Portal:Hand tools
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
|
Introduction
A hand tool is any tool that is powered by hand rather than a motor. Categories of hand tools include wrenches, pliers, cutters, striking tools, struck or hammered tools, screwdrivers, vises, clamps, snips, saws, drills and knives.
Outdoor tools such as garden forks, pruning shears, and rakes are additional forms of hand tools. Portable power tools are not hand tools.
Selected general articles
An impact driver is a tool that delivers a strong, sudden rotational and downward force, often used by mechanics to loosen larger screws (bolts) and nuts that are corrosively "frozen" or over-torqued. The direction can also be reversed for situations where screws have to be tightened with torque greater than a screwdriver can reasonably provide.
Manual impact drivers consist of a heavy outer sleeve that surrounds an inner core that is splined to it. The spline is curved so that when the user strikes the outer sleeve with a hammer, its downward force works on the spline to produce turning force on the core and any socket or work bit attached to it. The tool translates the heavy rotational inertia of the sleeve to the lighter core to generate large amounts of torque. At the same time, the striking blow from the hammer forces the impact driver down into the screw reducing or eliminating cam out. This attribute is beneficial for Phillips screws which are prone to cam out. It is also excellent for use with the Robertson square socket head screws that are in common use in Canada. It is less beneficial for slot head screws and is not beneficial at all for most other types. Read more...
A staple gun or powered stapler is a hand-held machine used to drive heavy metal staples into wood, plastic, or masonry. Staple guns are used for many different applications and to affix a variety of materials, including insulation, house wrap, roofing, wiring, carpeting, upholstery, and hobby and craft materials. These devices are also known as a trigger tacker Read more...
Pliers are a hand tool used to hold objects firmly, possibly developed from tongs used to handle hot metal in Bronze Age Europe. They are also useful for bending and compressing a wide range of materials. Generally, pliers consist of a pair of metal first-class levers joined at a fulcrum positioned closer to one end of the levers, creating short jaws on one side of the fulcrum, and longer handles on the other side. This arrangement creates a mechanical advantage, allowing the force of the hand's grip to be amplified and focused on an object with precision. The jaws can also be used to manipulate objects too small or unwieldy to be manipulated with the fingers.
Pincers are a similar tool with a different type of head used for cutting and pulling, rather than squeezing. Tools designed for safely handling hot objects are usually called tongs. Special tools for making crimp connections in electrical and electronic applications are often called "crimping pliers"; each type of connection uses its own dedicated tool. Read more...
A stitching awl is a tool with which holes can be punctured in a variety of materials, or existing holes can be enlarged. It is also used for sewing heavy materials, such as leather or canvas. It is a thin, tapered metal shaft, coming to a sharp point, either straight or slightly bent. These shafts are often in the form of interchangeable needles. They usually have an eye piercing at the pointed end to aid in drawing thread through holes for the purpose of manual lockstitch sewing, in which case it is also called a sewing awl. Stitching awls are frequently used by shoe repairers and other leatherworkers. Sewing awls are used to make lock stitches. The needle, with the thread in the eye is pushed through the material. The thread is then pulled through the eye to extend it. As the needle is pushed through the material, the extra thread from the first stitch is then threaded through the loops of successive stitches creating a lock stitch. The action is likened to that of a "miniature sewing machine". Styles may vary, as they are adapted to specific trades, such as making shoes or saddles. They are also used in the printing trades to aid in setting movable type and in bookbinding.
The English disparaging term "cobblers", usually meaning "nonsense", is Cockney rhyming slang for "balls" from the phrase "cobblers’ awls". Read more...- A saw-horse or sawhorse (saw-buck, trestle, buck) is a beam with four legs used to support a board or plank for sawing. A pair of sawhorses can support a plank, forming a scaffold. In certain circles, it is also known as a mule and a short sawhorse is known as a pony. A sawhorse may also be a rack for supporting logs for sawing, known in the US as a sawbuck.
The sawhorse may be designed to fold for storage. A sawhorse with a wide top is particularly useful to support a board for sawing or as a field workbench, and is more useful as a single, but also more difficult to store. Read more...
