Hand tool
Hand Tools
General
Tape measure
Steel
- More accurate than fibreglass
- Steel tape breaks eventually
- Stiff springy tape
- Popular & cheap
Fibreglass
- Floppy tape
- Tape is not perfectl dimensionally stable, so small inaccuracies may occur
- Long lived
Ruler
Screwdriver
- Standard
- Long
- Stubby
- 90 degree cranked
- Ratchet
- Flexible
Bits Holder
- Not to be confused with swmbo
- Holds a set of hex shanked screwdriver bits
- Small pocket sized one is handy
Security bits
Pen & Pencil
Scissors
See Scissors article for information on
- Household scissors
- Wallpaper scissors
- Bone scissors
- Craft scissors
- Children's scissors
- Nail scissors
Gloves
- Rubber
- Leather
- Cotton
- Latex
Tape
See Tapes for a full list of the numerous types of tape & their uses in DIY & construction. These include:
- Insulating - pvc
- Building - fairly tough, rippable
- Masking
- Cellophane - minimum cost low performance tape
- Duct Tape - reinforced tape for most jobs except ducting
- Foil tape
- Amalgamating tape
- Friction tape
- Wall tape - crack repair tape
- Clear waterproof tape - repairs to glass & plastic cracks.
- Paper tape - tapes over PB joints before painting for a low cost non-filled job.
- Plasterboard tape - an open mesh tape
& many more
Clamps & Pliers
Mole grips
C clamp
F clamp
===Sash C
Pliers
Long nosed Pliers
Pliers for use in very confined spaces
Circlip Pliers
Pliers for fitting and removing circlips
Round nosed Pliers
Sidecutters
Type of wirecutting pliers
Fencing pliers
- Hammer, wire cutter and tensioner in one
Grozz Pliers
- Glasswork
Waterpump pliers
- Slotted hinge mechanism allows large sizes to be gripped
Parallel Pliers
- Not often found in DIY use, but give much better performance than standard pliers.
Knives
See Knives for more info
Stanley Knife
- Tough general purpose DIY knife
- More popular for self defence in its earlier days
Wallpaper knife
- Lightweight plastic knife with snapoff blade
- 9mm & 18m blades
Pocket Knife
The forerunner of the above knife types, these are no longer popular for DIY use.
Craft knife, X-acto knife
These are small knives sometimes used in DIY, but more popular for craft use. The handles look a bit like a writing pen, and the blades used are scalpel blades and other blades of a similar size.
- Many blade shapes are available.
- X-Acto is another trade mark that has fallen into general usage
Scalpel
- More used for DIY surgery than house maintance.
- Useful for removing splinters
- Can be useful for appliance repairs
Rotary Knife
- score or cut into soft materials such as lino & vinyl tiles
- Not much use for other DIY tasks, very little cutting power.
Levels
Spirit Level
Card Level
- Finds any angle with card & a pin.
- Much more versatile than spirit level
Plumb bob
- weight on string
- accurately indicates the vertical
Painting
Paint brush
- Decorator's brushes are widely available in sizes from 0.5" to 6"
- Brushes several feet wide are occasionally seen in use for exterior painting
- The worst ones are identified by pulling on the bristles to see if some come out.
Artists brushes
- For fine detail
- for tight access
- For touchup jobs
Block Brush
A thicker brush for bulk application of thin paints, eg some lime paints & wood preservatives.
Paint kettle
- Carrying a small amount of paint is less fatiguing and
- Reduces magnitude of spills
Scraper
- Paint removal
Sandpaper
- smoothing
- stock removal
Sanding Block
- use with sandpaper to apply an even pressure and help achieve a flatter result
Shave hook
- Paint removal
- Often blunt when bought. Sharpening them makes them work!
Paint Guard
- Hand held plastic strip to keep paint off other items, eg carpet
Sprayer
Paint Roller, Tray & Sleeves
Masonry
Brick trowel
Cold Chisel
- For masonry
Line
Bucket handle
- Shapes pointing
Blower
- Clears holes drilled in masonry
- Quick, easy and avoids a face/eye full of brick dust.
