Cutting Power Tools – Power Shears

By Cynthia S.

Cutting Power Tools are many steps up the evolutionary ladder as compared to cutting with an axe or knife. We as human beings have arrived at a point where we make objects for us so that physical strength becomes less and less important. Even though most jobs that require cutting tools also require strength, there is no denying that workmen everywhere have found great relief in using these power tools.

There is a variety of cutting power tools available for different tasks. How do you choose the right tool for the right job? This Power Tool Series will cover the type of power tools and the materials they are suited for. This article covers power shears, their maintenance and safety tips.

Power shears resemble large, high-tech scissors. Instead of a human hand exerting force on a scissor to cut an item, power shears use electrical power to apply a lot more force to the object. Power shears can be used to cut materials such as steel, shrubbery and concrete. Manufacturers of power shears include Pacific International, Milwaukee, Malco and Fiskars.

Maintenance
Keep the equipment clean. Do not sharpen the blades as sharpening may damage this cutting power tool. The tool must be greased every 100 hours of operation. Also, if they are being used to cut shrubbery, care must be taken not to let the shears touch the wires that are often used to keep shrubbery in place. The shears use a mixture of gas and oil, with the oil being the lubricator. Refueling should take place on concrete so as not to kill any grass or plants.

Safety tips for Using Power Shears
As with all cutting power tools, care must be taken to protect the user harm. If necessary, wear protective goggles, hard hats and leather gloves. Do not use power tools out where they can be tripped over or accidentally started. Obviously, if someone has small children, any type of cutting power tool should be kept out of reach.

In summary, power shears can be used to cut shrubbery, concrete and even steel! Not sure of which power shears to use, check out these reviews

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Home Hitachi Tools – Hitachi Reciprocating Saw

By Leroy Leff

Now I'm going to tell you about yet another Home Hitachi Tool now home or business should not be without it's the Hitachi Reciprocating Saw, it has an 11 AMP motor with variable speeds for intense rigorous cutting jobs. The Electronic Variable Speed can be changed by either trigger and/or hand dial, which makes it very convenient for balanced control and speed. The trigger is also over-sized for improved manageability. Its' lightweight (8.8 lbs) makes it easy to maneuver for over-head jobs such as tree trimming, which I've done and just about everything else from cutting Styrofoam, metal, sod (believe it or not-if you have to do some landscaping or just cutting out a bad patch in your yard it works great).

The Hitachi Reciprocating Saw's blade changing system is so quick and easy requiring no tools and only one hand. The blade is also reversible, mountable up or down for varied cutting methods. The ergonomically angled D-shaped, non-slip grip maximizes comfort and control. The 1-3/4" Keyless adjustable pivot foot regulates depth of cut with a stoke length of 1-1/4" at 0-2800 spm for rapid cutting performance.

The Hitachi Reciprocating Saw is dust and water resistant, its' triple-sealed construction protects and increases tool life and performance. The Hitachi Reciprocating Saw comes with a set of All Purpose Progressive Blades, and a Heavy-Duty Carrying Case and Hitachi's 5-year limited Warranty.

This all purpose Home Hitachi Tool is a must and every Handyman and Professional should have one of these tools in his tool box.

I'm Leroy Leff and you can see more Home Hitachi Tools at my site: http://www.home-Hitachi-tools.blogspot.com.

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Use Cutting Tools For Precision Metalworking

When most people hear the phrase cutting tools, they think of scissors, knives, and saws. Those are certainly tools that cut. That is true for everyone except metalworkers, however. In metalworking, a cutting tool is a specialized tool used to mill, machine, or shape metal parts. These cutting implements are often specialized drill bits that turn at high rates of speed to cut away the metal.

A cutting tool works on metal much as a woodworker uses a router to shape the edge of a board by cutting away material with the routing bit. In the case of a cutting tool, however, the process creates metal shavings rather than wood chips. There are three important characteristics to metal cutting bits and tools.

The first necessary property of tools used for metal cutting is that they must move very fast. A drill must spin quickly to make holes in wood. The metal cutting bit must also spin very quickly in order to remove the desired amount of metal. Metal is much harder than wood, so the cutting tool must be strong too. Spinning the cutting bit very rapidly creates more shear force through which the tool removes the metal.

Next, tools used for metal cutting must be harder than what they are cutting. That seems rather obvious, but it is essential. If you try to cut a metal bar with a saw meant for wood, all you will do is wear down the saw teeth. In effect, the metal bar would be cutting the saw! If the metal to be cut is extremely hard, the cutting tool can be artificially hardened by adding coatings of carbide or even industrial diamonds.

