Hand Tool Guide

A framing hammer, some call it a claw hammer or a rip hammer. This is the tool you will end up using for most home improvement projects. It can drive nails, pull nails, but also does so so much more. It can tear down walls, it can be used to smash out old tile, just about anything you can imagine.

A masonry hammer is useful when working with old brick. It can be used to smash out old damage bricks, or to chip out old masonry before you patch it.

I have even used the pointed edge to gouge out old grout in a bathroom renovation.

A ball peen hammer is kind of a specialized hammer, you won’t use it often but when you need it, you will be thankful you had it in your tool box.

You can use a ball peen hammer to shape metal. I often find myself using this tool when I need to install ductwork and have to go around wires.

A sledge hammer, sometime called a driving maul. This tool is very useful to break up anything you want, it can crush just about anything you swing it at. This tool is helpful in home improvement projects that call for driving anchors into concrete.

A rubber mallet is a helpful tool when you need to tap an item into place that can’t have any marks.

Mallets can e full rubber, a hammer with rubber top covers, plastic filled with sand, or even made of wood.

A crosscut saw, commonly referred to this as a hand saw. This is your most standard handsaw, and will find yourself using this the most. It comes in a fine tooth or a broad tooth design, with a fine tooth being used for a fine detailed style cut and a broad tooth design is used for some serious cutting.

A keyhole saw is the tool you need if you are doing a drywall patch. It has a pointed tip that can be punched into the drywall, then used to cut out the damaged area.

Also good for doing detail cuts when doing jobs like installing cabinets or anything requiring precision like that.

The hacksaw is what you will need when you need to cut piping, like for plumbing lines or conduit. Don’t even think about a job like that without this tool in your arsenal.

A coping saw is for when you need a true detail cut. You drill a small hole in whatever you want to cut, then insert the blade through the drill hole, and reconnect it to the saw frame. It allows for great detail cuts and curved style cuts.

Commonly called a miter saw, or a buck saw, can be partnered with a miter box to make angled cuts.

You can put things like molding into the miter box, then make a detailed cut at many different angles, to allow you to match pieces perfectly when going around corners.

A miter saw offers a fine cut, when used with care it will leave smooth edges.

An open end wrench has a U-shaped opening that grips two opposite faces of the bolt or nut. The wrench is often double-ended with a different size opening at each end. The ends typically vary by one size increment, e.g., 1/2″ and 9/16″.

The ends of an open-end wrench are usually angled about 15 degrees to the axis of the handle. This allows the tool to be flipped over, providing a greater range of movement in tight spaces.

Because open-end wrenches only grip the fitting on two sides, there is a greater likelihood of rounding the fitting if the wrench slips. To minimize the chances of this occurrence, use a wrench that fits exactly and make sure it fully engages the fitting. One advantage of an open-end wrench relative to a box wrench is that it allows sliding the wrench into position from the side of the nut or bolt.

A box wrench, also known as a box-end wrench, has an enclosed head that grips all faces of the bolt or nut. This feature provides more leverage and less likelihood of slippage compared to an open-end wrench.

Box wrenches are available with 6-point or 12-point heads for use with nuts or bolt heads with a hexagonal shape.

Box wrenches can come in classic fitted format, or in a ratcheting style end, which works like a socket wrench in only applying for in the direction needed.

These wrenches are used for loosening and tightening fasteners such as nuts and bolts. They come either separately, open & boxed, or in a combination wrench form, with one end being an open wrench, while the other is boxed.

This sort of setup allows you to use the end best suited for the job, but since both ends are the same size, it requires more wrenches to cover the same size range vs dedicated open or boxed wrenches.

Like box wrenches, the closed end on a combination wrench can be ratcheting, which allows for greater flexibility.

If you are working with any type of fitting that is in-line – such as a brake line, fuel line, or any type of cable – a line wrench can be a life saver. Standard open end wrenches may not grip the hex well enough, which can lead to stripping – a real pain in the neck!

To use a line wrench, just slip the open part of the wrench over the line, then slide it onto the hex part of the fitting.
An open-ended wrench may grip the nut, but often the line joint is located in tight places where the wrench does not swing far enough to allow a second placement with the nut in its new position.

Most common in auto repair applications.

A torque wrench is a tool used to tighten nuts and bolts to a predetermined torque value. This instrument allows fasteners to be tightened to the proper tension, helping avoid damage from over tightening or joints coming apart from under tightening. This means applying the correct torque measure is important for safety, assembly and performance of equipment.

Torque wrenches are primarily used in automotive and industrial maintenance applications, but have some use around the home.

An adjustable wrench is a wrench that can be adjusted to different settings, usually for size, to fit a variety of nuts. The adjustable wrench is often considered one of the most versatile of tools. While ordinary open, boxed, or combination wrenches can often only be used on a particular size of nut, these wrenches can fit a much wider variety of sizes.

The wrench works by turning a screw usually located at the bottom of the head. In most cases, this screw can easily be turned by hand.

One of the drawbacks to the wrench is the fact that its larger head size, when compared to standard wrenches, means it may be harder to fit in tight spaces. To help remedy this situation, there are sizes of adjustable wrenches as well. These help with the ability to get in and turn around in those tight spaces.

Ratchet is the informal word used to refer to a ratcheting socket wrench. It consists of a handle and a socket. The handle is the wrench. On the ratchet handle is a mechanism that allows the ratchet to engage and reverse the direction of the ratchet to loosen or tighten fasteners like nuts and bolts.

Sockets are tools that attach to a ratchet, torque, or socket wrench. It’s used mostly for loosening and tightening fasteners such as nuts and bolts. The socket is placed on the square extension or driver of the ratchet. Once it’s secured to the ratchet the user can loosen or tighten a bolt or nut while the socket remains in place by just turning the handle of the ratchet.

A monkey wrench is a type of size-adjustable hand wrench that was used heavily during the 19th century. Since then, this wrench style has lost ground to the more compact adjustable wrench.

The design of a monkey wrench was very simple. A solid metal piece makes up the handle, slide and top jaw of the wrench. A screw sits on the front of the device and is partially screwed into the lower jaw. The lower jaw slides up and down the slide portion of the handle when the screw rotates. This design allows the user to adjust the size of the jaws, which open at a right angle to the handle, by rotating the screw with his thumb.