cutters
Annular Cutter Depth: 1 Inch, 2 Inch and Stacked Material
Rated cutting depth, physical cutter length and magnetic-drill capacity are different limits. Hougen explains that a nominal 1-inch cutter body is longer than one inch so it can pass through the work and be resharpened. The approved job depth is still the shallowest limit in the complete cutter-and-machine setup.
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Separate rated depth from physical length
Hougen says a 1-inch cutting-depth cutter is physically about 1-1/4 inches long so the teeth can clear the material and the cutter can be resharpened. Do not treat physical body length as an extra quarter-inch of approved cutting depth.
Write the finished hole diameter and material thickness as separate fields. A listing headed 2-inch cutter may refer to depth rather than diameter, and FEIN’s 35 mm example separates its 35 mm cutting depth from its 74.5 mm overall length.
Apply the drill’s shallower limit
Hougen offers 12000-Series cutters in 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 6-inch depths, but its HMD904 drill is documented for no more than 2 inches. The existence of a longer cutter in the same manufacturer catalog does not authorize that drill to use it.
Check cutter depth, machine capacity, holder, pilot and installed clearance together. The working limit is the shallowest approved value in that complete setup, not the largest number on either product page.
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Check AmazonChange the pilot when the table changes
Pilot selection can change with depth even inside one cutter family. Hougen’s Copperhead table specifies pilot 10529 for 1-inch depth and 10530 for 2-inch depth, with different parts again for 3-, 4- and 6-inch cutters.
The pilot locates the hole center, opens coolant flow and ejects the slug. A cutter that fits the holder is not a complete order until the manufacturer table identifies the matching pin.
- Verify diameter and cutting depth separately.
- Identify single-piece versus layered work.
- Confirm machine capacity and complete tooling clearance.
- Order the correct pilot with the cutter.
Treat stacked plates as a geometry choice
Hougen distinguishes standard cutter geometry for one piece from Stack-Cut geometry for two or more plates. A deeper standard cutter is not automatically a stack cutter. RotaLoc Plus is one current family explicitly labeled Stack-Cut, but it still carries its own 1-inch depth and machine/interface limits.
Record the number of layers, each thickness, material, cutter part, pilot part and exact machine. If any of those change, repeat the compatibility check instead of treating an earlier successful setup as universal approval.
Questions, answered
Is machine stroke the same as cutting depth?
No. Stroke describes travel; approved cutting depth also depends on the machine and tooling configuration.
Can I use a 2 inch cutter for stacked plates?
Depth alone is insufficient. Confirm stack-cut geometry and the approved setup and procedure for that layered job.
