3 cutter vs 6 cutter floater clutch question

What is the difference between a floater with 6 cutters and 3 cutters? Does the 6 cutter shave more disc material making the clutch act softer for say a not so good track?

 

I figured there would be a clutch expert with an answer on this one...
I'm not sure it's relevant...but on our "Glide" style clutch, I tried the 6 cutter floaters to get more clutch disk wear per run, therefor achieving a greater lever angle downtrack....to give the lever (and weight) more mechanical advantage for more lockup (we never go 1:1 during the run)...gets the weight out further for more plate load...
Did not seem to make much difference so we are back to the 3 cutter grooves per side on the floaters...there is probably a lot more to this clutch tuning for us as far as disk hardness, weight, etc...but it was worth a try....and we do still throw in a 6 groove cutter floater once in a while just to use them up....

 

Id like to see some feedback on this as well!

 

Thanks for the reply, it seems that more cutters = more wear. From what I understand some cars run as many as 8 cutters and some run the cutter groove wider for the above reason, to wear more material off the disc.

With that being said, I am looking for a way to make the 1-2 shift smoother. Usually the clutch rpm drops at the shift and accelerates quickly almost like a check mark. Currently on the 1-2 it drops, goes horizontal and then accelerates rapidly. This is on a pedal type clutch.

 

How about a restrictor in the air pod to soften the shift? Maybe talk with Lenco to see what they recommend...

 

You would like to think it makes a difference, but in Blown Alcohol it really doesn't seem to care. Wear comes from one thing, WORKING the clutch. If you're too light or too tight, it won't wear much at all. Typically more cutters will be more aggressive early in the run because there is technically less surface area. Fuel cars use them to help get the wear they're looking for and achieve a proper lever angle at a certain time. But fuel cars have cannons, we don't. I could see something similar working in an A/Fuel clutch as well, but fuel car power and RPM is what makes it work. Shifting blown alcohol, clutch is all about consistency in the parts inside the clutch. Clutch slips, but not to the extent where extra cutters will make it wear more.

What are you doing with timing at or near the shift? What are your ratios? Sounds to me like you're spinning at the top of low gear, you're not getting the car speed you think you are out of low gear, or your gear split is huge or something isn't shifting as advertised.

When you see straight horizontal lines, it means nothing is accelerating. I've seen it when spinning the tire too hard, hazes and the car is catching up to the wheel speed when it should be on the tire.