HomeAbout us

(Categories of) Tools 1

View pictures and read text to learn the English names for these tools: hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, nippers, shears & snips, punches, vises, clamps, wrenches and hacksaws.
Please login first to read the full article.

(Categories of) Tools 1

View pictures and read text to learn the English names for these tools: hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, nippers, shears & snips, punches, vises, clamps, wrenches and hacksaws.

Hammers

  • The hammer is a striking tool, it has  a weighted head and a handle used to hold the hammer and direct its course.
  • Parts of a hammer: head, face, handle, eye (hole for the handle)

Some different types of hammers

  • Ball-peen hammer, sometimes also called the machinist's hammer: flat portion of the head is called the face, and the other end is known as the peen. Ball-peen hammers are classed according to the weight of the head without the handle.
  • Straight-peen hammer
  • Cross-peen hammer
  • Claw hammer
  • Soft hammers have heads made of soft material, such as lead, copper, babbitt, rawhide, wood, plastic, etc.. Soft hammers are generally used where a steel hammer might mar or injure the work.
  • Sledge hammer or just ‘sledge’. Sledges, or sledge hammers, are used for heavy work. They can be single-face and double-face and vary in weight. The handles can vary in length.

Screwdrivers

  • A hand tool or power tool which engages with the head of a screw and allows torque to be applied to turn the screw, thus driving it in or loosening it.

Some different types of screwdrivers

  • Flat-blade screwdriver for screws with the the traditional, straight-line slotted crew
  • Phillips head screwdriver for screws with the X- or plus-shaped reces
  • Pozidriv. After Phillips’s patent expired, GKN Screws and Fasteners created Pozidriv, also known as Pozidrive. Basically, it is an improved version of Phillips drive.
  • Hex or Allen screwdriver, has a tip that is recognizable as the shape of a hexagon, with six straight sides and is used to fasten or unfasten hexagon head cap screws, also called hex bolts or hex head cap screws
  • Star or Torx screwdriver for the so-called Torx screws.

There are many other types of screws and devices to work with them. Not only screwdrivers are used for certain screws, often 'keys' are used to fasten (or loosen) screws.

  • Straigh-line slotted screw head
  • Phillips screw head
  • Square bit or Robertson screw head, also known as screw with a square or Scrulox drive
  • Allen or hex screw head
  • Torx or star screw head
  • Allen security head
  • Schrader screw head
  • Tri-wing screw head
  • Torx security screw head
  • Clutch screw head, probably the first type of security screw ever developed for commercial use. They are designed to prevent items secured with them from being easily removed or opened. Low cost and you don't need special screwdrivers to install them.
  • Spanner screw head

On board a ship this is also a type of screwdriver you will often (or maybe always) find:

  • Insulated or safety screwdriver. This type of screwdriver is constructed of non-conductive materials such as rubber.

Pliers

Some different types of pliers

  • Combination pliers
  • Round-nosed and halfround-nosed pliers
  • Side cutters
  • Diagonal-cutting pliers

Nippers

  • Nippers resemble pliers, but are used only for cutting, not for holding.
  • Two types of pliers are depicted in the illustration below:

  • For light work on soft metals nippers shown at A, Fig. 9, would be used. They must not be overstrained, however, as their thin cutting edges are easily nicked and dented. For heavier work, the nippers shown at B are used. This type has replaceable blades, a strong joint, and a short fulcrum that provides plenty of leverage.

Shears & snips

  • Hand shears, or snips, are used for cutting sheet metal of various kinds and thicknesses.

Some different types of snips (hand shears)

 

  • Straight snips
  • Circular snips
  • Trojan snips, also known as combination snips

Punches

  • Center punch
  • Prick punch
  • Starting punch
  • Pin punch
  • Aligning punch

Vises

  • The machinist's vise is a heavy-duty holding tool with parallel jaws and either a fixed or swivel base. It should be used only for holding material when hacksawing, filing, drilling, tapping, reaming, etc. It should not be used as an anvil. The utility vise is satisfactory for general work and is designed for a variety of uses.

  • Machinist's vise
  • Utility vise

Clamps

  • Hold pieces of material together while they are being worked on

  • Carriage or C-clamp
  • Toolmaker’s clamp
  • Hand screw clamp

Wrenches

  • Open-end wrench(es)

???????

  • Adjustable Wrench(es)

???????

  • Monkey wrench(es)

  • Socket wrench(es)

Hacksaws

  • A hacksaw is a type of hand tool designed specifically for cutting through materials such as plastic, steel, and other metals.

(Categories of) Tools 1

Need support?

About us

Spot On Learning helps international organisations with international crews and teams learn faster.

About us
Spot On Learning bv © 2025. All rights reserved.
2
0