Finally, metal cutting tools must be kept cool during the machining process. As you might imagine, metal on metal friction creates a great deal of heat. This heat is intense enough to melt the cutting tool, the metal object, or both, especially at high cutting speeds. Special cutting oils and lubricants are sprayed onto the cutting bit as it works, reducing the temperature and also removing metal shavings.

Unless you are a metalworker, you will likely not need a specialized cutting tool to machine metal parts. These hardworking cutting bits shape many of the metal items you use each day. Cutting tools will give precision cuts as long as they are appropriate to the metal being cut, used at the correct cutting speed, and are cooled as they work.

Latest Trend in End Mills and Cutting Tools

by Dave Butry

A new line of aluminum cutting end mills have recently been introduced to the mix. These tools are made from sub-micro grain carbide and are available in regular and long lengths. Additionally, they can be ordered uncoated or with a high performance zirconium coating. We have been marketing American made tooling on the internet and have been serving customers for over 2 years. We offer a full line of metal cutting tools such as…end mills, drill bits, threadmills, micro end mills, hand taps, NPT Pipe taps, S&D drill bits, and center drills.

End mills are fluted tools designed specifically for periphery and slot cutting applications. They can be used to machine steel, plastic, wood, stainless steel, aluminum and many other materials. They are sought after because of their precise ability to cut to exacting tolerances when utilizing a manual or CNC milling machine. A flute is simply a cutting edge, sometimes with a helix, sometimes straight, your application will determine which style you choose. Helical flutes pull the chips up, and out of the way, the cutter can then cut more freely reducing heat buildup and decreasing machine cycle times.

End mills can have a vast number of flutes. Most common in machine shops are 2, 3 and 4 flute tools. Four flute cutters give you four cuts per rotation and are preferred in profile milling applications. Four flutes are not as useful in softer materials because they do not provide enough space between the flutes to evacuate chips sufficiently, whereas the two flute cutters are not as durable in very abrasive materials. Therefore, two flute end mills are superior in softer more flexible materials and four or more flute cutters are generally preferred in very hard or abrasive materials.

When using an end mill to cut a slot in a work piece, it’s best to have a hole already in the part. That way the end mill will not have to cut to center. Kodiak cutting tools offers a wide variety of hss, cobalt and carbide drill bits for your slot starting needs. Also, a two flute end mill is the best tool for a slotting cut. When a 2 flute end mill is used, the chips are lifted out of the slot. If the chips don’t get up and out of the cutters way, the end mill will re-cut the chips causing premature failure. Additionally, if a four flute end mill is used, the chips may become lodged in the flutes causing the tool to break. Kodiak Cutting Tools offers a wide variety of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 flute end mills.

 

Written By Dave Butry, An associate of www.kodiakcuttingtools.com.

Coatings on Cutting Tools

Metal Cutting Tools Get a New “Coat”

Men (and women) have been cutting metal in machine shops since the late 19th century. They started with crude ideas and methods which have progressed to the current “high tech” technologies of today. The constant during these progressive years has been the cutting tool itself. The actual product that contacts the raw metal, cuts and removes chips from the raw stock, creates the finished work piece. Cutting Tools have evolved over the years from high carbon steel, to high speed steel, to cobalt, to carbide, and for specific applications, diamond and ceramics.

In the late 1970’s a company named Balzers started applying a very thin film to cutting tools, thus improving their overall life, in some cases, by 400%. This process is called “surface treatment” or “tool coating” and is used widely in today’s machine shops and manufacturing facilities.

There are several processes used to apply surface treatments, but the (2) main types used for cutting tools are PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) and these are readily available from special coating facilities located throughout the world. My goal with this article is to share with the reader some common PVD and CVD choices, and reasons to utilize each.

The right surface treatment on cutting tools can increase tool life, decrease cycle time and enhance surface finishes. However, choosing the right coating can seem overwhelming at best. Each one has some distinct advantages and disadvantages depending on your individual set of machining in the machining process.

Coatings have several characteristics to be aware of:

Microhardness HV
Abrasion Resistance
Friction Coefficient
Max Service Temperature

Hardness
A high surface hardness from your coating is one of the best ways to increase tool life. Coating hardness is measured in units called HV, (Hardness Vickers). TiN is the start point with a hardness of about 2300 HV, followed by TiCN at 3000 HV, TiALN at 3500 HV and AlTiN ringing in at about 4000HV.

Tools coated with these coating would work best in ferrous and non ferrous materials, such as stainless steel, carbon steels and aerospace materials like Inconel and the like. With a surface hardness near 10,000 Vickers, CVD diamond coatings applied to tools show up to 20 times improved tool life over no coatings at all. This is the coating of choice for production work in non-ferrous materials, especially aluminum and graphite.

