LECTURE 8 : Carpentry hand tools

Introduction

A hand tool is any simple tool that is used manually rather than by a motor. A wide variety of tools is
required, as work constantly comprises a range of different activities. You must carefully select the size
and type of tools that are most appropriate for the job at hand.

For productive operation, a carpentry workshop should suitably be equipped with a adequate quality tools
and equipment. It is vital for you to become familiar with the tool names, identify, choose, and operate the
appropriate tool securely and appropriately for the job at hand. To facilitate understanding, carpentry hand
tools have been divided into nine (9) categories namely:

i. Holding and supporting tools

ii. Geometrical tools
iii. Percussion tools
iv. Impelling tools
v. Boring tools
vi. Shaving tools
vii. Paring tools
viii. Abrading tools
ix. Scraping tools.

1. Holding and supporting tools

This category includes all tools and devices that are used to hold or fasten the workpiece firmly so that
you can work on it safely while holding it. Workbenches, bench vices, bench hooks, G cramps, sash cramps,
mitre cramps, and other similar holding and supporting tools are frequently employed.

• Workbench, A workbench is a table that is used by carpenters to hold workpieces while they are
being worked on with other tools. There are many different types of workbenches, each of which
reflects the type of work that will be done or the way that the artisan will be working.

Use of workbench: it is used provide support from the time the job is laid out until all relevant
work bench operations are completed.
Consider illustration of workbench shown below.
 • Bench vice (vise), A bench vice (vise) is a mechanical tool that is used to secure an object so
that work can be done on it. Vises have two parallel jaws, one fixed and one moveable, which are
threaded in and out by a screw and lever as shown in figure below.

Uses of bench vice

i. Attached to the side of the work bench to hold the job/work piece while you plane the surface or
edges, sawing trenches and cut mortises.
ii. Hold glued pieces of wood together during setting.
 • Bench hook, A bench hook is a carpentry tool used to hold a workpiece in place during
crosscutting with a hand saw. A bench hook is a simple approach for increasing accuracy and
safety. Consider the illustration of a bench hook shown in a figure below.

Uses of bench hook

i. Used to support a piece of wood you wish to cut, saw or chisel.
ii. It prevents the top of a work bench from being damaged.

• Bench holdfast, A bench holdfast is a tool that is used to secure a workpiece to the top or side
of a wooden workbench or the top of an anvil as illustrated in figure below. When in use, the shank
is loosely inserted into a hole in the top or side of the bench, or in the top of the anvil, and the
hook's tip is forced against the work. The holdfast is installed by striking the top with a mallet or
hammer, causing the shaft to wedge against the hole's sidewalls. It is freed once more by striking
the back side.
 Uses of bench holdfast
i. Hold down a piece of work/job firmly.
ii. It enables workpiece of odd shapes to be held firmly on top of the workbench.
iii. Useful for holding device when you want to prepare mouldings or use rebate planes.

• G cramps (clamps) are a sort of cramp device that are commonly used to hold a carpentry piece
while working on it. Because the cramp handle and screw component are formed like the uppercase
letter G, it is mostly referred to as a G cramp. They were, however, initially known as a carriage
maker's clamp, or Carriage Clamp or C Clamp.

Uses of G cramp
i. Used to hold a piece of wood to a workbench, allowing for activities such as sawing, chiseling etc.

• Sash clamp, also known as bar clamp, is a type of clamp with a larger opening capacity (throat)
that is used in carpentry when a more permanent attachment or assembly is being produced with
screws or glue.
Use of sash cramp
i. Often used while gluing, to hold and draw together the parts being assembled while the glue is
setting.

• Mitre cramps (clamps) these are used to keep the mitre joints together. Mitre clamps are made
up of a basic C-shaped spring with sharpened tips that is sprung onto the outside corner of the
mitre joint as shown in illustration below. The screws and the red holder are higher than the right-
angled plates. The screws are inserted beneath the frame (work-piece) to be held, and the red bit
clamps down on the frame's lower edge.

