Topic: Hand tools
Student Name: Tutor Group:
Working Safely
To avoid the risk of damaging tools and equipment or getting injured in the
workshop there are some basic rules that should be followed.
General Workshop
Safety
Make sure your apron is buttoned up or tied.
Tie up long hair
Do not run or play within the workshop
Use the appropriate
safety gear when
necessary
Safety with hand tools
Never use a hammer that has a loose
head; the head may
fly off
File handles must be secure. The tangs of some file blades are
sharp and can pierce
the skin
Keep fingers away from sharp edges of cutting tools.
Don’t use excessive force
Do not use tools which are blunt.
Safety with machinery
Never use a machine
unless you have been
shown how to use it
by your teacher.
Put on the
appropriate safety
gear.
Clamp the workpiece
firmly when drilling.
Always remove the
chuck key before
switching on a drilling
machine.
If the machine has
safety guards, use
them.
The on-off switch
should only be
operated by the
person using the machine
Good Housekeeping
Keep your work area
clean and tidy
Return all tools to
their proper place
after use
Report damaged or
broken tools to your
teacher.
Marking out and measuring materials
Before a piece of materials is cut or shaped, it should be carefully marked out.
Accurate marking out will help to ensure that the design looks right after it is made.
Where do I start? Checking the datum
Marking out usually requires two references
straight edges on the materials.
Marks can then be made with The straightness of an edge
reference to these straight can be checked with the use of
a steel rule.
edges. The straight edges are at right angles
to each other and are called datum
references.
Datum References
For a metal or plastics workpiece, a datum
reference is called a datum edge.
Use
a try square to check whether two
edges are at right angles to each
other. A try square has a wooden
stock and a steel blade. Use an
engineer’s square for checking
metal workpieces. An
The datum references on a engineer’s square is made
wooden workpiece are called entirely from steel. The stock
the face side and the face should always be placed
edge. Symbols
denote are
these used to
datum references and against the datum
are normally references.
marked with a
pencil.
Making Marks Use an engineer’s square and a
scriber to mark a line at right
angles to the datum edge of a
Different materials are marked using metal workpiece.
different tools.
Use a scriber to mark lines on
a metal workpiece.
Use a sharp pencil to mark
lines on a wooden workpiece.
Use a spirit-based felt pen
on bare plastics. Use a try square with a pencil to
mark a line at right angles to the
face side or edge on a wooden
workpiece.
Marking lines at 90º to an edge
A marking knife is used with a try square to cut a line across the grain of a
piece of wood where a section of the wood needs to be removed.
Marking lines parallel to an edge
Use a marking gauge to
Use a pair of odd-leg calipers mark lines parallel to the face side
to mark lines parallel to the or face edge
datum edge on a on a wooden workpiece.
metal or plastics workpiece.
A marking gauge can be set using a
Odd-leg calipers can also be used to find steel rule
the centre of a round bar.
Marking curves, arcs and circles
Use a pair of spring dividers
to mark circles or arcs on a
metal workpiece.
Alternatively, a freeform shape may
be drawn on paper, cut and pasted
Use a pencil compass to mark arcs and directly on the material surface.
circles on Punching Marks
wood or plastics workpiece.
Punch marks are made on metal
workpieces by striking a punch
Marking Freeform shapes with a ball-pein hammer.
Use a template to mark out a freeform Use a centre punch to mark the
shape. A template can be made from card. centre of a hole that is to be
Templates are also useful when a shape drilled. A centre punch has a point
needs to be marked out more than once. angle of 90º.
The sliding bevel can be used to
check the angle between two flat
surfaces of a workpiece.
Use a dot punch to punch small dots
along a scribed line on a metal workpiece.
The small dots are called witness marks.
A dot punch has a point angle of 60º.
Marking lines at an angle to an
edge.
Use a sliding bevel to mark a line at an
angle to the datum reference of a
workpiece.
Micrometers
These are used to measure with great accuracy. The commonest type is the 0 to
25mm external micrometer. It measures to an accuracy of 0.01mm
Vernier calipers
A caliper is a device used to measure the distance between two symmetrically
opposing sides. A caliper can be as simple as a compass with inward or outward-
facing points. The tips of the caliper are adjusted to fit across the points to be
measured, the caliper is then removed and the distance read by measuring
between the tips with a measuring tool, such as a ruler.
