Show Your Tool Some Love!

14 Tools Worthy Of Our Appreciation This International Worship Of Tools Day 

March 11th marks ‘International Worship of Tools Day’! A day dedicated to appreciating the different tools in our lives; from the handy cordless drill to the video conferencing software that has been vital to many businesses during the rise of working from home.

The advancement of tools has played an integral role in human evolution, taking us from caves to smart homes. However recent research revealed that as many as one in ten of us wouldn’t know how to use even the most basic DIY tool without looking it up online. 

With this in mind leading tool and equipment hire specialists, Brandon Hire Station, have compiled a list of some of the unsung heroes of our toolboxes from the trusty screwdriver to an electric sander – because we all know a tool in our lives that is in need of a little appreciation. 

Core three:

1. The Screwdriver: Usually a manual tool designed to, as its name suggests, assist driving screws into a surface or wall. Most screwdrivers have a moulded and gripped handle to allow for comfort of use. 

Yet despite its common function, the screwdriver is often forgotten about and overlooked when it comes to more complex jobs. For example, did you know that you could use a simple flathead screwdriver to bleed your radiator?

2. The spanner: Handy for when you need to quickly re-adjust your nuts, the spanner has a uniquely shaped head designed to grip on to a fastener head (commonly a nut or bolt) and allow the user to tighten or loosen it as required. 

For particularly stubborn nuts, this tool can be (carefully) used in conjunction with a hammer. Another overlooked tool, the spanner is often forgotten about until needed. 

3. The Hammer: An easy tool to grasp, the hammer is designed to impact a small, specific area of an object, typically a nail. Although they can also be used to shape metal, crush rock or force movement of a stuck object and occasionally summon lightning. 

Common tools for the odd jobber:

4. Pliers: Pliers can come in different shapes and sizes and can be used for a multitude of different purposes, from gripping something round like a pipe or rod, to twisting wires. Some pliers are even multifunctional and can be used to do additional tasks such as cutting wire. 

5. Handsaws: A thin but wide steel blade with a serrated edge that allows the tool to cut into and through objects and materials (such as wood) though a push and pull motion; this motion allows the tool to be used by either kneeling next to, standing next to the object being sawed, or through use of a saw bench to. For full use of this tool, the object being cut into needs to be held still 
6. Mallet: Similar to the Hammer, a mallet is used to strike an object without damaging it. This can be done to remove an object, wedge an object or knock materials together. Mallet heads are usually made from metal, stone, rubber, or leather. Mallets are typically more lightweight than a standard hammer and often used more by campers than Norse gods. 
7. Crowbar:(Also known as Pry Bars), are tools comprising a metal rod that has two flattened angled ends, one horizontal and one vertical. They act as a lever allowing the user to use force to separate two objects. Often used to prise apart two pieces of wood nailed together, or open rusted/seized doors.
8. Hex Key Set: Also known as an Allen key, are simple tools used to tighten/loosen bolts and screws with hexagonal sockets in their heads. They usually come in sets of varying shapes and sizes to allow usage on a variety of different sized fastenings.
9. Socket and Ratchet Set: The definition of boys’ toys. If you own one of these you can stop messing with it! Utilising a reversible ratcheting mechanism which allows the user to pivot the tool back and forth to turn its socket instead of removing and repositioning a wrench to do so.

For making your measurements and cuts accurate these tools are an essential!

10. Magnetic I-Beam Level: An I-beam level is a specific type of spirit level, which is used to determine how parallel (straight) or perpendicular (angled) a surface is relative to the ground. This tool is handy for when putting up mirrors, shelves or pictures on your walls, and helps you keep them looking straight and smart!

11. Measuring Tape: A measuring tape is a flexible ruler used to measure size or distance commonly measured in both centimetres and inches. They are commonly made of metal strips, fabric and fibreglass and can even be used to measure other tools; but remember it’s not the size of a tool that counts it’s how you use it!

For those taking on bigger projects these more heavy-duty tools might be found in your garage or shed! 

12. Orbit Sander/Polisher: Another multifunctional handheld tool that, through the use of interchangeable pads of varying materials, can be used on surfaces to both polishing and sanding surfaces. Orbital sanders move in one direction circularly and utilise a waxed pad to polish and buffer your car. Varying grades of sandpaper pads are commonly used with these tools to create the user’s desired effect. 
13. Drill: A heavier duty tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners like screws into surfaces such as brick and wood. In recent decades the cordless battery-powered ones have seen a boom in popularity whilst the corded variety has seen a massive decrease. 

The most essential for any DIY undertaker!   

14. A Multifunction Stud Finder: This little tool is perhaps the most important tool you could own, because this handy little handheld will help you avoid a DIY disaster! This tool is designed to check and detect through dense materials such as brick and plastered walls. This tool can help identify materials such as pipes, electric wire, and other potential dangers or obstructions such as previous nails, screws. Some variations can even tell you the exact depth of the obstruction! 

Although be warned by law you have to first use it on yourself and say ‘yeah this must be working because it’s just found a massive stud’.