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MOTORHEAD Tools Team
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on August 25,Power tools and even household tools in general, might seem like the most mundane everyday items.
You use them when you need them, they&#;re sold everywhere and we treat them like they&#;ve existed in their current form since time immemorial.
If we look back though, power tools as we use them today have only existed for a little over 100 years.
In this article we&#;ll dig into the fun and fascinating history of power tools.
From the ancient Egyptians to the modern power tool brands you&#;d recognize today; the history of power tools is a rich complex story.
After reading this article, you&#;ll realize how much product development, design and incremental engineering went into all those power tools you know and love.
Much of the built world in our everyday lives would impossible without them, including that weekend bathroom remodel!
Not Just Electricity &#; Power Tools are Older
Than
You Think
Egyptian Bow Drill: The First Known Power Tool
Long before you ever built that deck on the back side of your home, the ancient Egyptians were paving the way for modern power tools.
Long known for their engineering prowess and ability to build megalithic structures lasting the test of time &#; the Pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx and countless other monuments, it comes as no surprise the Ancient Egyptians were the forebears of all modern power tools.
Though not powered by electricity, the Ancient Egyptians crafted what is believed to be the world&#;s first power tool &#; a bow powered lathe.
The lathe was operated by two people. One would pull the bow to turn the lathe while the other operated it. Though powered by a person, the bow helped multiply force and get more done.
Eventually horses were used to power lathes in the UK in the late s, which would usher in the age of new power sources for tools.
Water Power Tools: Stationary Power Tools
At the beginning of the industrial revolution, new modes of power arose to power stationary before the advent of electricity.
In , the first water powered circular saw was developed in Massachusetts on Shaker community by Tabitha Babbit. The idea came to her after seeing backbreaking process of logs being cut by two men in a pit. A log would be positioned over the pit and the two people would cut the log above them with a two person saw. Each person would hold one end of the saw and collective push and pull it till it cut through the log.
Babbit wanted to alleviate the backbreaking nature of this process and thus created the stationary circular saw power by water. This allowed much larger and more efficient cuts, starting a chain of industrial developments that would harness the power of different forces &#; water, air, steam, electricity and more.
Electrification &#; A Whole New World of Tools
C & E Fein Builds First Electric Power Tool
In , the Germany Company C & E Fein developed the first power tool powered by electricity.
This isn&#;t the type of drill you&#;re probably picturing in your mind. The drill was essentially a hand drill with a corded AC electric motor attached to it. It&#;s crude by today&#;s standards and was difficult to operate, but it lead to a chain of rapid electric tool developments that spanned into the 20th century.
Birth of Modern Style Handheld Electric Power Tools
Due to the cumbersome nature of early electric drills, two men in America set out to develop a more user friendly drill that could be easily operated by one person.
In , Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker setup a machine shop in Baltimore, Maryland and developed the modern handheld corded electric power drill. The two saw the ergonomic design of the Colt .45 pistol and decided to base their drill design off its physical layout.
For the bulk of the 20th century, new handheld corded power tools were developed that resemble the tools we know today- the circular saw, reciprocating saw, hammer drill, angle grinder and more. All remained corded AC devices requiring hook ups to household and industrial electrical outlets. In , the first battery-powered cordless electric power tools were developed in the United States.
Plastics: Safer Power Tools
Up until the late s, all corded electric power tools were mostly made of metal. While metal is durable, it can be dangerous if the tool suffers an electrical malfunction (say if the tool shorts and thus shocks the user). Metal is also heavy and increases fatigue when using the tool.
With the proliferation of plastics in the mid-20th century, they were soon adapted to use in power tools.
In , BOSCH created the first hammer drill with a body made from high-durability fiberglass re-enforced plastic.
The rest of the industry followed and soon after all power tools would feature some sort of plastic construction.
The Space Race &#; To the Moon and Beyond
Cutting the Cord: Black & Decker Create First Cordless Power Tool
Only 66 years after the creation of the first electric power tool, the first cordless battery powered electric drill was created by Black & Decker in .
The drill was powered by Nickel-Cadmium batteries and was aimed more at home users, given that the power and recharge times weren&#;t yet optimal for heavy industrial use.
NASA, Power Tools & Project Gemini
In space, there are no electrical outlets. Any tools used to repair space craft needed to be self-contained. When floating in space, cords could become tangled around the user, making them a hazard.
It was in that NASA ordered the creation of the first high-profile cordless power tool &#; a cordless battery operated impact wrench used by astronauts while on space walks. It was used to perform exterior maintenance on the Gemini spacecraft while in zero gravity.