A tire iron (also tire lever or tire spoon) is a specialized metal tool used in working with tires. Tire irons have not been in common use for automobile tires since the shift to the use of tubeless tires in the late 1950s.
Bicycle tire irons are still in use for those tires which have a separate inner tube, and can have a hooked C-shape cut into one end of the iron so that it may be hooked on a bicycle spoke to hold it in place. Read more...- Tweezers are small tools used for picking up objects too small to be easily handled with the human fingers. The word is most likely derived from tongs, pincers, or scissors-like pliers used to grab or hold hot objects since the dawn of recorded history. In a scientific or medical context they are normally referred to as forceps.
Tweezers make use of two third-class levers connected at one fixed end (the fulcrum point of each lever), with the pincers at the others. Read more...
An adjustable spanner (UK, and most other English-speaking countries) or adjustable wrench (US and Canada) is an open-end wrench with a movable jaw, allowing it to be used with different sizes of fastener head (nut, bolt, etc.) rather than just one fastener size, as with a conventional fixed spanner. Several other names are in use, including casually imprecise use of a US trademark as crescent wrench. Read more...
A modern claw hammer
A modern day hammer is a tool consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as with a forge), or to crush rock. Hammers are used for a wide range of driving, shaping, and breaking applications.
The modern hammer head is typically made of steel which has been heat treated for hardness, and the handle (also called a haft or helve) is typically made of wood or plastic. The term "hammer" also applies to a mechanism's part that delivers a blow, such as the hammer of a firearm or of a piano. Read more...
Pincers are a hand tool used in many situations where a mechanical advantage is required to pinch, cut or pull an object. Pincers are first-class levers, but differ from pliers in that the concentration of force is either to a point, or to an edge perpendicular to the length of the tool. This allows pincers to be brought close to a surface, which is often required when working with nails. If the pincers have perpendicular cutting edges, the pincers are often called end-nippers or end-cutters. Carpenter's pincers are particularly suited to these tasks.
Pincers are primarily used for removing objects out of a material that they have been previously applied to. Pincers, often red-hot, have also been used as an instrument of torture since ancient Roman times or earlier. Read more...
A single and a 3-hole paper punch in front of a tape measure (in inches) to show approximate size
A hole punch (also known as a hole puncher) most commonly refers to an office tool that is used to create holes in sheets of paper, often for the purpose of collecting the sheets in a binder or folder. The term can also refer to tools of different construction from one designed for paper, such as a those used for leather goods (generally called a leather punch), for cloth, for thin plastic sheeting, and for variations of sheet metal, such as aluminum siding or metal air ducts. Read more...
A socket wrench is a type of wrench or spanner that has a socket attached at one end, usually used to turn a fastener.
The most prevalent form is the ratcheting socket wrench, often informally called a ratchet. A ratcheting socket wrench is the device within a hand tool in which a metal handle is attached to a ratcheting mechanism, which attaches to a socket. This in turn fits onto a type of bolt or nut. Pulled or pushed in one direction, the ratchet loosens or tightens the bolt or nut attached to the socket. Turned the other direction, the ratchet does not turn the socket but allows the ratchet handle to be re-positioned for another turn while staying attached to the bolt or nut. This ratcheting action allows the fastener to be rapidly tightened or loosened in small increments without disconnecting the tool from the fastener. A switch is built into the ratchet head that allows the user to apply the ratcheting action in either direction, as needed, to tighten or loosen a fastener. Other common methods of driving socket wrenches include pneumatic impact wrenches, hydraulic torque wrenches, torque multipliers and breaker bars. Some lesser known hybrid drivers include striking wrench tools with square drive, and hydraulic impact wrenches (typically powered by on site hydraulic power such as present with military tanks, and many rail car applications). Read more...
A basin wrench, sometimes called a sink wrench, is a plumbing tool that is used in confined spaces to turn fasteners that would be difficult or impossible to reach with a plumber wrench or other types of wrenches. For example, the threaded nuts used to secure faucets to sinks are often located in deeply recessed places that can only be accessed with a basin wrench. Read more...- A torque wrench is a tool used to apply a specific torque to a fastener such as a nut or bolt. It is usually in the form of a socket wrench with special internal mechanisms. It was invented by Conrad Bahr in 1918 while working for the New York City Water Department. It was designed to prevent overtightening bolts on water main and steam pipe repairs underground.
