A nut splitter works by forcing the chisel into the nut’s flat until it splits.
When the screw at the end of the nut splitter’s handle is turned clockwise, it pushes the chisel or anvil up against the flat of the nut until the nut is pinched between the chisel and the anvil. As the screw is turned further, the chisel cuts into the flat of the nut until the nut splits.
This may then enable the nut to be removed, or the process is repeated on the opposite side of the nut, resulting in the nut splitting in two, causing it to fall way from the bolt or threaded shaft.
Some nut splitters have two chisels that fit either side of the nut, instead of a chisel and an anvil. This means the two chisels cut into each side of the nut at the same time, splitting the nut in half to remove it from the bolt or threaded stud.
How does a hydraulic screw action work?
The screw of a C-frame nut splitter with a hydraulic screw action pushes on the piston of a hydraulic ram inside the handle rather than acting directly on the chisel. The chisel of the nut splitter is then pushed into the nut by a second piston at the other end of of the hydraulic ram.
How does a hydraulic screw action apply mechanical advantage?
As Pressure = Force ÷ Area and the pressure in a hydraulic ram is constant throughout, the force exerted on the first piston by the screw is multiplied at the second piston if it has a greater area than the first piston.
If the area of the second piston is twice that of the first, then the force exerted by the chisel will be twice that applied by the screw. If the second piston has ten times the area then the force will be ten times as great. This force multiplication can enable you to split harder nuts than is possible with a regular direct screw action nut splitter.
The downside of a hydraulic screw action is that the second piston in the ram does not move as far as the first piston, so the chisel does not move as far. To help compensate for this, nut splitters with a hydraulic screw action will usually have a screw-adjustable anvil, to allow them to split a range of different nut sizes.
How do hydraulic nut splitters work?
A hydraulic nut splitter works in the same way to split the nut, but instead of a screw forcing the chisel into the nut this action is performed by a hydraulic ram driven by a separate hydraulic compressor.
Hydraulic fluid is pumped into the piston barrel at the cap end port, creating a high pressure area behind the piston, while hydraulic fluid is pumped out of the piston barrel at the rod end port, creating a low pressure area in front of the piston.
This pressure difference either side of the piston moves the piston forward in the barrel, which pushes the piston rod forward, which in turn pushes the chisel of the hydraulic nut splitter into the nut. Huge forces can be achieved with hydraulics, which is why they are used on large industrial nut splitters for splitting large nuts.
