1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a machine for cutting bar stock or similar rod-like workpieces and in particular to a bar stock or rod cutting or milling machine which utilizes annular saws or mills having cutting teeth formed on the inner annuli.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
A bar stock or rod cutting machine is one of the oldest and most useful forms of machinery employed in a metal fabricating shop. Literally thousands of articles are produced by taking a length of bar stock and cutting successive pieces from the bar stock upon which subsequent machining operations are performed to produce desired articles.
The commonly utilized bar stock cutting machines employ either a reciprocating linear saw blade or a rotary blade having cutting teeth formed on the periphery thereof. In either case the cutting element or saw is relatively expensive to fabricate because of the necessity of individually grinding or filing of each of the teeth on the saw, whether it be a linear saw or a rotary saw.
It has previously been proposed as, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,039,235 to Heinrich that successive segments may be cut from a very hard workpiece such as a crystal by employing an annular grinding wheel wherein the wheel comprises a relatively thin annular disc having abrasive particles secured to the internal edge of the annulus. Hence the cutting action is really a grinding action and would be prohibitively slow to employ in the cutting of metal bar stock.
The heretofore unsolved problem in using an annular metal cutting saw with the teeth disposed on the internal edge of the annular saw is the difficulty of sharpening of such teeth. Not only does each tooth have to be individually ground but the size of the grinding wheel must necessarily be very small in order to be insertable within the annulus of the saw. Hence, although many people may have heretofore considered employment of an annular saw for metal cutting operations, none have been employed because of the practical difficulties mentioned above.