Hand tool
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.
History
[edit | edit source]Hand tools have been used by humans since the Stone Age, when stone tools were used for hammering and cutting. During the Bronze Age, tools were made by casting alloys of copper and tin. 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. After the Industrial Revolution, most tools were made in factories rather than by craftspeople.[2]: 2
A large collection of British hand tools dating from 1700 to 1950 is held by St Albans Museum. 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]
General categories
[edit | edit source]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.
See also
[edit | edit source]
- Antique tool
- Category:Hand tools
- Cutting tool
- Garden tool
- List of hand tools
- List of timber framing tools
- List of tool-lending libraries
- Manual labour
- Surgical instrument
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Salaman, R. A. (1997 edition revised by Philip Walker; first published in 1975 by George Allen & Unwin [Publishers] Ltd). Dictionary of Woodworking Tools, c. 1700–1970 Mendham, NJ: Astragal Press Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ Salaman, R. A. (1996). Dictionary of Leather-working Tools, c.1700–1950, and the Tools of Allied Trades Mendham, NJ: Astragal Press Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ Russell, David R., with Robert Lesage and photographs by James Austin, cataloguing assisted by Peter Hackett (2010). Antique Woodworking Tools: Their Craftsmanship from the Earliest Times to the Twentieth Century Cambridge: John Adamson Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). OCLC 727125586.
Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).