Use of mitre cramp

i. Used for holding and drawing together right angled mitre joints while gluing and pinning.
 • A square shooting board is a carpentry tool that is used in conjunction with a hand plane to
trim and level up board edges and ends. It is typically used on a workbench. Shooting boards are
used for two specialized purposes: jointing and end grain trimming. The shooting board's
design is the identical in both scenarios, but the length of the board varies, with boards used for
jointing being significantly longer than those used for end grain trimming. A shooting board consists
of a flat board, the base, with a stop at one end, similar to a bench hook, on which the board to
be planed is rested. The stop prevents the board from sliding as it is planed.

Use of square shooting board

i. Used for holding a workpiece when shooting (planing) the ends square to face or an edge.

• A mitre shoot (box) is a carpentry tool that guides a handsaw to make precise cuts, typically 45°
i.e mitre cuts. Hand tool mitre boxes are made of wood and are simple in design. They are more
precise, safer, quieter, less expensive, and take up less room. Adjustable mitre boxes, on the other
hand, are composed of metal and can be adjusted to cut any angle from 45° to 90°.
 Uses of mitre shooting board
i. Used for holding workpiece when cutting a mitre (at an angle of 45⁰)

2. Geometrical tools
These include those tools that are used for measuring, marking out, laying out, and testing a task at
various stages. Rule, straight edge, marking knife, wing compass, callipers, try square, mitre square, sliding
bevel, combination square, marking gauge, mortise gauge, cutting gauge, and panel gauge are some of
geometrical tools available in every carpentry workshop.

• Rule or ruler is a marking and measuring tool that is extremely exact. It's thin, and the markings
on the rule are extremely delicate as well. On one edge, the measures are in millimetres (or
centimetres), and on the other, they are in inches as shown in figure below. Additionally, the rule
can be used as a straight edge to determine whether materials or the edges of materials are
straight. The rule can be constructed of steel or plastic, depending on your preference.

Uses of rule
i. Used for setting out and checking distances on a workpiece.
ii. Used for marking and cutting gauges.

• Straight edge is a tool that is used to draw straight lines and to examine the straightness of those
lines. Materials such as steel, aluminium, iron, and granite are commonly utilized in the construction
of straight edge. Consider illustration of various types of straight edges shown below.

Use of straight edge

i. Used for testing the evenness or straightness of surface and edges of a workpiece or job.
 • Marking knife is a layout tool for carpentry works that is used to mark workpieces precisely. It is
used to create a visible line that can be used to guide a hand saw, chisel, or plane when
constructing carpentry joints or performing other operations.

Use of marking knife

i. Used for marking a cut line across the shoulders of joints such as tenons and trenches to guide
sawing or chiseling.

• A try square is a hand tool used for marking and verifying 90° angles on pieces of wood. The
term "square" refers to the 90° angle. The purpose of using try square in a piece of wood is to
determine whether the edges and faces are straight, flat, and square to one another. A try square
gets its name from the fact that it is used to determine the squareness of a workpiece. A try square
is composed of two critical components: the blade (alternatively called a beam or tongue) and the
stock, which are attached at a 90° angle to produce a 'L' shape as illustrated in figure below

Uses of try square

i. Used for testing squareness of surfaces and edges of workpieces.
ii. Testing outside and inside corner of a joint.
iii. Marking lines at right angles to a given surface or edge.
• Marking gauge, often called a scratch gauge, is used to mark out lines for cutting or other
operations. The gauge's purpose is to scribe a parallel line to a reference edge or surface. A gauge
is composed of a beam (or stem), a headstock, and a scribing or marking instrument which is
commonly a pin, knife, pen, or wheel. The headstock slides along the beam and is secured with a
locking screw, cam lever, or wedge. On one end of the beam, the marking implement is secured.

