Must-Have Hand Tools at Home

Hand tools are useful to have in any situation at home. Wear and tear might be getting the best of your furniture and you have to tighten a few loose nuts. You could also be looking to do some small home improvement and most of these will require bolts. Kids can also get rough and end up knocking off an important snap ring from their bike; making it unusable. To be ready to deal with such situations any time, you need the right set of hand tools at your disposal.

However, anyone that walks into a hardware store knows how vast the varying kinds of hand tools are. It is kind of like that scene in “The Matrix” where Neo asks for guns… lots of guns; instead, it’s tools… lots of tools. The point is since the hardware store has so many kinds of hand tools, it may be confusing to know the exact pliers, wrenches, and the like that you need for your home.

So, in order to help you with this problem, we here at KYK Tools have prepared a list of essential hand tools that you must have at your home. Having these at your disposal and ready for use at any time will make sure that you are prepared for any loose bolt that could be disastrous for you and your family.

Adjustable Wrench

The adjustable wrench (also known as the adjustable spanner in the UK) is basically like a regular open-ended wrench except its jaw is moveable. This hand tool is useful because it can be used with almost any size of fastener head – nut, bolt, and the like – as long as it is not too large. Choosing to buy this tool is much more practical than buying a whole set of regular wrenches that can only fit one size each. However, these wrench sets have advantages of their own which will be discussed later.

Adjustable wrenches come in many forms. There are the taper locking versions that needs its moveable jaw to be hammered into place. Others use serrated edges to lock the jaw once it has been resized. The most versatile and simplest of all forms is the screw adjusted wrench. This hand tool is easy to use and is truly safe.

Before using this, you must first understand that it requires more care than its fixed jaw counterpart. This is because a moveable jaw only has the flat surfaces on either end of the guide slot as a support. Therefore, using this at an angle will cause bending stress. So when you use an adjustable wrench, be sure to get the fastener head as close as possible to the body of this hand tool to avoid breaking it.

Wrench Sets

So while the adjustable wrench is more practical to have when you need to adjust a fastener head, a wrench with a fixed jaw is more stable because the full thickness of the tool takes the bending stress. To make up for the lack of an adjustable jaw, these come in sets and in different variations.

The variations are the best-selling point of these hand tool sets. These provide either the convenience of having two different jaw sizes or two types of wrenches per piece of a set. These variations are the following:

Open End Wrench Set

This is the regular U-shaped wrench that is emulated in the adjustable wrench. It’s also the most popular form of a wrench. When this is double-ended, the two ends are usually in different sizes.

Box Wrench Set

This has a closed jaw that grips onto the face of a bolt or nut in order to let people adjust these. What allows this jaw to grip on to a bolt is the recessed inner portion of the jaw which is in a hexagon shape. This will perfectly fit the six points of a nut or bolt. Other box wrenches have a twelve-point recess to allow it to easily fit at twice as many angles. This is advantageous in situations where swinging space is limited. Eight-point versions are also available for square bolts.

When this type of wrench is double-ended, the two ends are of the same jaw size but at different angles for easier access to any bolt.

Combination Wrench Set

A combination wrench is basically a combination of the two aforementioned wrench variations. One end is an open-end wrench while the other is a box wrench of the same jaw/bolt size.

What you will need will depend on your situation and preferences. Having the basic open-end wrench set is definitely essential for any home. But you may want to consider a combination set so that you only need to spend on one set. However, if ever you need to adjust a bolt that’s place somewhere hard to reach or with limited swing space, then you may need the box wrench set.

Basin Wrench Tool

Sometimes, this hand tool is called a sink wrench. That is because it is used by plumbers to turn and adjust fasteners in hard to reach places. A perfect example would be the threaded nuts used to connect faucets to sinks. These are usually in deeply recessed places that can only be fastened by a basin wrench.

The structure of this hand tool is a long shaft with a handle on the end and an asymmetrical jaw on the other. These jaws are joined together with a pivot pin. One side is just relaxed while the other side is spring-loaded and curved. This is what automatically grips onto the fastener. Once it grabs on to one, a user may twist the handle in the direction that allows the jaw to close. By doing this, it will then make the grip tighten. From there, the user can tighten or loosen the bolt or nut.

Aviation Snips

Aviation snips, also known as compound snips, are tools that are used to cut aluminum and sheet metal. When you buy these, either as a set or individually, they usually come in color-coded handles that represent the different types of cuts that they can make.

