Identifying Basic Hand tools and Test Equipment

OBJECTIVES

 Identify different basic electronics and electrical tools and equipment.

 State the uses and proper procedure in using of hand tools and test equipment.
 Give and apply the safety measures in using tools including the care and maintenance.

THEORIES/PRINCIPLES

Electronics and electrical work require the use of a variety of hand tools and equipment. Some
of these tools are common and are used in many tasks. Others are tools which are specially designed for
use in splicing conductors, smoothening edges, boring, soldering, desoldering, cutting, etc.

Most electronics/electrical products and devices could not effectively service without the aid of
test equipment. The use of test equipment helps the service technician speed and accuracy in
troubleshooting and isolating problems.

General Classification:

a. Hand tools – are tools manipulated and operated our hands without the use of electric energy.
b. Machine tools or power tools – are tools which are operated and manipulated by our hands with the
use of electric energy.

Hand Tools and their Uses

Screwdrivers- are made from steel hardened and tempered at the tip. They come in various sizes
and shapes which are used to turn or drive screws with slotted and recessed head
screws.

a.) Flat screwdriver- the blade tip is formed into wedge to fit and drive with slotted head screws.

b.) Phillips screwdriver – the blade tip is recessed to fit and drive the recessed head screws.
 c.) Stubby screwdriver (flat & phillips) - the tip is similarly shaped like the standard flat and phillips
screwdriver, but it has a short shank or blade and also shorter handle which is made of plastic.

d.) Jeweler's Screwdriver Set – is a set of small screw drivers composed of slotted and Phillip
screwdrivers use for driving tiny screws.

e.) Offset screwdriver- to drive or loosen screws in tight places. Especially useful on cars and
machines.

Pliers- used for cutting and twisting wires and to grip small parts. Pliers should not be used for
tightening or loosening nuts and bolts because the serrations of the jaws round off the
corners of the bolt head or nut causing a wrench to slip thereafter.

a.) Slip joint or combination pliers (mechanical plier)- used for cutting wire and holding flat and
round stock

b.) Side cutting plier (lineman’s plier)- manufactured for light,

medium, and heavy-duty work
for cutting electrical wire.
 c.) Long nose plier- used for cutting and holding fine wires; can reach into tight space.
Commonly used by electricians to make terminal loops in copper wire.

d.) Diagonal cutting plier- used for cutting medium or fine wires. Useful also in cutting excess
terminals of components after soldering them in the Printed Circuit
Board.

e.) Flat nose plier-commonly used in sheet metal work to bend square edges.

Electrician’s knife- used by lineman to remove insulation of big cables in high and low voltage
transmission lines.

Utility Knife- common tool used in cutting various trades and crafts for a variety of purposes.

Hacksaw- used for cutting small and medium sized metals. Most hacksaws have adjustable
frames so that the saw can use blades of 8”, 10” or 12” long. The blade should always
be fitted with the teeth pointing away from the handle. For electrical works, hacksaw
is used for cutting BX wires, cables, and conduit pipes, and moldings.
Key hole saw- a thin bladed saw used to cut rectangular or square holes in walls for installation
of flush-mounted convenience outlet.

Soldering Iron – is a tool use for applying heat to melt solder in attaching two metal parts. A
soldering iron is composed of a heated metal tip and an insulated handle. For
electrical work, wires are usually soldered to printed circuit boards, other wires,
or small terminals. A low-power iron (20-40 Watts) is suitable for electronics
work.

Electric Soldering Gun- the shape of this tool is like a handgun with hard copper wire as soldering
tip. This is used to solder joints, and terminal connections. The sizes vary from
50 watts to 120 watts, 220 volts.

Soldering Tool Stand – is a place where the soldering iron is placed during usage. This will keep
the soldering iron away from flammable materials. The stand often
comes with a sponge used in cleaning the tip of the soldering iron.
Desoldering tool - is used to suck or remove melted lead on soldered wires and components terminals
on printed circuit board for troubleshooting and repair purposes.

Mini Drill – is used to bore or drill holes in the printed circuit board (PCB) with sizes from
1/32”– 1/16”.

Portable Electric Drill- a small drilling machine with a chuck capacity of ¼” and 3/8”. Used to
bore holes on lighter metal work.

Hand drill and bit- used for boring holes on small and medium sized metals.

Auger brace and bit- carpenter’s tool used for boring holes on building wood joints and studs
conductors to pass through.
Star drill- a twist drill with a flat carbide tip. Used to drill holes in bricks, stone or concrete wall
to let a pipe pass through or to fasten electrical parts to the wall. The point is shaped
like a star. The drill is struck slightly with a hammer and turned a little between
blows.

