A bolt cutter, sometimes called bolt cropper, is a tool used for cutting chains

Chain

A chain is a sequence of connected links.Chain may also refer to:Chain may refer to:* Necklace - a jewelry which is worn around the neck* Mail , a type of armor made of interlocking chain links...

, padlocks

Padlock

Padlocks are portable locks used to protect against theft, vandalism, sabotage, unauthorized use, and harm. They are designed to protect against some degree of forced and surreptitious entry.- History :...

, bolts

Screw

A screw, or bolt, is a type of fastener characterized by a helical ridge, known as an external thread or just thread, wrapped around a cylinder. Some screw threads are designed to mate with a complementary thread, known as an internal thread, often in the form of a nut or an object that has the...

 and wire mesh. The original use for bolt cutters was as the name suggests to cut bolt seals from shipping containers

Shipping container

A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes...

 at the delivery point. It typically has long handles and short blades, with compound hinges to maximize lever

Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...

age and cutting force. A typical bolt cutter yields 20 kilonewtons (20,000 N) of cutting force for a 250 N force on the handles.

There are different types of cutting blades for bolt cutters, including angle cut, center cut, shear cut, and clipper cut blades. Bolt cutters are available usually in 12, 14, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 42 inches in length. The length is measured from the tip of the jaw to the end of the handle.

• Angle cut has the cutter head angled for easier insertion. Typical angling is 25 to 35 degrees.
• Center cut has the blades equidistant from the two faces of the blade.
• Shear cut has the blades inverted to each other (such as normal paper scissor blades).
• Clipper cut has the blades flush against one face (for cutting against flat surfaces).

Many companies manufacture bolt cutters with fiberglass

Fiberglass

Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...

 handles which can be used for cutting live electrical wires and are extremely useful during rescue operations. The fiberglass handles have another advantage of being lighter in weight than the conventional drop forged

Forging

Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...

 or solid pipe handles.

History

The bolt cutter was invented by the Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 blacksmith Jonas Byman, from Tosåsen in Jämtland

Jämtland

Jämtland or Jamtland is a historical province or landskap in the center of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders to Härjedalen and Medelpad in the south, Ångermanland in the east, Lapland in the north and Trøndelag and Norway in the west...

. He developed the first prototype from wood parts in 1885, but failing to realise the importance of his invention, he never applied for a patent on his invention and never received any financial compensation for his invention. Both prototypes are kept preserved in the neighbour village Persasen.
Jonas Byman, the inventor, died in 1918.

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