User Guide

15
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Why Not Use Quick Change Cutters?
Quick change cutters are nice and convenient if you need to change sizes every hole or
two. But using a mag drill with the two set screws to hold the cutter in place offers a
couple of advantages:
• Holds the cutter more rigid and less opportunity for it to move and break
• Will give up to 2x the tool life
Is a Carbide Cutter Better than a HSS Cutter?
Not necessarily. Carbide cutters are great tools and work good in most types of materials.
But where they really shine is when they are used in hard or abrasive materials. They can
be used in mild and structural steel but to get the best performance, carbide tooling needs
to be turned at a much higher RPM than HSS cutters.
Aren’t All Annular Cutters Pretty Much the Same?
That would be like saying all meat tastes the same. Hougen was the inventor of the mag
drill annular cutter technology. Hougen
®
Cutters include the most features for the
widest range of materials and benefits for long tool life. It takes a lot of extra time to
machine and quality check the tools to ensure the customer gets what they expect. When
purchasing a Hougen annular cutter, you are buying the highest quality Hougen tool in the
market.
What is Positive Slug Ejection?
It is an arbor system that when the feed handles are retracted requires the slug to be
pushed out after drilling a hole. The handles will not fully retract until the slug comes out
of the cutter. All Hougen drills include this feature. It is a much more reliable method than
a spring ejection arbor.
What is the Proper Feed Rate for a Mag Drill?
A solid steady feed rate should be used to maximize cutter tool life. Listen to the motor.
You want the sound of the motor to bog down a little. It should sound like its working. Do
not over drive or under drive it as you can break or damage the drill. Also do not “peck” at
the hole... meaning... feed the cutter down then let up, then feed the cutter down and let
up. This can quickly destroy your tool.