Bolt cutters are heavy-duty cutting tools used for thick materials such as steel wire, bolts, padlocks, and more. They have long handles and hinges to increase leverage for cutting force. Blades are made of hard metal alloys and come in various shapes. Larger cutters may be needed for more force. Hydraulic cutters are also available.
Bolt cutters are heavy-duty cutting tools designed to cut very thick materials. Examples of these materials can be heavy steel wire, thick metal bolts, padlocks, nails, screws, small trees, branches, and more. Bolt cutters come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, designed for different purposes.
The basic design of bolt cutters usually consists of smaller cutting blades and very long handles that are connected with a series of complex hinges. These hinges are there to maximize the amount of force on the blades by increasing leverage when the handles are compressed. In this way, they are able to cut through thick and rigid materials with relative ease for the user of the tool. Many clippers are designed with an adjustable set screw, which adjusts how much the handles must be closed for the blades to make contact with each other.
The blades and jaws of bolt cutters are typically forged from very hard metal alloys, as the materials they are made to cut are also usually very hard. The shapes of the blades can also vary; for example, shear blades may be flat on one side for the purpose of cutting against flat surfaces. Shear blades are designed like a typical pair of scissors and can be used to cut softer wire and cable.
Manually cutting heavy materials can be challenging even with these tools. One solution to cutting heavy wire is to rotate the blade handles back and forth while cutting, which often helps. When that isn’t enough, it is very likely that a larger set of bolt cutters will need to be used to increase the force applied. It is never advisable to cut live electrical wires with wire cutters, even if they are insulated.
While clippers are designed to make the job of cutting heavy materials easier, they often require the user to apply some force to the handles. The length of the tools typically ranges from 12 inches (31 m) to 42 inches (1.07 m), from the end of the jaw to the end of the handles. The smaller versions are known as mini cutters and can be used for nails or wire. On the other end of the spectrum are hydraulic cutters, designed to cut heavy or dense materials with power-driven machines when human strength simply won’t “cut”.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