A torque wrench is used where the tightness of screws and bolts is crucial. It allows the operator to set the torque applied to the fastener so it can be matched to the specifications for a particular application. This permits proper tension and loading of all parts. A torque wrench uses torque as a proxy for bolt tension. The technique suffers from inaccuracy due to inconsistent or uncalibrated friction between the fastener and its mating hole. Measuring bolt tension (indirectly via bolt stretch) is actually what is desired, but often torque is the only practical measurement which can be made. Read more...
A grease gun is a common workshop and garage tool used for lubrication. The purpose of the grease gun is to apply lubricant through an aperture to a specific point, usually on a grease fitting or 'nipple'. The channels behind the grease nipple lead to where the lubrication is needed. The aperture may be of a type that fits closely with a receiving aperture on any number of mechanical devices. The close fitting of the apertures ensures that lubricant is applied only where needed. There are three types of grease gun:- Hand-powered, where the grease is forced from the aperture by back-pressure built up by hand cranking the trigger mechanism of the gun, which applies pressure to a spring mechanism behind the lubricant, thus forcing grease through the aperture.
- Hand-powered, where there is no trigger mechanism, and the grease is forced through the aperture by the back-pressure built up by pushing on the butt of the grease gun, which slides a piston through the body of the tool, pumping grease out of the aperture.
- Air-powered (pneumatic), where compressed air is directed to the gun by hoses, the air pressure serving to force the grease through the aperture. Russell Gray, inventor of the air-powered grease gun, founded Graco based on this invention.
A pipe wrench is any of several types of wrench that are designed to turn threaded pipe and pipe fittings for assembly (tightening) or disassembly (loosening). Especially in North America, the Stillson wrench or Stillson-pattern wrench is the usual form of pipe wrench. (The name comes from the original patent holder, who licensed the pattern to multiple manufacturers; the patent expired decades ago.) Another type of wrench often used on pipes, the plumber wrench, is also often called a pipe wrench, depending on locale.
The Stillson type is an adjustable wrench/spanner with hardened serrated teeth on its jaws; the hard teeth bite into the softer metal of the round pipe enough to grip it for turning even against fair resistance. The design of the adjustable jaw, with a certain amount of intentional play out of square, allows it to lock in the frame and bind on the pipe, such that any forward pressure on the handle tends to pull the jaws tighter together. Two leaf springs, above and below the knurled knob, help to unlock the jaw on each backstroke. Read more...
A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jimmy (also called jimmy bar or jemmy), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, often with a small fissure on one or both ends for removing nails. It is also a class 1 lever. In Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, due to the influence of American media "crowbar" may occasionally be used loosely for this tool, but it is still mainly used to mean a larger straighter tool, its original English meaning (see digging bar). The term jammy or jimmy most often refers to the tool when used for burglary.
It is used as a lever either to force apart two objects or to remove nails. Crowbars are commonly used to open nailed wooden crates, remove nails, or pry apart boards. Crowbars can be used as any of the three lever classes but the curved end is usually used as a first-class lever, and the flat end as a second class lever. In mining, crowbars are used to break and remove rock, but not as much in modern mining. Read more...
A scratch awl is a woodworking layout and point-making tool. It is used to scribe a line to be followed by a hand saw or chisel when making woodworking joints and other operations.
The scratch awl is basically a steel spike with its tip sharpened to a fine point. The tip of the spike is drawn across the timber, leaving a shallow groove. It may also be used to mark a point by pressing the tip into the timber. It is generally used when dimensioning and for laying out with the grain. It may also be used across the grain. However, a marking knife is preferred for this operation. Read more...