Use of marking gauge

i. Used for marking lines parallel to a face or an edge of a workpiece

• A mortise gauge, is a carpentry tool used to scribe mortise and tenon connections on wood prior
to cutting. Mortise gauges are frequently constructed of hardwood and fitted with brass fittings.
The mortise gauge has a locking thumb screw slide for setting the scribe's distance from the wood's
edge. It also has two projecting pins, i.e "spurs," that are used to simultaneously scribe parallel
lines marking both sides of a mortise. One of the pins is movable, attached to a sliding fence,
allowing for the marking of mortises of varying lengths.

Use of mortise gauge

i. Used for making two lines parallel to a face or an edge of a workpiece.
• A sliding bevel, alternatively referred to as a bevel gauge or false square, is an adjustable gauge
used for establishing and transferring angles. Unlike the square, which is stationary and can only
be used to establish a 90° angle, the sliding bevel may be used to set any angle and then move it
to another piece. The bevel gauge is made up of two components joined by a thumbscrew or wing
nut that allows the blade to swivel and lock at any angle as shown in figure below. Typically, the
handle is constructed of wood or plastic, while the blade is made of metal. The bevel can be used
to reproduce an existing angle or to set a desired angle using a protractor or framing square.

Use of sliding bevel

i. Often used for testing and setting out bevels or angles other than 45⁰ and 90⁰

• The inside callipers are used to determine an object's internal dimensions. Prior to fitting, the
inside calliper can be manually adjusted or replaced with an adjustable one. Manual adjustment of
this calliper type is accomplished by lightly tapping the calliper legs on a convenient surface until
they almost touch the object. The legs are then spread to the proper dimension with a light push
 against the resistance of the central pivot screw. On the other hand, an adjustable calliper features
an adjustment screw that enables precise adjustment without removing the tool from the
workpiece.

Use of inside calipers

i. Used for checking diameter of holes or slots.

• Outside callipers are used to determine an object's external dimensions. The same observations
and technique as with the above-mentioned inside calliper apply to this sort of calliper. With some
knowledge of their limitations and proper use, these instruments can deliver a high degree of
precision and repeatability.

Use of outside calipers

i. Used for checking outside diameter of cylindrical objects.
• A combination square is a useful measuring and marking tool that is commonly used in carpenty.
It consists of a rule and one or more interchangeable heads that attach to the rule. The standard
head is the most often used head since it serves as a square for marking and testing 90° and 45°
angles. The protractor head and the center finder head are two more typical types of heads.
Consider illustration below.

Use of combination square

i. Used for testing and setting out angles of 45⁰ and 90⁰

• A mitre square or mitre square is a hand tool used to mark and inspect angles other than 90°.
Most mitre squares are used to mark and inspect 45° and additional angles like 135° as shown in
figure below

Use of miter square

i. Used for testing and marking angles of 45⁰
• The panel gauge is used to layout huge panels i.e doors, or any line that is too far away from the
edge to be reached by a marking gauge. If you're working with pieces wider than 20 cm, the Panel
Gauge is a must-have tool. It enables the creation of a parallel scribe line on the second edge or
when marking a panel to its ultimate length. The figure below shows a wooden panel gauge.

Uses of panel gauge

i. Suitable for marking the width of a wide boards such as door panels.

• The wing compass is a technical drafting equipment that can be used to inscribe circles or arcs
in carpentry. They can also be used as distance measuring tools when utilized as dividers.
Compasses can be used for a variety of applications, including mathematics, drafting, and
navigation.

Use of wing compass

i. Used for setting out arcs and circles on a workpiece
 • A Cutting gauge offers a good precision for accurate joinery. It creates a clean, deep, and well-
defined layout that is easy to see. Figure below shows a typical cutting gauge with a round beam
which offers several benefits like easiness in seeing where you are starting and stopping the cut.

Use of cutting gauge

i. Used for cutting lines parallel to the end of a workpiece/cutting across the grain.