Plastering
Float
- rectangular tool for smoothing
- steel
- general purpose float
- for cement render, gypsum plaster,
- wood
- used mainly with lime plaster
- draws fat to the surface less than steel
- plastic
- textured surface
- for?
Plasterer's Hawk
- small handheld platform for mixed plaster
Trowel
Featheredge
Small tools
- detailing, ribbon work & decorative work
Corner trowels
- right angles trowels for internal & external corners
Woodwork
Wood Chisel
Plane
smoothing, flattening & stock removal of wood & non-brittle plastics
Bradawl
- Marks wood for drilling
- Loosens rope knots
Countersink
- drills a shallow hole for a screw head
- several patterns available
- rose
Profile Gauge
- Use to transfer profiles from one item to another or to paper
- A row of lots of pins held in place by friction
Hand drill
- Not often used since cordless drills became popular
- allow much finer control than mains electric drills
- relatively slow
- Pattern of top handle is the main difference seen among hand drills, and this affects stability in use
- Very old hand drills may have types of chuck rarely seen today, eg a 2 jaw chuck.
- most have a quarter inch chuck
Moulding Plane
- Produces moulded timber profiles
- Now replaced by routers & spindle moulders
Breast drill
- Type of hand drill
- Top end of drill designed to be pressed against the chest in use
- this stabilises the drill, and allows more force to be applied
Brace
- Another type of drill
Spoke Shave
- A very short plane for use on curved surfaces and in restricted spaces
Bevel
- For transferring & copying angles
- When using a bevel for repeat angles in construction, it can move, ruining workpieces. Thus draw round it when the angle has been taken, and check the bevel against this drawing before it is used on each workpiece
Set Square
- 90 degree tool that overlaps the edge of workpiece
- fastest way to mark an exact line across timber
Ruler
- plastic, aluminium or wood.
- rigid or folding
Yardstick
- Yard long ruler
Rasp
- coarse file for wood stock removal
Saw
Many types
Cabinet Scraper
more woodwork hand tools:
Backsaw Bar clamp Bench hook Bow drill Bow saw Broadaxe Bucksaw C-clamp Card scraper Japanese chisel Coping saw Crosscut saw Drawknife F-clamp Framing hammer Fretsaw Froe Gimlet Gouge Gripe (tool) Hand saw Hatchet Japanese saw Keyhole saw Miter saw Mitre box Mitre clamp Pipe clamp Plywood saw P cont. Pole lathe Rip saw Robertson screwdriver Sanding block Saw set Scratch stock Sharpening jig Sharpening stone Shooting board Slick (tool) Staple gun Two-man saw Upholstery hammer Utility knife Vise (tool) X-acto knife, craft knife scalpel
Hammers
Claw hammer
- Most popular hammer
- general purpose hammer
- Nail pulling claws on one side
- Various weights, with 12oz - 16oz being most popular
?name for light hammer
- light hammer, 4oz typical
- for driving pins & small nails
- easier to use & more precise than a claw hammer
- limited hitting force available
- one flat face, one cold chisel face
Clubhammer
- medium heavy hammer
- 2 flat faces
- 4lb is most common size
Ball pein hammer
- One rounded striking face, one flat
Sledge hammer
- Very heavy hammer
- Long handle for maximum swing
- for serious violence, eg concrete breaking
Dead blow hammer
- No rebound
- Hollow head contains shot
(non sparking) hammer
- copper faced hammer does not produce sparks
Scutch hammer
- Breaks bricks cleanly
- Replaceable toolface
Mallets
Wood Mallet
- Inserting fence posts
Rubber Mallet
- softest mallet
- light duty hitting where no dent may be left
Plastic Mallet
- similar to rubber mallet but not as soft
Bars
Prybar
Crowbar
Wrecking bar
- Demolition
Material Handling
Shovel
- for moving loose material
Spade
- for digging
- Stainless steel gives less friction
Fork
- Stainless steel gives less friction
Wheelbarrow
- Dyson's original ballbarrows are much less likely to sink into mud, giving much easier ride on wet soil, but they're no longer made.