They are used in many fields such as metalworking, mechanical engineering,
gunsmithing, handloading, woodworking and woodturning.
Marking out on the surface plate
This is a much more accurate way of marking out than those already described.
Surface plate
This consists of an iron casting with a very accurate flat top and a ribbed
underframe to prevent distortion. The flat top provides a true surface from
which measurements can be taken, parallel lines can be scribed and other flat
surfaces can be tested. It is protected by a cover and light oiling when not in
use.
Surface gauge
This is used to transfer measurements from the surface plate, to scribe lines
parallel to the surface plate and to test heights. The surface gauge has a fine
adjustment screw and the spindle and scriber can be set to almost any angle.
A scribing block simply supports a scriber and has no fine adjustment.
Vee blocks
These are used to hold cylindrical work for marking out and while machining.
They are made in sets consisting ot two matched vee blocks and a clamp.
Angle Plate
This is a very accurately made 90º angle used to hold work at right angles to the
surface plate. It is machined on the ends to enable work mounted on it to be
marked both horizontally and vertically. Work with only one true face such as
machined casting can be mounted on an angle plate.
Holding tools.
Engineer’s vice
This is bolted to thebench top so that the back jaw
is just forward of the bench edge. Soft metal or
plastic vice jaw covers are used to protect work
from the diamond-pattern gripping surfaces of the
jaws when finish is more important than grip.
Folding bars
Used when folding metal in order to obtain a straight,
neat bend and are usually held in the vice for small
scale work.
Mole wrench
The mole wrench can be firmly locked onto
pieces of work to clamp them together or to
hold them while drilling, grinding or welding. It
is now often used instead of a hand vice.
Woodworker’s bench vice
The vice is fixed to the bench so that the top of
the wooden jaw facing is level with the bench top
and is used for holding work.
Bench hook
This clips over the bench or in the vice and is used to hold wood while
sawing. The bench hook helps you tohold the work steady, prevents the
wood from splitting by supporting it under the kerf and protect the bench
top.
Mitre Box
This is used to cut wood at 45º accurately. The 90º saw cut
in the centre is for squaring wood accurately. Boxes can
usually be made for cutting mitres at any angle.
Sash cramp
This is used to hold frames, carcases and butt joints
together while the glue sets and while welding large metal
frames.
G-Cramp
This is used to hold work down onto the bench and to
clamp small pieces of glued wood together. There
are several different types. The swivel shoe enables
the cramp to grip angled pieces of wood. Protect the
work with scrapwood.
Driving tools.
Hammers
Warrington Pattern Hammer
The Warrington or cross-pein hammer is used for light
nailing and general work in cabinet-making. The
crosspein is used for starting small nails held between
the fingers.
Pin hammer
This is a light weight cross-pein hammer with a long
shaft for driving small tacks, panel pins and thin
nails.
Claw-hammer
This is used for heavy nailing and for removing larger
nails.
Ball-pein hammer
Various sizes of ball-pein hammer are used for
almost all general metalwork. Smaller sizes are
used for dot and centre punching, rivetting and
bending while larger sizes are used for forging.
The ball-pein is used for shaping rivets.
Mallets
Carpenter’s mallet
This is used in woodwork for striking chisels
and when assembling jobs. The shaft and the
mortise through the head are tapered so that
the head cannot fly off. The striking faces are
sloped so that they strike the chisel squarely
when the mallet is swung from the elbow,
while standing at a bench.
Tinman’s mallet
Wooden mallets are used for shaping sheet
metal without damaging the surface. The
faces can be shaped for special jobs.
Bossing mallet
This has rounded faces of different sizes and is
used for hollowing out sheet metal
Screwdrivers
The screwdriver is a device specifically
designed to insert and
tighten, or to loosen and remove, screws. The
screwdriver comprises a head or tip which engages
with a screw, a mechanism to apply torque by
rotating the tip, and some way to position and support
the screwdriver. A typical hand screwdriver comprises
an approximately cylindrical handle of a size
and shape to be held by a human hand, and an axial
shaft fixed to the handle, the tip of which is shaped to
fit a particular type of screw.
There are many types of screw heads, of which the
most common are the slotted (Flat), Phillips,
PoziDriv/SupaDriv (crosspoint), Robertson, TORX, and
Allen (hex).
