The entries
Tools
87 tools documented so far. Filter by the trade that relies on them or by what they do to the material.
Trade
Action
87 tools
- Adjustable wrenchA wrench with one fixed jaw and one jaw moved by a screw, so that a single tool fits nuts and bolt heads across a range of sizes. The common modern form sets its jaws at an angle to the handle and moves the jaw with a worm engaging a rack.Drive and fasten
1809 (documentary) - AdzeA woodworking tool with a blade set across the line of its handle, swung toward the user to take thin chips from timber and to dress surfaces an axe cannot reach. It is among the oldest woodworking tools and has been made in stone, copper, bronze and iron.Shape and abrade
c. 5400–4900 BC (securely documented stone adzes); earlier use not sourced here - Air compressorA machine that draws in atmospheric air and delivers it at higher pressure, usually into a tank, to run pneumatic tools such as nail guns and impact wrenches. The portable tank compressor made the pneumatic job-site tool practical.Drive and fasten
about 120 BCE (inferred) for a compressing air pump, per Hiscox - Angle grinderA hand-held power tool whose motor drives a spindle at a right angle to the body, carrying an abrasive or cutting disc, a wire brush or a sanding pad. It is used to grind, cut, clean and polish metal, masonry and other materials.Shape and abrade
1954 (high-speed angle grinder, per the manufacturer); 1922 (flexible-shaft hand-held grinder) - BacksawA fine-toothed hand saw whose thin blade is stiffened along its upper edge by a rigid metal back, used for accurate cuts in joinery. The back keeps the blade from bending and also limits the depth of cut.Cut
1703 (earliest document read); c. 1750–1770 (earliest object read) - Ball-peen hammerA metalworker’s hammer with a round, slightly crowned face on one end and a rounded, ball-shaped peen on the other, used to strike punches and chisels, to set rivets and to shape and straighten unhardened metal.Strike
1869 - Band sawA saw whose blade is a long, narrow steel band joined into a loop and run over two or more wheels, so that the teeth cut continuously in one direction. It exists in sizes from the log band mill to the hand-held metal-cutting saw.Cut
1808 - Bench grinderAn electric motor mounted on a bench or pedestal with an abrasive wheel on each end of its shaft, used to sharpen tools and to shape and clean metal held against the wheel by hand. Regulations call this use offhand grinding.Shape and abrade
ninth century (earliest known illustration of a crank-operated grinding wheel) - Bench planeA hand tool that holds a sharpened iron at a fixed angle in a flat-soled body, so that pushing it along a board takes off a shaving of controlled thickness. Bench planes are the general-purpose planes used to flatten, straighten and smooth wood, graded by length from the smoothing plane to the jointer.Shape and abrade
Roman period - Bench viseA fixed holder with one stationary and one screw-driven movable jaw, mounted to a bench or post, that grips work firmly so that both hands are free to file, cut, drill or hammer it.Grip and clamp
1588 - Block planeA short hand plane, about six inches long, made to be held in one hand and used across the grain, particularly on the ends of boards. Its iron is bedded with the bevel facing up at a low angle, with no cap iron.Shape and abrade
1870 (earliest dated catalog listing found) - Brace and bitA hand-cranked boring tool in two parts: a cranked holder, the brace, and a replaceable cutter, the bit. The crank gives leverage and a swept turning circle, and the head lets the user lean body weight along the axis.Bore and drill
ca. 1427–32 - Brad awlA short steel blade with a flat, chisel-edged point set in a handle, pushed and turned into wood to open a small hole for a brad, nail or screw. It parts the wood fibers and removes no material.Bore and drill
1758–1819 - C-clampA C-shaped frame with a fixed jaw at one end and a screw with a swivel pad at the other, tightened by hand to hold work against a fixed surface or to press two pieces together.Grip and clamp
1874 - ChainsawA hand-held saw whose cutting teeth are links in a chain driven around a flat guide bar by a gasoline engine, an electric motor or a battery. It fells trees and cuts logs and timber, and it is used for storm cleanup and land clearing.Cut