Since metal is an awkward material to cut, this could be a dangerous activity to make. This is why it is important to know what kind of aviation snip to use:

• Yellow Handle: These are made to cut straight lines or slight curves and they are ideal for flat pieces of metal.
• Green Handle:These are made to also cut straight lines but can cut to the right (clockwise) as well. It is recommended to use this with the right hand.
• Red Handle:This is the exact opposite of the green handle; it cuts straight and to the left and is best used with the left hand.

The types of aviation snips were made for the reason of safety. This is why it is best to purchase these in sets.

These hand tools also often come in long offset handles for one reason: to keep the hands as far away from the metal. Use these long-handled aviation snips along with leather gloves when cutting any metal.

Pliers

Pliers are hand tools made to firmly grip on to objects. These are very useful for bending and compressing – though it is not limited to just that function. With two first class levers joined at a fulcrum that is offset from the center, two long handles and a small jaw is created. This design makes the handles have the leverage to transfer a great amount of force to the small jaw when the handles are squeezed with a hand. In other words, a set of pliers amplifies the hand’s grip.

There are many types of pliers out there. These are the following:

• Combination Pliers

These are also known as lineman’s pliers or side-cutting pliers. It is called the former because this is what electricians usually use as one of their main hand tools. They prefer this tool because they can easily grab and twist cables and wires with the pliers’ snub nose and cut it with the cutting edge. It is a set of pliers and cutters rolled into one; thus, the name. Given the nature of this tool, the handles are usually insulated to avoid electrocution.

Usually, this is used to strip cables of their jackets and insulation as well as bending or straightening wires and any metal sheet.

• Diagonal Pliers/Cable Cutters

Although pliers were primarily made for the purpose of grabbing, this type of hand tool was made to solely cut wire. With its two strong steel blades on the jaw which is angled diagonally, diagonal pliers are truly a must-have tool – most especially when you need to cut cables.

Although a lot of people may believe that the action of this tool is similar to a pair of scissors, this is totally not true. Instead, they cut by wedging and indenting the wire apart.

This tool is useful for cutting brass, copper, aluminum, iron, and steel. However, you must be aware that the lower quality cutters may not be able to cut through tougher material such as tempered steel.

• Long Nose/Needle Nose Pliers

These are pliers with a long and pointed jaw. While it is still used for the purpose of grabbing and cutting wire, the long and thin jaw allows for more precise handling. This is why many artisans and jewelry designers choose to use this tool. Electricians also love this tool for reaching into narrow areas.

• Vise-Grips/Locking Pliers

Basically, these are pliers that can be locked into place by using an over-center action. One handle contains a bolt that can be twisted to adjust the jaw. On the other handle, there is a lever that pushes and locks the handles apart from each other.

• Snap Ring Pliers

These are pliers that were designed to place and remove snap rings, which are commonly found in cars and bikes. Usually, these snap rings are placed in machined grooves which make them difficult to install and take out. Having this in your tool box is ultimately useful most especially when you need to remove snap rings on your vehicle.

Just like the wrench, pliers are a type of hand tool with a number of variants. Having more in your arsenal makes you more prepared for emergencies.

C-Clamp/G-Clamp

This is a device that is ultimately designed to hold a wooden or metallic piece. Usually, this is used in carpentry or welding but isn’t limited to those fields. This hand tool is named as C-Clamp because of its “C” shape. However, many would argue that they look like a “G” especially when tightened. That is why these are also known as G-Clamps.

On the top of a clamp is a small flat edge while the bottom has a threaded hole. In this hole, a large screw is squeezed through. Similar to the top of the frame, a flat edge can be found on the inner end of this screw. The other end has a perpendicular metal bar which is used to tighten the screw. When the screw is fully tightened, its flat edge will meet the flat edge of the top side. This is mechanism is what allows the device to tightly hold on to anything. There are locking versions of this hand tool that looks and acts similar to a vise-grip.

Key Takeaway

With these hand tools, you can be prepared to tighten any loose bolt or even start doing wood and metal works at home. If you are looking to purchase a whole set of these, then look no further since KYK Tools has it.

Not only do we offer the best quality versions of these tools in the market, but we also offer these tools at affordable prices. This makes our essential tools the best you can find in the country.

In addition, we constantly research the newest technologies when it comes to tools. So, while our line of products is already vast – with a variety of tools that are available in our stores for all of your needs and concerns – we are always adding more high-tech products when they become available. Check out our list of products and see for yourself.