A brace is a hand tool used with a bit (drill bit or auger) to drill holes, usually in wood. Pressure is applied to the top and the tool is rotated with a U-shaped grip. Bits used come in a variety of types but the more commonly used Ridgeway- and Irwin- pattern bits also rely on a snail point (called the snail), which is a tapered screw point shaped the same as a wood screw thread, which helps to pull the bit into the wood as the user turns the brace handle and applies pressure
The U-shaped part is a kind of crank. It gives the brace much greater torque than other kinds of hand-powered drills. A brace and bit can be used to drill much wider and deeper holes than can a geared hand-powered drill. The price of the greater torque is lower rotational speed; it is easy for a geared hand drill to achieve a rotational speed of several hundred revolutions per minute, but it requires considerable effort to achieve even 100 rpm with a brace. Read more...
A plasterer covering a wall, using a hawk (in his left hand, carrying some plaster) and finishing trowel (in his right hand, applying plaster to the wall)
A hawk is a tool used to hold a plaster, mortar, or a similar material, so that the user can repeatedly, quickly and easily get some of that material on the tool which then applies it to a surface. A hawk consists of a board about 25 cm (9 inches) square with a perpendicular handle fixed centrally on the reverse. The user holds the hawk horizontally with the non-dominant hand and applies the material on the hawk with a tool held in the dominant hand.
Hawks are most often used by plasterers along with a finishing trowel to apply a smooth finish of plaster to a wall. Brick pointers use a hawk to hold mortar while they work. Hawks are also used to hold joint compound for skim coating. Read more...
A card scraper is a woodworking shaping and finishing tool. It is used to manually remove small amounts of material and excels in tricky grain areas where hand planes would cause tear out. Card scrapers are most suitable for working with hardwoods, and can be used instead of sandpaper. Scraping produces a cleaner surface than sanding; it does not clog the pores of the wood with dust, and does not leave a fuzz of torn fibers, as even the finest abrasives will do. Read more...
A gimlet is a hand tool for drilling small holes, mainly in wood, without splitting. It was defined in Joseph Gwilt's Architecture (1859) as "a piece of steel of a semi-cylindrical form, hollow on one side, having a cross handle at one end and a worm or screw at the other".
A gimlet is always a small tool. A similar tool of larger size is called an auger. The cutting action of the gimlet is slightly different from an auger, however, as the end of the screw, and so the initial hole it makes, is smaller; the cutting edges pare away the wood which is moved out by the spiral sides, falling out through the entry hole. This also pulls the gimlet farther into the hole as it is turned; unlike a bradawl, pressure is not required once the tip has been drawn in. Read more...
A block plane is a small woodworking hand plane which typically has the blade bedded at a lower angle than other planes, with the bevel up. It is designed to cut end grain and is typically small enough to be used with one hand. Read more...
A fish tape (also known as a draw wire or draw tape) is a tool used by electricians to route new wiring through walls and electrical conduit.
Made of a narrow band of spring steel, by careful manipulation, the tape can be guided through confined spaces such as wall cavities. The goal is to push toward an area where guide string has been dropped inside the confined space and to pull it through, so the guide string can then be used to pull through various types of wiring, such as phone wire, network cables or speaker wire. Fish tape is designed to pull through guide string only. Using it to directly pull the target wire can damage or warp the fish tape. Read more...
A sledgehammer is a tool with a large, flat, often metal head, attached to a long handle. The shape of its head allows a sledgehammer to apply more force than other hammers of similar size. Along with the mallet, it shares the ability to distribute force over a wide area. This is in contrast to other types of hammers, which concentrate force in a relatively small area. Read more...
Tongue-and-groove pliers—also known as water pump pliers, adjustable pliers, groove-joint pliers, arc-joint pliers, Multi-Grips, tap or pipe spanners, gland pliers and Channellocks (i.e., Channellock brand pliers)—are a type of slip-joint pliers. Read more...
Locking pliers, mole grips (mole wrench) or vise-grips are pliers that can be locked into position, using an over-center action. One side of the handle includes a bolt that is used to adjust the spacing of the jaws, the other side of the handle (especially in larger models) often includes a lever to push the two sides of the handles apart to unlock the pliers. "Mole" and "Vise-Grip" are trade names of different brands of locking pliers, yet mechanics and do-it-yourself hobbyists and craftspeople generically refer to locking pliers as "Vise-Grips" in the US, and "Mole Grips" in the UK.
