The hot cut is one of the most common cutting tools a blacksmith can have. These "hacking irons" can be used to cut stock down to size, trim forgings, apply decorative cuts to pieces or split bars down their center line. There are many styles of metal cutting hand tools or hot cut hardy's, like chisels, handled hot cutter, handled cold cutter and many more types of cutters. Many of the metal cutting tools are designed for special purposes and will stand the test of time better if used in those situations. Some slitters are even made from some of the most advanced materials to help them deal with the tremendous amount of heat they must handle. If you are a one man operation a spring swage cutter or a guillotine cutter might work better for you as it will minimize the danger of a sharp edge moving in the wrong direction and cutting something vital to you or your project. Maybe all you need is a cut-off hardy tool. We live in an era with many tools for cutting metal but sometimes using one that is already close by such as a cutting hardy will save some time and cut down on trips across the shop to the bandsaw.

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