from 0.017 to 0.093 inches (0.43mm to 2.36mm) or larger. The swaging is an alternative or supplement to soldering. Plastics Heat swaging is a similar process to heat staking, but it involves rolling or reforming a wall (typically a perimeter) of a plastic part to retain another part or component. Pipes and cables The most common use of swaging is to attach fittings to pipes or cables (also called wire ropes); the parts loosely fit together, and a mechanical or hydraulic tool compresses and deforms the fitting, creating a permanent joint. Pipe flaring machines are another example. Flared pieces of pipe are sometimes known as "swage nipples", "pipe swages", or "reducing nipples". In furniture, legs made from metal tubing (particularly in commercial furniture) are often swaged to improve strength where they come in contact with the ground, or casters. Saw blade teeth In sawmills, a swage is used to flare large bandsaw or circle saw teeth, which increases the width of the cut, called the kerf. A clamp attaches a mandrel and die to the tooth and the eccentric die is rotated, swaging the tip. A much earlier version of the same operation used a hardened, shaped swage die and a hand held hammer. Saw teeth formed in this way are sometimes referred to as being "set". A finishing operation, shaping, cold works the points on the tooth sides to flats. It might be considered as a side swage. This slightly reduces the tooth width but increases the operating time between "fittings". Swaging is a major advance over filing as the operation is faster, more precise and greatly extends the working life of a saw. Manufacturing When dealing with rubber components with mold bonded metal sleeves, swaging provides a more controlled and cost-effective alternative to 'shooting' the rubber part into a metal sleeve, where an intensive and less dependable secondary operation is needed to finish the product. A metal can with a bonding component (such as phosphate) is painted to the inside diameter, and molten rubber is injected into the metal sleeve. This creates a product that when cooled may be swaged to the desired size. The second reason for this is that the product is more reliable, and during the swaging process the rubber is more relaxed when the outside can to which the rubber is bonded has its diameter reduced, changing the springrate (K) values and damping coefficient