Locking pliers are available in many different configurations, such as needle-nose locking pliers, locking wrenches, locking clamps and various shapes to fix metal parts for welding. They also come in many sizes. Read more...
A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, for screwing and unscrewing (inserting and removing) screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. The shaft is usually made of tough steel to resist bending or twisting. The tip may be hardened to resist wear, treated with a dark tip coating for improved visual contrast between tip and screw—or ridged or treated for additional 'grip'. Handles are typically wood, metal, or plastic and usually hexagonal, square, or oval in cross-section to improve grip and prevent the tool from rolling when set down. Some manual screwdrivers have interchangeable tips that fit into a socket on the end of the shaft and are held in mechanically or magnetically. These often have a hollow handle that contains various types and sizes of tips, and a reversible ratchet action that allows multiple full turns without repositioning the tip or the user's hand.
A screwdriver is classified by its tip, which is shaped to fit the driving surfaces—slots, grooves, recesses, etc.—on the corresponding screw head. Proper use requires that the screwdriver's tip engage the head of a screw of the same size and type designation as the screwdriver tip. Screwdriver tips are available in a wide variety of types and sizes (List of screw drives). The two most common are the simple 'blade'-type for slotted screws, and Phillips, generically called "cross-recess". Read more...
The monkey wrench, known as gas grips in the UK, is a type of adjustable wrench, a later American development of eighteenth-century English coach wrenches. It was widely used in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but is now seldom used in the mechanical trades, having been mostly replaced by the newer style of shifting (adjustable) spanner. It is still of interest as an antique among tool collectors and is still occasionally used in maintenance and repair when it happens to be convenient. The term monkey wrench is also sometimes used loosely, usually by non-tradespeople, to refer to the pipe wrench (owing to their broadly similar shapes), but tradespeople (plumbers, pipefitters) usually speak more precisely than that. A wrench with smooth jaws (no teeth) is not used for turning threaded pipe.
These are also known as a Ford wrench owing to this type of wrench being included in the tool kit supplied with every Ford Model A. They are still used by aircraft technicians, chiefly when large but low torque fasteners are involved. Read more...
A workbench is study table at which manual work is done. They range from simple flat surfaces to very complex designs that may be considered tools in themselves. Workbenches vary in size from tiny jewelers benches to the huge benches used by staircase makers. Almost all workbenches are rectangular in shape, often using the surface, corners and edges as flat/square and dimension standards. Design is as varied as type of work for which the benches are used but most share these attributes:- A comfortable height for working with provisions for seated or standing work
- A way to fix the workpiece to the surface so that it may be worked with both hands
- Provisions for mounting, storing and accessing tools
- A spike maul is a type of hand tool used to drive railroad spikes in railroad track work. It is also known as a spiking hammer. Read more...
A hex key, Allen key or Allen wrench is a tool used to drive bolts and screws with hexagonal sockets in their heads.
The Allen name is a registered trademark, originated by the Allen Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut circa 1910, and currently owned by Apex Tool Group, LLC. Its genericised use is discouraged by this company. The standard generic name used in catalogues and published books and journals is "hex key". Read more...
A toolbox (also called toolkit, tool chest or workbox) is a box to organize, carry, and protect the owner's tools. They could be used for trade, a hobby or DIY, and their contents vary with the craft of the owner. Read more...
A lug wrench is the name for a type of socket wrench used to loosen and tighten lug nuts on automobile wheels. In the United Kingdom and Australia it is commonly known as a wheel brace.
Lug wrenches may be L-shaped, or X-shaped. The form commonly found in car trunks is an L-shaped metal rod with a socket wrench on the bent end and a prying tip on the other end. The prying tip is mainly intended to remove hub caps or wheel covers that may be covering a wheel's lug nuts. Read more...
A mitre box (US spelling, "miter box") is a wood working tool used to guide a hand saw to make precise mitre cuts in a board.
The most common form of a mitre box is a 3-sided box which is open at the top and the ends. The box is made wide enough to accommodate the width of the boards to be cut. Slots are cut in the walls of the box at the precise angle at which the cut is to be made. These slots provide the guide for the saw to follow. Most commonly, the slots in the mitre box are cut at 45 degrees and 90 degrees. Read more...
