A hand tool is any tool that is powered by hand rather than a motor. [1] Categories of hand tools include wrenches, pliers, cutters, files, striking tools, struck or hammered tools, screwdrivers, vises, clamps, snips, hacksaws, 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.
Hand tools have been used by humans since the Stone Age when stones were used for hammering and cutting. During the Bronze Age tools were made by casting the copper and tin alloys. Bronze tools were sharper and harder than those made of stone. During the Iron Age iron replaced bronze, and tools became even stronger and more durable. The Romans developed tools during this period which are similar to those being produced today. In the period since the industrial revolution, the manufacture of tools has transitioned from being craftsperson made to being factory produced. [2] : 2
A large collection of British hand tools dating from 1700 to 1950 is held by St Albans Museums. Most of the tools were collected by Raphael Salaman (1906–1993), who wrote two classic works on the subject: Dictionary of Woodworking Tools [3] and Dictionary of Leather-working Tools. [4] David Russell's vast collection of Western hand tools from the Stone Age to the twentieth century led to the publication of his book Antique Woodworking Tools . [5]
The American Industrial Hygiene Association gives the following categories of hand tools: [2] wrenches, pliers, cutters, striking tools, struck or hammered tools, screwdrivers, vises, clamps, snips, saws, drills and knives.
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates back hundreds of millennia, have been observed using tools to make other tools.
A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, struck with a mallet, or mechanical power. The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or of wood with a sharp edge in it.
A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood using muscle power to force the cutting blade over the wood surface. Some rotary power planers are motorized power tools used for the same types of larger tasks, but are unsuitable for fine-scale planing, where a miniature hand plane is used.
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 physically 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 grip strength 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.
A vise or vice is a mechanical apparatus used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it. Vises have two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, threaded in and out by a screw and lever.
A mitre box or miter box is a wood working appliance used to guide a hand saw for making precise cuts, usually 45° mitre cuts. Traditional mitre boxes are simple in construction and made of wood, while adjustable mitre boxes are made of metal and can be adjusted for cutting any angle from 45° to 90°.
A marking knife or striking knife is a woodworking layout tool used for accurately marking workpieces. It is used to cut a visible line, which can then be used to guide a hand saw, chisel or plane when making woodworking joints and other operations. They are generally used when marking across the grain of the wood, with scratch awls better suited for marking with the grain.
Knipex is a German manufacturer of pliers, pliers wrenches, and other tools, distributed for global sales. Its tools are principally for professional use in various trades, but they are also increasingly popular for DIY and EDC use as well.
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.
An impact driver is a tool that delivers a strong, sudden rotational force and forward thrust. The force can be delivered either by striking with a hammer in the case of manual impact drivers, or mechanically in the case of powered impact drivers.
Irwin Industrial Tools is an American manufacturer and distributor of hand tools and power tool accessories. It is owned by Stanley Black & Decker. It is best known for producing Vise-Grip locking pliers. Additionally, it produces clamps, drill bits, taps and dies, screw extractors, bolt extractors, saw blades, pipe wrenches, screwdrivers, snips, and other construction tools.
C. & E. Fein GmbH is a manufacturer of high-end power tools located near Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1867 by brothers Wilhelm Emil Fein and Carl Fein, the company invented the hand-held electric drill in 1895 and was responsible for many other innovations. Fein became famous for its grinders, electric screwdrivers, and Fein Multimaster RS, the original oscillating multitool.
A multi-tool is a hand tool 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.
Locking pliers are pliers that can be locked into position, using an "over-center" cam action. Locking pliers are available with many different jaw styles, such as needle-nose pliers, wrenches, clamps and various shapes to fix metal parts for welding. They also come in many sizes.
Edward Preston & Sons is a tool manufacturer based in Birmingham, England.
Klein Tools is an American company based in Lincolnshire, IL that manufactures hand tools. The company is known for its popularity with workers in the electrical and telecommunications industries. Lineman's pliers in the past were often called "Kleins," an example of a genericized trademark.
Apex Tool Group is an American supplier of hand tools and power tools. It was formed as a joint venture of Cooper Industries and Danaher by the merger of Cooper Tools and Danaher's Tools and Components segment. In October 2012, Danaher and Cooper sold Apex to Bain Capital for about $1.6 billion. Apex is headquartered in Sparks, Maryland, and has over 20 factories globally including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, China, and South America.
Channellock is an American company that produces hand tools. It is best known for its pliers—the company manufactures more than 140 types of pliers—particularly its eponymous style of tongue-and-groove, slip-joint pliers. Its pliers have distinctive sky-blue handle grips; the company has been using the same trademarked shade of blue since 1956.
Xcelite is a brand of hand tools geared towards the electronics service industry. It is currently owned by Apex Tool Group and markets screwdrivers, nut drivers, pliers, and various specialized electronics tools.
Raphael Arthur SalamanFSA was an English engineer, collector, and writer. His work recorded the hand tools used in Britain during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
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