3. Percussion tools

The word percussion implies that striking two objects together. This means that percussion tools are those
tools used for striking other tools. They include hammers and mallets. Most of hammers consists 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, or to crush rock. Hammers are used for a
wide range of driving, shaping, breaking etc. Percusion instruments include the following.

• The Warrington hammer is a cross-peen hammer that is frequently used in carpentry works.
The striking face of the hammer is often gently rounded to prevent accidental marring or damage
to the workpiece, while the other side has a pointed cross peen as shown in figure below. The
cross peen is intended for striking nails and pins that are held between the thumb and index finger,
and can also be used to reshape bent nails and hardware. The Warrington hammer is ideal for
cabinet construction and nailing in little nails.
 Uses of Warrington hammer
i. Generally used for light hammering particularly in cabinet work.
ii. The cross-peen end is used for starting small nails and also for pressing down when gluing
small inlays and veneers into position.

• Claw hammer is a hand instrument that is primarily used to drive nails into or pull nails from
other items using the V-shaped side as shown in figure below.

Uses of claw hammer

i. Is used for heavy hammering as in carpentry for driving in large nails.
ii. The claw end is used for removing nails.

• A mallet is a type of hammer that is regularly made of rubber or occasionally wood and has a
reasonably large head. In carpentry, mallet hammers are typically used to join wooden pieces
together or to drive pegs or chisels. Mallets are advantageous because they do not distort the
 striking end of a metal tool when used, as most metal hammers do. Consider the illustrations in
figure below showing a wooden and rubber mallets.

Use of mallet hammer

i. Used for driving chisel and assembly works.

4. Impelling tools
These are the ones used for forcing other materials such as screw into a piece of work. The common
impelling tools in carpentry works are screwdrivers, nail punch and brace.

• Screwdrivers, These are made of an alloy of steel. They are available in flat, round, or square
shapes. One end is ground to a point that fits into the slot of the screw, while the other is fashioned
into a tang and fitted with a durable hardwood handle such as beech or hickory. Additionally, the
handle might be made of plastic. Consider the illustration below showing typical screwdriver.

• Nail Punch is a piece of steel rod with one end tapered and the other parallel and chamfered. The
central portion is knurled for a secure grip as it appears in figure below. They are used in
conjunction with a hammer to penetrate the surface of a job by driving the heads of nails below
the surface. Consider the illustration below showing typical nail punch.
 • Brace, this is made up of a head, a crank, a chuck, and a ratchet mechanism as shown in
illustration below. The head is made of a block of hardwood (beech or teak) that has been shaped
to fit the palm of the hand and is screwed to a steel sleeve that is also fitted over the end of the
crank to provide support. The brace is used to hold bits in place while driving them into the
workpiece in order to bore holes in it. Consider the illustration below showing typical Brace and bit.

5. Boring tools

Boring tools are widely used in a variety of industries, including carpentry, construction, metalworking, and
many others, to create holes in a variety of materials. Among the most commonly encountered boring tools
in carpentry are bits, gimlets, and bradawls.
• Boring bits, All bits are made up of two main components namely the body and the shank. The
cutting edges are formed by the body, and the shank has a square, tapered tang that is designed
to fit into the jaws of a hand brace. Auger bits, center bits, Forstner bits, and countersink bits are
some of the most used bits. Consider the illustration of auger bit shown below.

• Gimlet, In most cases, it is a small hand boring tool that is used to start holes for nails and screws,
particularly in corners or other tight spaces where a brace is not possible to be used. The handle
is installed in a crosswise orientation with a firm grip when applying pressure.

• Bradawl, This is a steel rod having one of its ends flattened so that it can be used as a cutting
blade. A Bradawl is a tool that is used to make small holes in which to insert nails and small screws.
Whenever you are using it, make sure the cutting edge is parallel to the grain of the wood and
press into it by twisting back and forth to break (cut) the fibres.
6. Abrading tools

These are cutting tools that cut by removing many small particles of the material at the same time. Saws
of all kinds are abrading tools because they cut through the material with the movement of their teeth,
removing small pieces in the form of saw dust. Files, rasps, and grinding tools are examples of other tools
that come under this category.