by 1790 (surgical chain saw); 1905 (patented timber chain saw) - Chalk lineA cord coated with powdered chalk, kept in a case or on a reel, that is stretched taut between two points and snapped against a surface to leave a straight line. It marks lines longer than a rule or a square can reach.Measure and mark
- Circular sawA hand-held power saw in which a toothed steel disk, turned by an electric motor, projects through a flat shoe that rests on the work. The operator carries the whole machine along the line of cut.Cut
5 August 1777 (blade); 1 June 1920 (portable electric rotary cutter) - Clamp meterA meter with a hinged jaw that opens, closes around a single conductor and reads the current in it from the magnetic field it produces. The circuit is not opened.Test and diagnose
c. 1930 - Claw hammerA hammer with a striking face at one end of the head and a split, curved claw at the other, used to drive nails and to draw them out by leverage. It is the general carpenter’s hammer.Strike
Roman period - Combination squareA graduated steel blade that slides in a grooved head and can be locked at any point, the head having a face at 90 degrees and a face at 45 degrees to the blade. The head commonly carries a scriber and a spirit level, and other heads fit the same blade.Measure and mark
6 May 1879 (application filed 26 February 1879) - Combination wrenchA fixed-size wrench with an open-end head at one end and a box (ring) head of the same size at the other. It is the standard single-size hand wrench for hexagonal nuts and bolt heads, in sets by fastener size.Drive and fasten
25 April 1933 (documentary, for the combination form) - Concrete sawA power saw whose blade is a disk of abrasive or a steel disk edged with diamond particles, used to cut concrete, masonry, stone and asphalt. It exists as a hand-held cut-off saw and as walk-behind and drivable saws for slabs and pavement.Cut
reign of Khufu (Old Kingdom Egypt), per Petrie - Coping sawA hand saw with a very thin, narrow blade held in tension across a deep springy metal frame. The blade can be turned in the frame to cut curves and the profiles of moldings.Cut
17th to 18th century (marquetry frame saws); coping saw by name 1880s - Corded drillA hand-held rotary tool that takes its power from a mains cord and turns a drill bit or driver bit held in a chuck. A patent of 1917 describes its pistol grip and trigger, and its motor has been fed from the wall socket since the earliest electric drills of the 1880s and 1890s.Bore and drill
1889 (patent, 20 August 1889, as reported); portable hand-held drill 1895 - Cordless drill-driverA hand-held rotary tool powered by a rechargeable battery that holds a drill bit or driver bit in a chuck and turns it, with an adjustable clutch that lets the same tool bore holes and drive screws. Its pistol-grip form dates from a 1917 patent and its battery power from the 1960s.Bore and drill
1914 (patent application filed 4 December 1914; granted 6 November 1917) - Dead blow hammerA hammer whose head contains a cavity of loose shot or pellets, so that the head stays on the work after the blow instead of rebounding. Soft-faced versions strike without marring.Strike
1944 - Dial indicatorA comparison instrument in which the small movement of a contact point is multiplied through a gear or lever train and shown by a pointer on a dial. It reads how far a surface departs from a set zero, and is used to check runout, flatness, height and alignment.Measure and mark
15 May 1883 (application); 21 August 1883 (issue) - Drill pressA power-driven drilling machine in which a rotating spindle and chuck are mounted on a column above a work table, so that the drill is fed straight down to the work by a lever or hand wheel. It holds the drill square to the table and at a controlled speed and feed.Bore and drill
c.2500 BCE (bow drill, the ancestor of the powered drill) - Drywall sawA short, stiff hand saw with a pointed blade and coarse teeth for cutting gypsum board, especially for openings cut out of the middle of a panel. The point lets the user start a cut without a drilled hole.Cut
by 1995 (documentary); the earliest drywall saw itself has not been located - Feeler gaugeA set of thin steel blades, each ground to a marked thickness, that is slid into a narrow gap to find out whether the gap is wider or narrower than the blade. It checks small clearances such as valve tappets, spark gaps, ignition points and bearing and gear clearances.Measure and mark
