MENU

Cutting Safety Tips

Disston is committed to providing the highest quality products available on the market and the company places the same commitment to the safety of its products and to the professionals and homeowners who use them.

Please take time to browse through the tips and recommended cutting speeds for the accessories you need for your next project. Additionally, the links below provide advice and best practices for the safe use of hand and power tool accessories.

http://www.powertoolinstitute.com/pti-pages/ed-tool-specific.asp
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/handpowertools/index.html

Cutting Tips

Hole Saws

  • Always wear eye protection.
  • Always be sure that the pilot drill extends beyond the cutting edge of the saw by at least 1/8″.
  • Be sure to secure the material to be cut to keep it from spinning or slipping.
  • Be sure to start the cutting process with the saw square to the material being cut. This will ensure that all teeth begin to cut at the same time and will help prevent premature wear and damage to the saw.
  • Be sure to follow the recommended operating speed for the saw size and the material being cut.
  • Operator should feed the saw in and out to allow the material shavings to clear out of the hole being cut.
  • Cutting oils or lubricants should be used to extend the life of the saw, except when cutting wood or cast iron.
  • Occasionally check the mandrel’s drive pins to be sure they are still fully engaged in the saw and that they have not vibrated out of the drive holes in the saw.
  • When sawing in wood, finish the hole from the opposite side to prevent splintering. Once the pilot drill has broken through the other side, you can use this hole to guarantee you are in line with where you have already started cutting.

Click on the link below for a pdf download of recommended operating speeds for hole saws and cutters. Please allow a few moments for the file to load.
Hole Saw Operating Speeds

Drill Bits

  • Always wear eye protection.
  • Keep the drill chuck tight to prevent drill bit slippage.
  • Keep firm grip on drill while cutting.
  • Move the bit in and out during deep hole drilling to aid in flute clearing.
  • Never apply sideways pressure on bit when drilling to avoid bit breakage.

Reciprocating Saw Blades

First decide on the length of saw blade you need for your application. We recommend that the blade be about 2” (50mm) more than the thickness or width of the material to be cut, to take into account the blade travel.

Jig Saw Blades

  • Always wear eye protection.
  • Thicker materials will require a blade with fewer teeth per inch and thinner materials are better cut with a blade having more teeth per inch.
  • Determine the size of the blade needed by exceeding the thickness or width of the material to be cut by 1″. This accounts for the distance the blade will be traveling up and down while cutting and makes certain that there are as many teeth as possible in the material while cutting.

Bandsaw Blades

Click on the link below for a pdf download of bandsaw technical tips. Please allow a few moments for the file to load. Bandsaw Technical Tips

Metal Cutting Safety

Modern metal cutting operations involve high energy, high spindle or cutter speeds, and high temperatures and cutting forces. Hot, flying chips may be projected from the workpiece during metal cutting. Although advanced cutting tool materials are designed and manufactured to withstand the high cutting forces and temperatures that normally occur in these operations, they are susceptible to fragmenting in service, particularly if they are subjected to over-stress, severe impact or otherwise abused. Therefore, precautions should be taken to adequately protect workers, observers and equipment against hot, flying chips, fragmented cutting tools, broken workpieces or other similar projectiles. Machines should be fully guarded and personal protective equipment should be used at all times.

Disston has no control over the end use of its products or the environment into which those products are placed. Disston urges that its customers adhere to the recommended standards of use of their metal cutting operations. The information included throughout this website and recommendations on machining practices referred to herein are only advisory in nature and do not constitute representations or warranties and are not necessarily appropriate for any particular work environment or application.

MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheets