Hand-Held Tools

   In the overall scheme of things, you have to decide for yourself which kind and brand of tool is going to work best for your needs. I’d like to examine some of the various types of tools that are out there for us to use in our “daily grind.” (Pardon the pun).
   As a fabricator myself, I’ve found that I can keep track of things pretty easily if I break down all hand held tools into four basic groups: Light, Medium, Heavy and Specialty. I’m sure that there are more categories that could be set up; but hey, I try to keep things “simple-stupid,” and this little method generally works great.
   Breaking down those groups by tools, we have:
   • Light, with 4”-size grinders and polishers;
   • Medium, with 7” grinders and polishers;
   • Heavy, with grinders and polishers larger than 7”; and
   • Specialty, encompassing any other hand-held electric or air tool that doesn’t fit into the first three categories. Some examples of specialty tools would be worm-drive saws, small micro polishers, belt sanders and chiseling/shaping tools.
   In talking about these tools, I’ll try my very best to keep things objective. To all of you tool-and-supply sales people, I will apologize (in advance) if I neglect to mention your particular brand of manufacturer that you represent. I live and work in Phoenix, and there are particular tools that are very popular and available here that may not be found in Miami, Boston or any U.S. city named Portland. It’s not because I don’t like a brand, it’s just that I may not be aware of its existence. With that little qualifier out of the way, Let’s take an objective look at what’s out there for us to use.
   The first, and probably most-common, hand tool with is the trusty 4” inch light grinder, which I usually call the “Makita” Fellow fabricators will also refer to it under a host of other brands; the simple fact is that the first 4” grinder I ever used was a Makita brand, and it’s out of habit that I use this tag name. (It’s like the Kleenex® versus tissue issue.)
   I’ve tried pretty much every brand of 4” electric grinder, and most all of them worked very well for my use as a dry grinder, or a small cutting grinder. When it comes to wet applications, take note of four letters: GFCI.
   In spite of what was once considered an “option” years ago, all of your wet-operation tools are now shipped with GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) features that cut down on the potential for an electrical shock injury to the operator. The GFCI is usually part of the electrical cord that comes with the tool.  And, by the way, this is one big feature that the boys from OSHA will be looking for – every time they visit your shop, guaranteed.
   Bear in mind that the 4” may be called on to do more and more as tool selections improve. For example, you can put a profiler on a 4” polisher (Alpha Professional Tools’ Granite Profiler is one example) to put a 3/8” round over on granite and marble, and even quartz surfaces and porcelain slab. It won’t polish, it just does the basic round over shape, but for someone just starting out, it’s great to help you get a consistent profile quickly.
   One easy-to-do tip, incidentally, to prolong the life of any electric hand tool is to blow out the dust that accumulates within the coiled areas of the motor. Many manufacturers will tell you that by blowing out your tools with compressed air at the end of every production day – no matter what material you’ve been working on – you will add many hours to the life of any electric tool. (Of course it helps to have a compressor to do this, because the alternative – like when you go on that camping trip and have to inflate your air mattresses the old-fashioned way, by mouth –isn’t very practical.
   Once you get tired of doing heavy grinding and stock removal with your old trusty (and crusty) 4” grinder, you’re ready for your next basic tool – the Medium grinder. Most fabricators usually make this type of tool the next addition to their inventory; I have had great performance from several brands of tools, typically with cast aluminum main bodies.
   These types of grinders require a lot of weight (not only from the tool itself, but also downward pressure from the operator) to be effective in getting a bite into the stone being cut or ground. You’ll find this category of tools to be much heavier than the 4” grinder that you’re used to holding for eight to 10 hours a day.
   Most of my experience with this category of tool has been using it in a dry mode – with no water used for dust control. There are, however, total wet-application Medium grinding tools that are now available, and it’s worth asking your tool supplier about these if you are trying to maintain a totally “wet” process shop.
   Most of the bigger grinders we fabricators use are the 7” size; I would consider the Heavy tool group’s flagship actually to be the hand-operated router.
   There are a number of high quality brands to look at when shopping for the right router for your shop. Most of the routers that are available are powered by 220-volt service; however, there are some newer models that come rigged for 110 volt as well. This will help you if your electrical service (amperage-wise) is getting close to being topped-out.
   There are even some models available that are air powered. If you go with the air-powered units, you’ll really need to make sure that your air compressor can handle the cfm (cubic feet per minute) demand that a router will put on your compressor.
   On electrically powered routers, the thing that I have found that you really need to watch is the RPM rating for this type of tool. I’ve found that a variable RPM switch is what I prefer, so I can tune the router to the proper cutting tool and adjust the tool to the hardness of the stone.
   When I first heard this argument, it made total sense to me. Since I’ve implemented this philosophy, I’ve increased the life of the cutting head by taking the hardness (or softness) factor of the stone and the RPM speed of the router into consideration.
   The other big selling point of the hand-held router is for the shop owner that can’t afford an edging machine. Currently, the cost of a hand-held router –from $3,000 to $6,000 – is easier to bear than $30,000-and-very-much-up for an edger. Next to 4” and 7” grinders, the heavy router is the most-popular new addition to most small fabrication shops.
   When we get to the Specialty category, we have plenty of tools that find a need – but not as often as those in the Small, Medium and Large areas. Worm drive saws, small 4” and 5” saws, hole cutters, jig saws, belt sanders, specialty shaping and sculpting tools all are available in electric and air-powered configurations.
   Hopefully, this sheds a little more objective light on the subject of hand tools and the info here will help you in making a decision on which tool is right for you.
   Until Next Month – Happy Fabricating!!!
   Kevin M. Padden operates KMPadden Consulting in Phoenix.

This article first appeared in the February 2004 print edition of Stone Business. ©2004 Western Business Media Inc.