about 1902 (earliest catalog evidence located) - FileA hardened steel bar with rows of fine cutting teeth across its faces, drawn or pushed over metal, wood or other material to remove it in small amounts. Files are described by length, by cross-section and by the cut and coarseness of the teeth.Shape and abrade
c. 1500 BC (bronze file from Crete, as dated by Disston); iron and bronze files from the Hallstatt period - Folding ruleA graduated rule made of several hinged sections that fold together for carrying and open into a straight line for measuring. Hinged rules survive from the Roman period; the modern spring-jointed form that locks rigid when open is a German design adopted by Stanley in 1898.Measure and mark
Roman period (the records do not give a closer date) - Framing hammerA claw hammer with a heavier head, a longer handle, a milled face and usually a straight claw, made for driving large nails in structural carpentry. It is a recent specialization of the general carpenter’s hammer.Strike
1960s - Framing squareA flat L of steel (now also aluminum), commonly with a 24-inch blade and a 16-inch tongue, graduated on both faces and stamped with tables for rafters, braces and board measure. It is the framer’s tool for marking right angles and laying out roof cuts.Measure and mark
ca. 1981–1975 B.C. - HacksawA fine-toothed saw for cutting metal, in which a narrow blade is strained between the ends of a frame. The teeth point away from the handle and the saw cuts on the push stroke.Cut
1770 (English catalogs, as reported in 1916) - Hammer drillA corded or cordless drill with a selector that adds a rapid axial hammering to the rotation of the bit, so that a carbide-tipped bit can bore masonry and concrete. In the common mechanical form two toothed or cam discs ride over each other as the spindle turns.Bore and drill
1932 (Bosch’s account of the first hammer drill); earlier percussion drills with toothed discs are described in a patent of 1957 - HandsawA one-handed saw with a wide, open steel blade and no frame or back, used to cut wood along or across the grain. The Western form cuts on the push stroke.Cut
beginning of the First Dynasty (Egypt) - Hex keyA bar of hexagonal section, usually bent into an L, that fits the hexagonal socket in the head of a screw and turns it. It exists because of one fastener, the hollow-head set screw, and takes its common name from the first company that sold the pair.Drive and fasten
7 June 1910 (documentary, patent issued) - Impact driverA compact power driver, usually cordless, that holds a hex-shank driver bit and adds rapid rotary blows to its turning once a screw or bolt meets resistance, so that it can drive long fasteners with little twisting force on the user’s wrist.Drive and fasten
30 January 1932 (Pott’s application for the impact tool mechanism) - Impact wrenchA power wrench that turns a nut or bolt with a rapid series of rotary blows from an internal hammer striking an anvil, which lets it tighten and loosen large fasteners with little reaction felt in the operator’s hands. The mechanism was patented by Robert H. Pott in the 1930s and made commercial by Ingersoll-Rand.Drive and fasten
30 January 1932 (Pott application filed); patent granted 27 August 1935 - Japanese pull sawA hand saw with a thin blade on a long straight handle that cuts on the pull stroke. The blade works in tension, which lets it be thinner than a push saw blade.Cut
ancient period (the study covers the 7th to 16th centuries) - JigsawA portable power saw with a narrow blade clamped at one end that moves up and down through a flat footplate. It follows curves and cuts openings in sheet material.Cut
1872 (stationary jig saw in a catalog); 1947 (portable jigsaw in production) - Laser cutterA computer-controlled machine that cuts sheet material by focusing a laser beam to a small spot, usually with a stream of gas coaxial with the beam. The beam melts, burns or vaporizes a narrow path, and the gas clears the products of the cut.Cut
May 1967 - LatheA machine that rotates a workpiece about a horizontal axis while a cutting tool, held in a carriage that moves along and across the work, removes material to make a surface of revolution. The metal-cutting form with a lead screw and a slide rest is the machine on which most other machine tools were first built.Shape and abrade