Screwdrivers come in a large variety of sizes to
match those of screws, from tiny jeweler's
screwdrivers up.
If a screwdriver that is not the right size and type for
the screw is used, it is likely that the screw will be
damaged in the process of tightening it. This is less
important for PoziDriv and SupaDriv, which are
designed specifically to be more tolerant of size
mismatch. When tightening a screw with force, it is
important to press the head hard into the screw,
again to avoid damaging the screw.
Some manual screwdrivers have a ratchet action
whereby the screwdriver blade is locked to the handle
for clockwise rotation, but uncoupled for counterclockwise rotation
when set for tightening screws; and vice versa for loosening.
Many screwdriver designs have a handle with detachable head, allowing
a set of one handle and several heads to be used for a variety of screw
sizes and types.
Drlling machines
Hand drill or wheel brace
The hand drill is used to rotate twist drills up to 8mm
diameter. The side handle can be unscrewed to allow
the drill to work close against obstructions.
Portable electric drill
These are usually chosen for their chuck size and
their number of speeds. Common chuck sizes are6,
8 and 13mm maximum drill shank diameter. The
safest portable tools are the double-insulated type.
Cordless drill
Cordless drills are continually improving, as higher
voltage batteries are becoming available, a top of
the line cordless drill is a very impressive tool,
unfortunately there are lower voltage units that
are totally inadequate. Because these drills are
used so much for driving screws many have an
adjustable clutch to regulate the depth that
screws are driven in and are now frequently
referred to as Driver-Drills. Voltage ranges from
4.8 to 24, speeds are usually around 0 - 700 or
350 - 1200 rpm, many are dual speed offering
both ranges.
Pliers
These are mainly used to grip small items. Combination pliers are also able to cut
wire.
There are many shapes and sizes and only some of the most used are shown
here.
Combination
pliers
Chain nose
pliers
Spanners
These are used to tighten or loosen nuts and bolts.
Open ended spanner Adjustable spanner Ring spanner
Cutting tools
Saws
Saws are used for making straight and cruved cuts in wood, metal and plastics.
Saws for wood
Saws for straight cuts.
Handsaws are for straight cuts in large pieces of wood
Backsaws are for accurate straight cuts in small pieces of wood. The back of the
saw limits the depth of cut.
Saws for Curves
Coping saw
Teeth usually point towards handle to cut as saw is pulled.
Saws for metal
Saws for straight cuts
Hacksaws are for straight cuts in metal. The blade is held in tension in the frame
with the teeth facing forward.
The junior hacksaw is for straight cuts on small, light work. The blade is held in
tension by the sprung steel frame.
Blade length: 150mm
Saws for plastics
Saws for straight cuts
Backsaws (tenon and dovetail).
Hacksaws with 24 and 32 teeth per 25mm blades Junior hacksaws.
Saws for curves
Coping saws
Abrafile saws
Piercing saw (for intricate work)
Snips
These are used for cutting thin sheets of metal and soft plastics.
Files
Files are used for shaping and smoothing, mainly metal and hard plastics but
also wood.
Safety: never use an engineer’s file without a handle. The tang could stab your
hand.
Rasps
These are for rough shaping of wood and other soft
materials. The common sizes are 200 and 250mm long
and the common shape is half-round.
Planes
These are used for shaping and smoothing wood and acrylic plastics.
Name Approx. Uses
length
Smoothing 250 mm For cleaning up work to remove all previous tool marks
plane and leave the surface clean and smooth.
For planing end grain.
Because it is small and light, this plane is popular for all
kinds of general planing jobs, but its short sole will not
produce a flat surface
Jack plane 350 mm For planing wood to size. The general purpose plane. Its
greater length produces a flatter surface.
Foreplane 450 mm For trueing-up large surfaces and long edges.
Jointer plane 600 mm The sole is longer for accurate long work.
Chisels
Chisels for wood
These are for cutting and shaping wood where planes cannot be used and
especially for cutting joints.
Firmer chisels: general purpose
chisels. Strong enough for cutting
with hand pressure called paring or
with light mallet blows.
Bevel-edge firmer chisel: for cutting into acute corners such as in dovetails.
Motise chisel: for heavy duty work such as cutting mortises. Made to
withstand heavy mallet blows and the levering-out of waste. The thick blade
also prevents twisting in the mortise.