Saw, Saws are further divided into three categories: hand saws, backed saws, and curve cutting
saws. Hand saws are the most common type of saw. All saws are made up of two basic components: the
blade (which is often made of cast steel) and the wooden handle (beech).

• Hand saws,These are the only ones that are used for straight cutting. They are typically operated
by using a series of sharp points made of a substance that is harder than the timber being cut to
cut the timber. Crosscut saws and rip saws are two different types of hand saws.

✓ Cross cut saw is one that is specifically intended to cut wood across the grain of the wood.
Crosscut saws are available in different of sizes, with small teeth close together for fine
work such as carpentry and huge teeth for rougher tasks such as log bucking.

✓ Rip saw is a type of carpentry saw that is specifically designed for making rip cuts. These
are the cuts which are done parallel to the grain of the wood. Rip means to split or saw
timber in the direction of the grain, and cut means to divide with a sharp-edged blade.
• Backed saws, in contrast to other sorts of saws, backed saws are those that have a stiffening rib
on the edge opposite the cutting edge, which allows for better control and more precise cutting
than other types of tools. When it comes to carpentry works, back saws are typically used for
precision work, such as cutting dovetail joints in cabinetry and joinery, or cutting mitres and tenons
in furniture. Back saws are limited in the depth to which they can cut due to the stiffening rib in
the blade. Tenon saws and dovetail saws are both examples of back saws in use.

✓ Tenon saw is a mid-sized back saw with a curved blade. The saw gets its name from the
fact that it is used in the cutting of tenons for mortise and tenon joinery systems. Tenon
saws are generally offered in two configurations: cross-cut teeth for cutting against the
grain and rip-filed teeth for rip cutting. Consider the illustration of rip-filed teeth tenon
saw shown below.

✓ Dovetail saw is a tiny backsaw that is used to cut dovetails in carpentry projects. The
dovetail saw is similar in appearance to a tenon saw, but it is smaller and has more teeth
- approximately 7 teeth per centimetre. These generate fine cuts that are particularly handy
for cutting joints.
• Curve cutting saw, these are the types of saws that are used to cut curves. Those who use them
will notice their thin, flexible blades, which allow them to navigate curves in the saw cut or kerf
with little difficulty. The coping saw, fret saw, key-hole saw, and nest of saws are some of the most
often used types of curve cutting saws.

✓ Coping saw is a type of bow saw that is used in carpentry to cut complex external shapes
as well as interior cut-outs in timber. Coping saw blades are always thicker and coarser
than cutting blades, and they are used to cut through thicker materials. However, if
handled with caution, coping saws can be used to cut tiny bends in the work as illustrated
in figure below.

✓ Fret saw is the one used for intricate cutting work which often incorporates tight curves.
Although the coping saw is often used for similar work, the fret saw is capable of much
tighter radii and more delicate work (thin board or veneer) as illustrated below.
 ✓ Keyhole saw this is used for cutting smaller arcs of material. The knife's blade of this saw
has been designed to slide inside the handle, allowing it to be used in more restricted
environments. This saw is also referred to as a pad saw in some areas. Consider illustration
of fixed keyhole saw shown below.

Rasp, this is a coarse form of file used for coarsely shaping timber or other material. It consists of a
generally tapered rectangular, round, or half-round sectioned bar of case hardened steel with distinct,
individually cut teeth. A narrow, pointed tang is common at one end, to which a handle may be fitted.
Rasps come in a variety of shapes rectangular, round, and half-round and vary in coarseness from finest,
to most aggressive. They are used in carpentry for rapidly removing materials. The rough surfaces they
leave may be smoothed with finer tools, such as single or double cut files.

