The beauty of an air hammer is that most of them are designed to take other fittings. The other fittings then use the original handle piece of the air hammer to do whatever they need the new tool attachment to do. This can be an attachment that can make the hammer into a drill or even a more basic cutting tool. Either way the attachment with the air power behind it makes the tool perfect for fabrication.

When it comes to working with metal there are lots and lots of tools such as a disc cutter that you need to get almost any job done. When you’re in a machine shop you’re likely to see lots of tools that you would never see anywhere else. You may not know what all of them are, but some of them will be a little familiar. One you thing you may not be as familiar with is a disc cutter. These are very specialized tools that you really don’t see too many people buying for use in their homes. This is really a tool left for machine shops and other places that do construction and fabrication work.

Another place you are likely to notice a disc cutter even if it seems a little out of the ordinary are in jewelry manufacturing shops. This is because this tool can really be useful in jewelry making. While this might seem surprising you just need to think about what goes into designing jewelry to discover that it makes perfect sense actually when a disc cutter is involved. Jewelry requires lots of shapes and different things to make it interesting and this sort of tool can really assist in accomplishing that.

If you need to cut bricks, you would probably need a brick cutter. A brick cutter is used to cut a brick in half or in smaller pieces. Tools R Us sells a range of brick cutters.

Welding Helmets

A must-have piece of safety gear when using any type of welder, a welding helmet is commonly made from a highly durable, fireproof material such as nylon. Welding helmets cover an operator entire face and most of the head. The helmet protects the operator’s skin from getting hit with incredibly hot sparks and, in some cases, molten spatter or small metal particles that jump off the welding surface. As important is that a helmet protects the operator’s eyes from the intense ultraviolet and infrared light that emanates from a welding torch upon contact with metal. Without such protection, irreparable harm can be done to the retinas.

Not all welding helmets are created alike. There are actually several different characteristics you should look for in order to get the best product that gives you the most protection. Since all welding helmets will be built to protect your face from sparks, a good place to start is with the viewing lens. Traditional helmets use a standard glass lens that is coated in a UV light-blocking material. While these work fine, you can’t see anything with the flame off, so you are constantly having to flip up the helmet to check your work. Auto-darkening lenses, by contrast, self adjust depending on if the flame is contacting the metal, so you can work safely and check your work without lifting up the helmet. Auto-darkening helmets require either battery or solar power to switch from shade to view mode. You can, however, purchase dual-powered helmets that feature solar power with a backup battery.

Check the lens reaction time, otherwise known as the switching speed, too. Your eyes have to have time to adjust. Should the lens switch rate be too slow, it could cause your eyes discomfort and ultimately slow the work down. Switching speeds come as fast as 1/25,000 of a second. Some helmets feature an adjustable sensitivity level, meaning you can set it to switch depending on the intensity of the light that hits it. A delay feature may also be included which keeps the lens dark once the arc is out, allowing your eyes time to readjust.

Another important feature of helmets is a fixed vs. an adjustable shade. For welders who specialise in one type of welding on material of a constant thickness, a fixed-shade helmet is fine. This is because the amount of light produced by the welder never changes. An adjustable helmet is needed, however, for multi-process welders who use a variety of stick, MIG, TIG and perhaps other welding types.

Helmet weight is important, too. The lighter the helmet, the better it is on your neck over the long run. Last but not least, all welding helmets should meet the highest ANSI standards, so they are ensured to filter out UV and infrared rays and have a high impact resistance.