- plastic, nothing like as robust as metal barrows
- ideal for gardening
Carrying handle?
- Enables one person to carry 8x4 sheets
Sieve
- separate aggregate of differing sizes
- remove clumps from cat litter
- Power sieves exist now fwiw
Bucket
Scoop
===Trowel (garden)
Cutters
Wirecutters
- Good idea to keep separate cutters for steel wire and copper wire, as iron & steel wires damage cutters.
Tinsnips
- Sheet metal cutting scissors
- designed for thin sheet only
- Uncomfortable & difficult with anything thicker
- cuts straight lines
- mostly useful for fabrication
Aviation Tinsnips
- A much improved design of sheet metal cutter.
- greater cutting force
- greater comfort
- causes more distortion to the workpiece
- mostly useful for dismantling
Wire strippers
- Any of a number of designs of wirestripper
Axe
- wood chopping
Meat Cleaver
- Designed for butchers, these make a good small axe for trimming small trees and general gardening.
- Add some red paint if you want to keep the neighbours away.
Bolt Croppers
- Heaviest of all hand cutters
- Cut rebar, brass locks, bolts, threaded rod, small bar, chain
- Will not cut hardened steel
Tile Nippers
- Cut tiles.
Pipe cutter - wheel type
- ring turn, eg Monument
- for copper pipe
Pipe cutter - pvc chopper type
- fast cutting of pvc pipe
More
Jeweller's screwdrivers
- tiny screwdrivers
- For repairing small appliances
Hex bit Screwdriver
- screwdriver wth standardised interchangeable bits
- more robust & versatile than conventional screwdriver
Spanner
- drives nuts & bolts with hex head.
Ratchet Spanner
- drives one way
Sockets
- drive nuts & bolts with hex head.
- generally more torque & control than spanners
- can drive recessed items
- come with any of several drive sizes:
- 1/4" - for very light duty work eg appliance case screws
- 3/8"
- 1/2" - good for general purpose use
- 3/4" - good for heavy duty work, eg washing machine bearings and tougher items on cars
- 1" - industrial duty
- see also torque wrench
Extension Bar
- The type manufactured for socket sets gives increased torque.
- Ordinary hollow bar fitted over hand tools is famed in industry for assorted safety risks.
Blowlamp
- Soldering plumbing
- Applying unmodified flat roofing felt in winter
Torch
- may mean a battery light or gas flame
Grindstone
For sharpening Very large grindstones on broom handles were formerly used for terrazzo. Thank god for power tools.
Pincers
- cuts tiles
Nail puller
- removes nails
Pickaxe
- Breaking up hard & stony soil
Feeler Gauge
- set of slips of very thin steel
- measures tiny gaps
Allen Keys
Self Adjusting Spanners
- saves carrying many spanners
- performance poor compared to fixed size spanners
Metalwork
Centre punch
- Dents metal to prevent wander while starting to drill a hole
Automatic Centre punch
- Just press, a hammering mechanism is built in.
File
- various sizes
- rat's tail file
- different teeth size for different materialsworkpieces
- wood
- steel
More hand tools: C-clamp Combination square Die grinder Drift pin F-clamp Hacksaw Hand scraper Machinist square Magnetic base Rotary tool Scriber Tongs Tube & pipe benders Vise (tool)
Car
Oil filter wrench
- Various types
- chain
- strap
- set of fingers driven by socket bar.
Jack
Hydraulic Jack
Various types
Bottle Jack
One of the more popular types of hydraulic jack
Other hydralic one used in garages
Screw Jack
2 concentric screws, forerunner of the hydraulic bottle jack, not sure of correct name
Scissor Jack
A very popular DIYer's jack.