c.730–690 BCE (oldest certain turned object); third century BCE (earliest representation of a lathe) - Lineman’s pliersHeavy fixed-pivot pliers with flat serrated jaws for gripping and twisting wire, and cutting knives set just above the pivot, where the handles give the most force. They take their name from the telegraph and telephone linemen for whom they were first made.Grip and clamp
1857 (company account) - Locking pliersPliers with a screw in one handle to set the jaw opening and a toggle linkage that locks the jaws closed on the work, so that the grip stays on without the hand. They serve as a small clamp, a portable vise or a wrench.Grip and clamp
1921 - MalletA hammer with a large head of wood, rawhide, lead or rubber, used to strike chisels and wooden parts and to move metal work without marring it. It is the oldest striking tool in this archive for which dated examples survive.Strike
Fifth Dynasty, about 2500–2350 BCE - MicrometerA C-shaped frame with a fixed anvil and a spindle that is advanced by a precision screw, read from graduations on a fixed sleeve and a rotating thimble. A typical inch instrument reads to a thousandth of an inch directly and a vernier on the sleeve extends it to a ten-thousandth.Measure and mark
about 1639 (screw micrometer, England); 7 September 1848 (hand-held micrometer caliper patent, France) - MIG welderA welding power source with a motor-driven feeder that pushes a continuous wire electrode through a hand-held gun while shielding gas flows around the arc. The wire carries the current, melts into the joint as filler and is replaced as fast as it is used.Join
1948 - Milling machineA machine that removes metal with a rotating multi-tooth cutter while the workpiece is fed against it on a table that moves in three directions. It cuts flat, slotted, spiral and angled work, with the work reset as little as possible between cuts.Shape and abrade
before 1782 (earliest surviving milling cutter); 1772 (earliest published illustration of a light milling machine, per Roe) - Miter sawA motor-driven circular saw carried on an arm above a turntable and fence. The operator pulls the blade down through the work to make crosscuts at preset angles.Cut
1964 (design begun); introduced after about three years of development - MultimeterA hand-held instrument that measures voltage, current and resistance with one set of leads and a selector switch. It replaced the separate voltmeter, ammeter and ohmmeter that a technician once carried.Test and diagnose
1920s (first AVOmeter; sources give 1920 and 1923, see disputed) - Nail gunA power tool that drives nails from a magazine with a piston, usually powered by compressed air from a hose and compressor, or by a combustion chamber or a battery. It replaced the hammer for most production nailing in framing, sheathing and roofing after the 1950s.Drive and fasten
1944 (first pneumatic nailer, as reported); 1907 for a hand-held bulk-feed nailer fired by a mallet - Needle-nose pliersFixed-pivot pliers whose jaws taper to fine points, for holding, placing and bending small parts and wire in places the fingers cannot reach. Many carry a side cutter near the throat.Grip and clamp
1703 - Non-contact voltage testerA pen-sized battery-powered detector that lights or sounds when its tip is held near an energized alternating-current conductor, without touching the metal. It is a screening tool and its makers state that it cannot prove a circuit is dead.Test and diagnose
filed 13 November 1972 (division of an application of 3 May 1968) - Oscillating multi-toolA hand-held power tool whose accessory swings through a very small arc many thousands of times a minute. With a saw blade, sanding pad, scraper or grout blade it cuts, sands and scrapes in corners and tight places and makes flush and plunge cuts.Cut
1945 (application filed 2 April 1945; patent issued 16 September 1947) - Oxy-acetylene welding rigA pair of gas cylinders with pressure regulators, two hoses and a hand-held torch that mixes oxygen and acetylene and burns them at a small tip to melt metal at the joint. A rod of filler metal is melted into the pool by hand.Join
1901–1903 (see disputed) - PickaxeA heavy forged head on a long wooden handle, with a pointed tip at one end or both, swung to break hard ground, rock and old paving into pieces that a shovel can then remove.Dig and break
