Your Tool Experts for Hand Tools
As a mechanic, you’ll probably feel as though you have a hand tool, of one variety or another, in your hand (obviously) pretty much all of the time.
There seems to be an endless selection of hand tools on the market today, Amazon have over 200,000 products for sale from some of the best known brands, like Stanley, Bosch and Draper.
There are tools for auto mechanics, roofers, gardeners, fencers, tilers, plasterers, carpenters, DIY enthusiasts and so much more. Tool choice is just as extensive, saws, hammers, knives, pliers, screwdrivers, sockets, spanners, wrenches and plenty of tool kits to store them all in.
Whilst it might seem quite daunting at first, reading through our tool guides will help to ensure you choose the right tool for the right job.
Hand tools come in a wide-range of options with some quite niche tools for the more unusual tasks.
Socket Sets, Ratchets & Wrenches
Socket sets consist of multiple different attachments in a range of sizes that slot on to the handle of a socket wrench. A ratchet and socket combination (a socket wrench) lets you turn a nut or bolt without repositioning the tool on the fastener – as you need to do with a wrench when there isn’t enough room to turn it in a full circle. This can make the work quicker.
Spanners & Wrenches
There are numerous types of spanners and wrenches for a range of different uses. Spanners are known as wrenches in the US, whereas the UK uses the term spanner.
Torque Wrench
Torque wrenches are tools used when a specific maximum force is crucial and where over-tightening would be damaging. They are used on fasteners such as nuts & bolts, and are similar in practice to a socket wrench, albeit with special internal mechanisms.
Screwdrivers
Whilst we are all familiar with basic types of screwdriver, such as a flat-head or phillips screwdriver, we may be less familiar with other types, which include hex screwdrivers, torq and pozidriv screwdrivers. Like with all tools, it’s important to select the right tool for the specific task in hand, avoiding damage and costly mistakes.
Laser Levels
Most of us either own or have used a spirit level at some stage but are they accurate? Laser levels on the other hand are definitely accurate, calculating the exact distance between two pints. There are a few options to choose from, including self-levelling lasers, cross line laser levels, rotational lasers and also dumpy levels.
Pliers
Pliers are available in a range of shapes and sizes, enabling them to be used for a wide-range of auto jobs. Some pliers are used for gripping an object, such as a pipe or rod, some for twisting wires and others are intended to be used for a variety of tasks, including cutting wire. Using the correct pair of pliers is essential to ensure quality work and types include, side-cutting pliers, long-nose pliers, flat-nose pliers, utility pliers and more.
Tool Chests, Cabinets & Storage Units
Busy mechanics need to find the right tool for the task in mind without delay. Auto Tool Chests, Cabinets & Store units are an important addition to any garage with DIY auto enthusiasts usually taking more pride in their tools than pro mechanics, it matters more when it’s your own. Larger tool cabinets & chests come with wheels to enable greater manoeuvrability around the garage. Some tool storage units also come with built-in workstations to improve working efficiency.