Side Jack
Minimum cost jack often supplied with vehicle. The quickest way to remove old unwanted jacking points.
Inflatable Jack
This is a large bag that connects to the exhaust. Exhaust gases inflate the bag, lifting the vehicle up. Used where ground is too soft for other types of jack, such as desert use. The only useful jack for these situations.
Axle stands
Ramps
Pressure Gauge
Pump
Spatula
Hoist
Engine Stand
More... yet to be put under the right headings
Framing Square
Roofer's Square
Carpenter's Square
Torx keys
Torque wrench
Scales
- Used as a substitute for a torque wrench
- 15lbs at 1 foot gives 15 lbfoot, 15lbs at 2' gives 30lbft.
Secateurs
- Garden trimming
Bulb planter
- Makes bulb planting very quick
- pointed stick with handle
Micrometer
- highly accurate measurement of small distances
Sandpaper
- smoothing & material removal
- different grit densities for different purposes
- high density for hand sanding, low density avoids clogging with power tools
Dentist's mirror
- Small mirror on stick enables seeing into unseeable places
- Strips of mirror out of dead scanners can also be used
Inspection Lamp
aka Drop lamp
- hand held lamp designed to use up your stock of spare mains bulbs
?Stapler
Crimper, non-ratchet
- attaches crimp connectors to cables, but the connection is invariably weak & inadequte
Crimper, ratchet
- attaches crimp connectors to cables properly
Magnet on string
- Retrieve objects dropped in voids
Draw tape
- Threading wires through otherwise inaccessible voids, eg under floor, within walls
Computer
Camera
- Records damage or other issues before a job starts
- A simple way to enable near identical reassmebly of complex items
Mobile
- to call an ambulance!
Kneepads
Toolbelt
Hard hat
Goggles
- Protect eyes
- Direct vent suitable for nuisance dusts only
- Indirect vent suitable for potential eye injury situations, such as angle grinders
Ear defenders
- Several types available
- foam rubber in-ear
- headphone style
- active noise cancellers
Bogroll
- One sheet in each ear reduces noise levels
Ladder
incl multiway ladder
Access tower
Rope
S hooks
Toolbox
Toolchest
Carrierbag
- budget toolbag
Cleaning sht link
Dustsheets
- Plastic or cloth sheets for keeping dust & paint off floors, furniture, woodwork, etc
Newspaper
- used as dust sheet
1st aid kit
Fire exting?
Fugenboy
- Shaping & smoothing tool for silicone sealant & similar
- Polypropylene
Pipe bender
- Used with pipe bending spring or sand to bend copper pipe
Storage cases for small parts
Magnifying glass?
Dustmask, filters
- Wide range of qualities available
- Most are not suitable for some types of dust
- Budget masks are for nontoxic nuisance dusts only, and reduce rather than prevent dust ingress
Laser level
Grout spreader
- Straight rubber edge pushes grout between tiles while wiping it off the tile fronts.
Sponge
Metal, wire & stud detector
- Beware of faulty ones that don't go off when pointed at yourself!
Space suit
- For hazardous substances
- Prevents personal contamination
Impact driver
- A hammer driven screwdriver
- The power tool of the same name is something different
Hot gloog gun
- Bodger's special
Sawboard
- Used with a circular saw
- Enables greater accuracy
Mitre saw, hand type
- Guide frame to enable accurate angles to be cut in wood etc
Tray & towels
- For catching water spilt from CH
Pump
For de-flooding house after CH work.
Freezer
- freezes pipes to enable plumbing. If quick.
Box spanner
- Tube with hexagonal end to drives nuts.
- Turned by a bar inserted through holes in the tube
- US usage of the term is different.
Letter punch & Number punches
- Stamps text into metals
Sawhorse
Fibro cutter
- Cuts asbestos cement sheet.
- Not suitable for modern sheet replacements for asbestos.