3000–1900 BCE (Science Museum Group); mining at Grime’s Graves from about 2600 BC (English Heritage) - Pipe wrenchA wrench with serrated jaws that bite into round pipe, one jaw fixed and one jaw held loosely so that pressure on the handle draws the jaws together. It turns threaded pipe and fittings, which a flat-faced nut wrench cannot grip.Drive and fasten
1858 (documentary) - Plasma cutterAn electric power source, a gas supply and a torch that passes an arc through a small nozzle so that a narrow jet of ionized gas melts a conductive metal and blows it out of the cut. Hand-held machines usually run on compressed air.Cut
1955 (application); 1957 (patent) - Plumb bobA weight, pointed at its lower end, hung from a cord so that gravity draws the cord into the vertical. It transfers a point directly above or below another and checks that posts and walls stand upright.Measure and mark
ca. 1850–1700 B.C. - RaspA hardened steel bar whose face is covered with separate, individually raised teeth, used to remove wood, horn, hoof or stone in coarse or fine amounts by rubbing. It differs from a file in that its teeth are points rather than continuous ridges.Shape and abrade
c. 1200–1000 BC (as dated by Disston); seventh century BC for iron rasps - Reciprocating sawA hand-held power saw whose narrow blade moves straight back and forth from the nose of the tool. It cuts wood, metal, plastic and the nails and pipes inside a wall, and it is used mostly for demolition, rough cutting and cuts in places other saws cannot reach.Cut
1944 (application filed 21 August 1944; patent issued 3 May 1949) - Rotary hammerAn electric hammer in which a piston driven by the motor strikes the bit through an air cushion while the bit also turns. Because the blow comes from a striker and not from toothed discs, it can bore larger holes in concrete and, in many models, be set to chisel without rotation. Bits and chisels are held in a slotted quick-change socket of the SDS type.Bore and drill
1932 (Bosch’s account of its first electric hammer); 1967 (Hilti’s account of the first electro-pneumatic hammer drill) - RouterA hand-held or table-mounted electric motor that spins a cutting bit at high speed to cut grooves, edge profiles and recesses in wood and similar materials. It is guided by hand against a fence, a template or a bearing on the bit.Shape and abrade
filed 23 July 1906; patented 28 January 1908 - ScrewdriverA shaft with a handle at one end and a tip at the other, shaped to fit the drive recess of a screw, used to turn the screw by hand. It is the only common hand tool that exists to serve a single fastener.Drive and fasten
late fifteenth century - Sharpening stoneA block of natural or manufactured abrasive that a steel edge is rubbed against to remove metal and form a sharper edge. It is graded by the coarseness of its abrasive and is used with water or oil.Shape and abrade
early 8th century AD (earliest documented large-scale production found) - ShovelA broad blade on a long handle, pushed into loose material with the foot or hands, lifted and thrown. It moves earth, gravel, sand, coal, grain and snow, and in North America the word also covers the spade.Dig and break
1888–1677 cal BC - SledgehammerA heavy hammer with a long handle, swung with both hands, used to drive stakes and wedges, to strike other tools and to break masonry. The word is among the oldest English names for a hammer.Strike
Old English period - Slip-joint pliersPliers whose pivot can be shifted between two positions so that the same jaws close on small work or open wider on large work. The common form adds a pipe grip behind the flat jaw tips and often a wire cutter.Grip and clamp
300 BCE–100 CE - Socket wrench and ratchetA hollow socket that encloses a nut or bolt head, driven through a square drive by a separate handle, most often a ratchet that turns the fastener on the working stroke and slips on the return. The sockets and handles are interchangeable across fastener sizes.Drive and fasten
16 June 1863 (documentary) - Soldering ironA hand tool with a heated metal tip that melts solder and warms the parts to be joined, so that the solder wets the surfaces and bonds them on cooling. Early irons were heated in a fire or by a lamp, and later ones electrically.Join