Files, these are used for smoothing edges and shapes where other cutting tools cannot easily be used.
The teeth of files are produced by a series of cuts (single or double cuts) across the face producing varying
grades of teeth from fine to rough. The commonly used files in carpentry are round file, square file, half
round file, triangular file, saw file.
Applications
• Round file - used for smoothing concave curves and enlarging holes.
• Square file – used for producing slots.
• half round file – used for smoothing concave edges and enlarging holes
• triangular file (saw file)
o used to form sharp corners and grooves
o used for sharpening hand saws, thus sometimes called saw file

7. Shaving tools
These are the ones that are used to reduce a piece of timber to a specific size or shape by the process of
shaving off the excess material. Planes are used for this purpose. Planes are made up of a stock, which is
made of wood or metal, a cutting iron, which is a steel blade that cuts the wood shavings, and a cap iron
that breaks the shavings to prevent the wood fibres from being ripped out. The primary function of a plane
is to make smooth surfaces or edges, by shaving away small amounts of material. Generally, planes can
be classified into the following categories:

• Bench planes
• Special purpose planes
✓ A rebate plane
✓ Plough plane
✓ Spokeshave
• Multi-purpose planes
✓ Combination plane
✓ The multi-plane
Bench planes, these planes are very useful for creating flat or plain surfaces on a various surfaces. Bench
planes include the roughing plane, the block plane, the testing plane, the smoothing plane, and the jack
plane, to name a few.

• Jack plane is a bench plane that can be used for a number of carpentry operations, including
dressing down timber to the proper size. It is normally the first plane to be used on rough work.
Because of the versatility of the jack plane, it has become the most widely used bench plane in the
world. Consider illustration of typical jack plane commonly used in carpentry works shown below.

8. Paring tools

Paring is a term that refers to the process of removing waste wood from pieces of wood with a chisel and
mallet. There are two types of chisels: harder chisels and paring chisels. All chisels are made up of two
primary components: the blade and the handle. The blade is frequently made of steel that has been
hardened and tempered to increase its toughness and durability. Often, the tapered end (tang) placed into
the handle is left unheated to prevent it from easily breaking off during operation. The handle is designed
for ease handling and is made of plastic or durable wood.
 • Firmer (harder) chisels, this has a blade with a large rectangular cross-section which makes it
more durable for use on tougher, heavier jobs. It features a thick, powerful blade that can remove
big chunks of wood in a single hit. Indeed, when the end of this chisel is struck with a mallet, the
blade is strong enough to make deep, huge joints. Consider illustration of firmer/harder chisel
shown below.

• Paring chisels, this has blade which is longer and thinner as it can be seen in figure below. The
blade measures from 3 and 50 millimetres broad. Paring chisel is used for all types of paring, i.e
especially used for clearing out corners and completing joints. Never use a mallet hammer on this
chisel because of its small weight.

9. Scraping tools

Scraping tools are those with a small handle and a metal or plastic blade that are used to clean a specific
surface. It is drawn across the surface of a project to scrape or cut away a fine shaving or to eliminate
plane marks. Additionally, it can be used to smooth a task prior to sanding. The hand scraper and cabinet
scraper are two often used in scraping.
• Hand scraper, It is a flat rectangular piece of high carbon steel measuring 125 mm by 75 mm
with burred long edges that serve as cutting edges. A scraper may be held in the hand as illustrated
in figure below or fitted with a handle for easy handling during the scraping action.

• Cabinet scraper, This is the one fitted into a spokeshave-like stock for easier manipulation.
Self check
i. Where do we use jack plane?
ii. With vivid examples distinguish between abrading and holding and supporting tools
iii. Briefly explain functions G cramp
iv. Explain in detail percussion tools
v. Visit DIT woodwork workshop, following hand tool classification record all hand tools
available with clear image as well as respective uses.

Tool classification Tool name Image Descriptions Uses

Holding and
supporting tools

Geometric tools

Percussion tools

Impeling tools

Abrading tools

Scraping tools