When it became time to head to the moon, NASA commissioned the creation of a purpose built cordless hammer drill to extract rock samples from the surface from the moon. Later they were even used cordless power tools to construct the International Space Station.
Lithium-Ion: More Power, More Utility & More Applications
Up until the early s, cordless power tools were mainly powered by Nickel-Cadmium batteries. While Nickel-Cadmium worked, the power density and performance in no way rivaled corded AC power tools. For larger jobs corded power tools were always needed.
This all changed in when Lithium-Ion battery technology matured.
Lithium-Ion had several advantages over Nickel-Cadmium &#; most notably greater power density and more total recharge cycles.
With these two benefits Lithium-Ion power tools could rival the power, durability and application of corded electric power tools all the way from high-power rotary hammer drills down to light-duty drills.
Milwaukee became the first company to integrate Lithium-Ion into its lineup and soon the rest of the industry followed.
Lithium-Ion has also fostered an incredible amount of tools/work devices never before though of being battery powered &#; air compressors, stationary saws, crimping tools, transfer pumps and even coffee makers.
We are Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Just think &#; if we hadn&#;t gone to the moon, you&#;d might lack the convenience and ability to complete even the most must mundane of power tool jobs, like hanging a picture!
Under their now conventional appearance, modern power tools are truly revolutionary - they&#;ve gone from playing a fundamental role in helping ancient Egyptians build their civilization to taking humanity to the moon.
Power tools, often so easily taken for granted, aren&#;t just a mundane appliance. Without them modern life and the built world around us would be impossible.
When you cook in your kitchen, use your bathroom or just relax on your deck, never forget every one of these rooms would be impossible to enjoy withou
A power tool is a tool that is actuated by an additional power source and mechanism other than the solely manual labor used with hand tools. The most common types of power tools use electric motors. Internal combustion engines and compressed air are also commonly used. Tools directly driven by animal power are not generally considered power tools. Power tools can produce large amounts of particulates, including ultrafine particles. Airborne particulate matter is a Group 1 carcinogen.
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Diverse power toolsPower tools are used in industry, in construction, in renovation, in the garden, for housework tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and around the house for purposes of driving (fasteners), drilling, cutting, shaping, sanding, grinding, routing, polishing, painting, metal working, wood working, heating and more.
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A shop under renovation (power tools can be seen on the left of the photo).Power tools are classified as either stationary or portable, where portable means hand-held. Portable power tools have obvious advantages in mobility. Stationary power tools, however, often have advantages in speed and precision. A typical table saw, for instance, not only cuts faster than a regular hand saw, but the cuts are smoother, straighter, and more square than what is normally achievable with a hand-held power saw. Some stationary power tools can produce objects that cannot be made in any other way. Lathes, for example, produce truly round objects.
Stationary power tools for metalworking are usually called machine tools. The term machine tool is not usually applied to stationary power tools for woodworking, although such usage is occasionally heard, and in some cases, such as drill presses and bench grinders, exactly the same tool is used for both woodworking and metalworking.
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While hand-held power tools are helpful, they also produce large amounts of noise, vibrations[1] and particulates including ultrafine particles.[2]
Airborne particulate matter is a Group 1 carcinogen.[3] Particulates are the most harmful form (other than ultra-fines) of air pollution[4] as they can penetrate deep into the lungs and brain from blood streams, causing health problems such as heart disease, lung disease, and premature death.[5] There is no safe level of particulates. A study concluded that "particulate matter air pollution contributes to lung cancer incidence in Europe".[6] Worldwide, exposure to PM2.5 contributed to 4.1 million deaths from heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, chronic lung disease, and respiratory infections in .[7] Overall, ambient particulate matter is one of the leading risk factor for premature death globally.[8]
Many construction tasks create dust. High dust levels are caused by one of more the following:
A high dust level example.Examples of high dust level tasks include:
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Some industry standards on the size and amount of dust emitted by power tools exist,[10][11] though it appears that they are not widely known or used globally. Knowing that dust is generated throughout the construction process and can cause serious health hazards,[12] manufacturers are now marketing power tools that are equipped with dust collection system (e.g. HEPA vacuum cleaner) or integrated water delivery system which extract the dust after emission.[13][14] However, the use of such products is still not common in most places. As Q1 petrol powered tools are banned in California.[15]
Using power tools without hearing protection over a long period of time can put a person at risk for hearing loss. The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recommended that a person should not be exposed to noise at or above 85 dB, for the sake of hearing loss prevention.[16] Most power tools, including drills, circular saws, belt sanders, and chainsaws, operate at sound levels above the 85 dB limit, some even reaching over 100 dB.[1] NIOSH strongly recommends wearing hearing protection while using these kinds of power tools.[17]
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Shaft and belt systemEarly Industrial Revolution-era factories had batteries of power tools driven by belts from overhead shafts. The prime power source was a water wheel or (later) a steam engine. The introduction of the electric motor (and electric distribution networks) in the s made possible the self-powered stationary and portable tools we know today.[18] The global market for power tools is $33 billion (in ) and estimated to reach $46 billion in .