c. 2600–2500 BCE (soldering of gold; the tool is not documented) - SpadeA flat-bladed digging tool with a straight cutting edge, driven into the ground by foot pressure and used to cut and lift earth, slice sod and square the sides of holes and trenches.Dig and break
Middle Bronze Age, about 3,500 to 3,400 years before 2024 - Speed squareA right-isosceles triangle of aluminum with a raised fence along one short side and scales for degrees and for rafter pitch along the others, used to lay out square, miter and rafter cuts and to guide a saw. Swanson says Albert J. Swanson, a Chicago carpenter, invented it in 1925.Measure and mark
1925 - Spirit levelA straight stock carrying one or more sealed glass or plastic vials, each nearly filled with liquid so that a bubble rests at the center of the vial when the stock is level or plumb. It replaced the plumb-line level as the builder’s standard check of horizontal and vertical.Measure and mark
before 1661 - Steel ruleA thin, flat, rigid or semi-flexible bar of steel with graduations cut or etched along its edges, used to measure short lengths and to set calipers and dividers. Brown & Sharpe says it began making steel rules in 1850.Measure and mark
1850 (Brown & Sharpe’s own account) - Stick welderAn electric power source, cables and an insulated electrode holder that carry current to a short, flux-covered metal rod. The arc struck between the rod and the work melts both, and the rod’s covering shields the molten metal as the rod is consumed.Join
1881 - Table sawA circular saw fixed beneath a flat table, with the blade projecting through a slot. The operator pushes the work past the blade along a rip fence or a miter gauge.Cut
5 August 1777 (earliest circular-saw patent); saw benches documented 1872–1873 - Tape measureA graduated ribbon of steel (earlier linen or other fabric) coiled into a case, drawn out to measure and wound back by a spring or by hand. The pocket version with a curved steel blade and a lock is the standard length measure of the building trades.Measure and mark
1833 - TIG welderA welding power source and hand-held torch in which an arc runs from a non-consumable tungsten electrode to the work inside a stream of inert gas, usually argon. The welder adds filler metal by hand from a separate rod and modulates the current with a foot pedal or a control on the torch.Join
4 January 1941 (application date of the first patent read for the tungsten-and-helium torch) - Torque wrenchA wrench that measures the turning force applied to a fastener and either indicates it or signals when a set value is reached. It replaces the operator’s feel with a reading, so that every fastener in a joint carries the same tension.Drive and fasten
18 May 1931 (documentary, filing) - Twist drill bitA cylindrical steel cutter with two spiral grooves along its length and a conical point, turned in a drill to cut a round hole. The spiral grooves form the cutting edges and carry the chips out of the hole.Bore and drill
before 1863 - Utility knifeA knife with a thin replaceable blade held in a handle, used to score, trim and cut sheet materials such as board, paper, carpet, roofing and insulation. The blade is changed when dull and in some designs is snapped off in segments.Cut
1 October 1940 (earliest dated primary source located) - Vernier caliperA graduated beam with a fixed jaw and a sliding jaw that carries a short second scale, the vernier, which lets the user read between the divisions of the beam. One instrument measures outside dimensions, inside dimensions and, with a depth rod, depths.Measure and mark
1631 (the vernier scale described); about 1830 (earliest dated vernier caliper in the collection sources read here) - Wire stripperA hand tool that cuts through the insulation of a wire without cutting the conductor and pulls the severed insulation off the end. Most have blades with a series of sized holes or notches that match wire gauges.Cut
5 June 1894 (earliest patent located) - Wood chiselA steel blade sharpened on its end to a single beveled edge and fixed in a handle, pushed by hand or struck with a mallet to cut, pare and chop wood, especially in joinery.Cut
prehistoric Egypt (Naqada period) - Worm-drive sawA portable circular saw whose motor sits behind the blade in line with it and turns the arbor through a worm gear running in an oil-filled housing. It is heavier than a direct-drive saw and keeps its blade at the left of the motor.Cut
1 June 1920