A wrench or spanner is a tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts—or keep them from turning.
In Commonwealth English (excluding Canada), spanner is the standard term. The most common shapes are called open-ended spanner and ring spanner. The term wrench is generally used for tools that turn non-fastening devices (e.g. tap wrench and pipe wrench), or may be used for a monkey wrench - an adjustable pipe wrench. Read more...- A punch is a hard metal rod with a sharp tip at one end and a blunt butt end at the other, which is usually struck by a hammer. Typically, woodworkers use a ball-peen hammer to strike a punch. Read more...
A man clears a sanitary sewer pipe with a motorized snake.
A plumber's snake or drain snake is a slender, flexible auger used to dislodge clogs in plumbing. The plumber's snake is often reserved for difficult clogs that cannot be loosened with a plunger. It is also sometimes called a toilet jack. A plumbers snake is often used by plumbers to clear a clogged drain pipe or sanitary sewer. Read more...
A punch down tool, also called a punchdown tool or a krone tool (named after the Krone LSA-PLUS connector), is a small hand tool used by telecommunication and network technicians. It is used for inserting wire into insulation-displacement connectors on punch down blocks, patch panels, keystone modules, and surface mount boxes (also known as biscuit jacks). Read more...
A cat's paw or cat's claw is a standard carpenter's tool, consisting of a round or hexagonal bar that curves at one end to form a pointed, cup-shaped tip with a V-shaped cleft for gripping nailheads. Popular retail outlets currently call these a claw bar if it has a claw on each end, or a moulding bar if it has a claw on one end and a flat pry bar on the other. It essentially works as a small crowbar. To use the tool the user holds the tool's shank with one hand and drives the claw around a nailhead with a hammer.
When the V is firmly seated around the nail's shank, the users pull the bar back to raise the head, then finishes pulling the nail with the hammer's claw. The cat's paw is well designed for demolition work, but because it tears up the wood around the nailhead, it should not be used for finish work. Read more...- A multi-tool (or multitool) is any one of a range of portable, versatile hand tools that combines several individual functions in a single unit. The smallest are credit-card or key sized units designed for carrying in a wallet or on a keyring, but others are designed to be carried in a trouser pocket or belt-mounted pouch. Read more...
- Although an antique tool might be said to be one that is more than a hundred years old, the term is often used to describe any old tool of quality that might be deemed collectable.
The use of tools is one of the primary means by which humans are distinguished from other animals. Tools are the parents of all other antiques. Most man-made objects were made and great effort goes into the creation of newer and better tools to solve the production problems of today. The study of antique tools provides a glimpse of human development and cultural preferences history. Read more...
Need help?
Do you have a question about Hand tools that you can't find the answer to?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
Selected images
Round-nose pliers, for making loops in wires
16th-century claw hammer; detail from Dürer's Melencolia I (c. 1514)
Diagonal pliers or side cutters
Ancient Greek bronze sacrificial hammer, 7th century BCE, from Dodona
Circlip pliers, for fitting and removing retaining rings
Electrical wire stripping and terminal crimping pliers
A modern claw hammer
A stone hammer found in Dover Township, Minnesota dated to 8000–3000 BCE, the North American Archaic period
Heavy duty crimping pliers that have interchangeable RJ heads
Lineman's pliers or combination pliers
Locking pliers, also known as vise-grips
The parts of a hammer are the face, head (includes the bell and neck, which are not labeled), eye (where the handle fits into), peen (also spelled pein and pane). The side of a hammer is the cheek and some hammers have straps that extend down the handle for strength. Shown here are: A. Ball-peen hammer B. Straight-peen hammer C. Cross-peen hammer
Subcategories
- Select [►] to view subcategories
Topics
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
Wikibooks
Books
Commons
Media
Wikinews
News
Wikiquote
Quotations
Wikisource
Texts
Wikiversity
Learning resources
Wiktionary
Definitions
Wikidata
Database
- What are portals?
- List of portals