 

Friction Coefficient

The lower, the better. A low coefficient of friction causes helps the tool slice through the raw stock with increased efficiency. This helps reduce heat at the cutting edge thus increase tool life. This slicker surface lets chips slide off the face of the tool, thus eliminating “built up edge”, or the “welding” of chips to the cutting edge. Also, it helps to eliminate the re-cutting of chips because they can evacuate themselves from the work area. Re-cutting chips in itself will ruin a cutting edge very quickly.

Abrasion Resistance

This is the ability of the coating to protect the tool from breaking down due to abrasion. Materials, such as Aluminum, glass filled plastics and Graphite may not be hard, they are extremely abrasive. As such you need to choose a coating that will be able to stand up to the abrasion of a particular application. Diamond is very abrasion resistant, but if you run a diamond coated tool in steel it will chip the diamond coating off as soon as the tool touches the work piece. I write this to show the tradeoffs associated with choosing a coating.

Max Service Temperature

Is the maximum temperature that a coating can stand up to. Generally Tin = 1,000 Deg F, TiCN = 750 Deg F, TiALN = 1,470 Deg F, Diamond = 1,100 Deg F. However, there is another key component you need to be aware of. That is the oxidation temperature. Coatings such as AlTiN and TiAlN do not become effective until the hit a certain temperature.

The properties of TiAlN coatings make them ideal for high temperature cutting operations in many materials. When exposed to high cutting temperatures, TiAlN forms a hard aluminum oxide layer with low thermal conductivity and high chemical stability. As cutting temperatures increase, TiAlN and AlTiN insulate the tool and place the heat into the chips. This allows for higher speeds and feeds and longer tool life.

Common Coatings

• Titanium Nitride (TiN)
Microhardness = 2,300HV
Coefficient of Friction = 0.4
Coating Thickness = 1-4 microns
Max Working Temp = 1,100 Deg F.
Color = Gold
General purpose PVD coating that increases hardness and wear resistance. Mainly used on HSS tools for cutting steels and aluminum.

• Titanium Carbo-Nitride (TiCN)
Microhardness = 3,000HV
Coefficient of Friction = 0.4
Coating Thickness = 1-4 microns
Max Working Temp = 750 Deg F.
Color = Blue/Gray
General purpose PVD coating that increases hardness and wear resistance. Mainly used on HSS, Cobalt and Carbide tools for cutting steels and aluminum.

• Titanium Aluminum Nitride (TiAlN)
Microhardness = 3,000-3,500HV
Coefficient of Friction = 0.4
Coating Thickness = 1-3 microns
Max Working Temp = 1,470 Deg F.
Color = Purple/Gray
High Performance PVD coating that increases hardness and wear resistance. Mainly used on Cobalt and Carbide tools for cutting exotic materials, and dry machining steels. This coating is also used in the ever evolving world of HSM, or high speed machining.

• Chromium Nitride (CrN)
This coating works very well in copper and other “sticky” materials. Generally it has the slickest surface which won’t allow materials such as copper to stick to. This coating is used on taps also.

• Diamond
High performance coating used for cutting graphite, aluminum and glass filled resins. As mentioned above diamond coatings should not be used while machining steels. The shock will destroy the coating.

Choosing your coatings:

The best way to choose a coating is through trial and error. That sounds like a lousy way to do it, but how else will you know? You can start with your tool distributor’s recommendation, or go to companies like Kodiak Cutting Tools for recommendations. Also, tool coater websites will be helpful like Vergason, Balzers and Northeast Coating. That’s only a starting point though. 9 times out of 10 it will get you very close and you’ll be happy with the results. Experimentation will take you the rest of the way.

As you can see there are a number of coatings you can apply to industrial cutting tools to increase their performance and shorten your cycle time. By using the coatings properly you will have a faster cycle time, less machine down time, better surface finish, less wear and tear on your machine spindle, and overall a more productive environment.

 

The author, Mike Wunsch, has been involved in metal cutting and manufacturing for over 20 years. He was a machinist for 13 of those years, eventually moving on to manufacturing engineer, cnc programmer and out into the great world of sales. Mike currently owns and operates http://www.kodiakcuttingtools.com, an e-commerce store dedicated to supplying top quality, American made, carbide and HSS round tools to the machining industry. Kodiak Cutting Tools, LLC also has a large following of home shop machinists and hobbiest who look to Kodiak for their carbide end mills, taps, drills, center drills, threadmills and machine shop tools.

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