I purchased the Blair brand from a local auto parts and paint store. One arbor, three double sided cutters and a pack of pilot tips. Was around $44.


Also bought for the hell of it, 4 harbor Freight cutters at a price of $28 shipped.


Well I broke the Blair cutter on the 4th or 5th weld. The cutter head's threads were buggered and wouldn't let me flip the head so I had to use a new one. They seemed to break easily. Drilled out about 60 welds, going through 4 cutter surfaces.

My Harbor Freight cutters arrived the other day and I used one of them. I noticed it seemed sharper and went through metal like a chainsaw. I drilled out about 20 welds and all is well. Not bad for the price and had HF still carried them in their store I would have only spent $20.

Just an FYI I thought I would throw out there.

 

I bought some cheap ones, I think $7 on ebay, broke after few welds. I think I'm going to pick some up from HF, price seems right.

 

Odd, I'm using a Blair Spotweld cutter and it's worked great. NoReins recommended I get it and it's been great to me. I've probably got 60 or so spot welds on just one bit and it cuts great. Maybe it's cause it's the "Premium" kind, I dunno.... It ran me about $45-50 if I remember correctly.

 

That's not the one I bought. Woweeeee that looks nice. The teeth on those cutters look beefy. I can't compare my normal Blair to the "Premium Blair".

 

I had a similar experience. I already had the Blair cutter. They have two types you can buy. The cheaper one like the first one pictured, and the heavy duty one they called the "broach" type. Like Hightower has. I had the cheaper one and I broke the cutter on my first spot weld. Then I decided to pre drill the first layer of sheet metal with an eighth inch bit and turn the cutter really slow. After that I drilled out most of the car I was working on and broke maybe three (?) or so cutters before I was done.

That been said, if I had it to do over again I would buy the broach type Blair cutter like Hightower has there. And still predrill and drill at a slow speed.

 

Got the same one Hightower pictures and been very happy with it. Two cowls, set of innner out rocker, torques boxes, two battery trays, and a floor pan later the retractable tip broke off. Just bought another one.

 

Purchased one from HF as a test. One cowl and a complete set of floorpans later and it's still cutting just fine. Secret is to predrill a small pilot hole for the tip to keep it from walking on you and to start out slowly with even pressure. Haven't even flipped the cutter head yet.

 

I've used both the S&H and Blair, and Blair provides a better result though you have to grind down the extra material left in the center. The S&H bit makes it difficult to distinguish panels which sometimes resulted in cuts that were too deep. If you are breaking bits, you're pressing down too hard.