A hot sett is a tool used to cut steel which is red hot or hotter. It looks like an axe with a narrow blade and is sometimes called a hot chisel. The blade is quite thin in order to ease its passage through the hot steel. It is hit by a hammer.
There are various shapes of hot sett for different tasks, but the one we make is general-purpose with a V-shaped cutting edge. We also make the blade angled to the shaft. This has two effects: it makes the blade visible to the operator, and it moves the hand away from the hot metal.
Hot chisels can also be made to be hand-held. The blades are always thin, but can be curved as well as straight.
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