire saw. I am not sure if it would ential carbide, or perhaps diamond, but there is much less pressure thus residual strain in the finished part.

Try Slicing Tech on the east coast (US) depending on thickness and volume.

Thanks for the 5 responders, good information.

Hi,

best possible cutting blade is diamond hard brazed onto steel shafts or onto other mounting devices.

But most users are not careful enough with these extremely sharp knives which are broken easily.

Any other material is much inferior regarding quality of available edge sharpness and lifetime (length of cut until dull).

Second choice would be zirconia then alumina (sapphire).

A good and unexpensive possibility is to try razor blades: these will work good on silicone.

(None of existing cutting knives will work on silicon or silica!)

If you add ultrasonic lengthwise oscillation cutting will be ultrasmooth as with an ordinary knife through soft butter.

RHABE