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Prior to the s, power tools were often housed in cast metal housings. The cast metal housings were heavy, contributing to repetitive use injuries, as well as conductive - often shocking the user. As Henry Ford adapted to the manufacturing needs of World War II, he requested that A. H. Peterson, a tool manufacturer, create a lighter electric drill that was more portable for his assembly line workers.[19] At this point, the Hole-Shooter, a drill that weighed 5 lbs. was created by A. H. Peterson. The Peterson Company eventually went bankrupt after a devastating fire and recession, but the company was auctioned off to A. F. Siebert,[20] a former partner in the Peterson Company, in and became the Milwaukee Electric Tool Company.[21]
In the early s, companies started to experiment with housings of thermoset polymer plastics. In , under the influence of Hans Erich Slany, Robert Bosch GmbH was one of the first companies to introduce a power tool housing made of glass filled nylon.[22]
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As of , an electric motor is the most popular choice to power stationary tools. Other power sources include steam engines, direct burning of fuels and propellants, such as in powder-actuated tools, or even natural power sources such as wind or moving water. In the past, stationary tools were powered by windmills, water wheels, and steam. Some museums and hobbyists still maintain and operate stationary tools powered by these older power sources. Portable electric tools may be either corded or battery-powered. Compressed air is the customary power source for nailers and paint sprayers. A few tools (called powder-actuated tools) are powered by explosive cartridges. Tools that run on gasoline or gasoline-oil mixes are made for outdoor use; typical examples include most chainsaws and string trimmers. Other tools like blowtorches will burn their fuel externally to generate heat. Compressed air is universally used where there is a possibility of fuel or vapor ignition - such as automotive workshops. Professional level electric tools differ from DIY or 'consumer' tools by being double insulated and not earthed - in fact, they must not be earthed for safety reasons.
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Different battery powered power tools often use batteries which are not compatible across brands and models. This may cause vendor lock-in, and results in poor sustainability if and when either the battery, charger, or power tool component fails, resulting in potentially all having to be replaced.
Examples of battery differences include the battery technologies themselves, with nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) and nickel&#;cadmium batteries (Ni-Cd) being common previously,[23] but as of lithium-ion batteries have become the de facto standard for new power tools. The voltage is one of the most important factors for battery compatibility. In simple terms, a higher voltage rating on the tool often means that the power tool can deliver more power, with all else being equal. Using a battery with the wrong voltage rating may damage the tool, persons, or surroundings. As of , 18 volt battery packs are the de facto standard in new power tools. The ampere hour, in simple terms, tells something about how long the power tool can operate before it needs to be recharged. If comparing two batteries with the same battery technology and same voltage rating, a battery with twice the amp hour rating should last about twice as long. In practice there may however be some variations to this. Also, batteries with a higher amp hour rating in practice can also often let the power tool deliver a slightly higher peak power due to the ability to deliver a higher current.[citation needed]
Even when using the same battery technology, voltage rating and amp hour rating, the interface of batteries for power tools are often not compatible across different manufacturers, and sometimes also not even within the same brand or product line. There are examples of aftermarket adapters being made so that the user can mix and match batteries between well-known brands, but these often do not fully implement the tools battery safety and monitoring systems and the use is done at the user's own risk.
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There are initiatives with the goal that the same battery can be used across products from several manufacturers, mostly those who offer special tools rather than general ones. Mainly two German companies have opened their 18V systems for others:
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It is based on Metabo's 18 Volt battery system.[
25]
Notably, the alliance consists of the brands Gardena, Gloria,[
26]
Wagner[
27]
and Rapid. However, the Power For All Alliance batteries will only be used on Bosch's consumer tools in the Bosch Home & Garden line and Bosch Home Appliances line.[
28]
is the new name for the alliance using Bosch professional ("blue") tools with its own battery and charger system which is incompatible with the Power For All batteries. Aimed at most parts of the world except North America, it claims to be based on 80 million batteries sold since . Over two dozen companies take part.[
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Power tools include:
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A number of companies, some of which are comparatively small and specialized, build niche solutions for industry and trade.
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With purchases from other manufacturers and OEM production
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The incomplete list lists the brand first, then its manufacturer or owner.
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