Mason Drill- a twist with a flat carbide tip and is used to drill holes in bricks or concrete walls.
Sizes are given in diameter of the drill point.

File- is made out of carbon steel with brittle and sharp teeth, used to smoothen, remove rough
surfaces or edges of metals. Files have different sizes and shapes of blade with wooden or
plastic handle. It is manufactured in flat, half-round, and round file.

Flat file

Half-round file

Round file
 Wire stripper- special tool used for removing insulation of medium-sized wires and can remove the
insulation of rubber covered wires varying from gauge no.26 to gauge no. 10.

Wire gauge- used in sizing conductors. The Brown and Sharpe Gage (B&S), and lately called American
Wire Gage (A.W.G.) can measure from gauge no. 0 to gauge no. 36 solid wires.

Hammer- classified either as soft or hard faces. The cylindrical shape head hammer has a hard face for
striking hard objects like cold chisel, star drill and nails. The cylindrical shaped soft face hammer is made
of plastic or hard rubber used in rewinding job.

a.) Claw Hammer- used to drive or to pull out nails in the piece of wood.

b.) Ball peen hammer- used to flatten surfaces of metal, to straighten metal, and for riveting
metals.
 d.) Soft faced hammer (Rawhide or Plastic Hammer)- used for rewinding jobs like forming coils,
assembly or disassembly of motors.

Wrenches- used to turn nuts or hold the piece of stock when tightening screws, nuts and bolts.

Monkey Wrench- It has a fixed straight jaw and movable straight jaw which can be adjusted to
hold/ tighten bolt and nut which cannot be done by other kind of wrenches.

Adjustable wrench- It is handy and can quickly be adjusted for size to grip/ grasp piece of stock.
Adjust the jaw firmly and make certain the wrench is set so that the pull on
the handle is toward the bottom side. This relieves heavy pressures on the
adjustable jaw.

Vise-grip-wrench- a special wrench which can be locked on to an object and will grip it with
great pressure. The round knurled knob in the end of the handle is screwed
in or out to adjust the jaws to the size of the object which is to be gripped.
 Pipe wrench- they are designed for tightening and loosening pipes as well as for holding round
object.

Open-end wrench- This is a handy wrench but is not as dependable as a box wrench. This
wrench grasps the nuts on only two of its flat side, and is subject to slipping
under a heavy pull.

Socket wrench- Very convenient to use, in most

instances it is faster to turn or remove the
object than compared to other wrenches.

Box wrench- it is an excellent tool as it grips the nut on all sides. This reduces the chances of
slipping with resultant damage to the nut and possibly the hand.

Allen wrench- The end tip is shaped hexagonally to fit the same shape of the screw to be
tightened or loosened.

Center Punch- used for marking metal parts so that they can be correctly re-assembled as well as for
marking and centering on metal part to bore holes.

Cold Chisel-used to cut thin metal as well as to remove little projections of metal (burrs) on
smooth metal surfaces.
C-Clamp- manufactured in many sizes. Used for clamping and holding parts together while they
are being assembled.

Flaring Tool- used to spread or flare out to end of a tube before tube fitting. Various sizes of
copper tube can be flared out.

Pipe Cutter- used to cut small sizes of pipe. It has three small round cutters made of hardened
steel. The pipe cutter is slipped over the pipe where the cut is to be made; the
cutter is then pressed against the pipe and rotated around to cut a groove until the
pipe is out.

Pipe burring reamer- used to cut away rough edges or burns inside the end of the pipe after it
has been cut with pipe cutter.

Pipe vise- is specially made to hold pipes while cutting, bending or threading pipes. The pipe vise
should be mounted on a work bench before mounting the pipe in the vise.

Bench vise- used to hold pieces of stock for hand tool operations such as filling, cutting, bending,
tapping, threading, and reaming. Vises are made of different sizes. All vises consist
 essentially of fixed jaw, movable jaw, screws and handle.

Pipe threader- used for threading conduit pipes. It has different sizes of dies to thread different
sizes of conduit pipes.

Hickey- is a pipe bending tool which comes in various sizes and length of handle depending upon
the diameter of the pipe to bend.

Push-pull tape rule- a measuring tool calibrated in English and Metric measurements.

Tin snip- used for cutting thin sheets of metal.

Drilling Machine (drill press)- used to bore holes in metals light or heavy work. This is usually
heavy duty drilling machine installed permanently in a shop.
 Test light- is a pocket size tool used to test the line wire or circuit if
there is current in it.

Analog Multimeter – The conventional meter in which the value being measured is indicated by
pointer over a calibrated scale.

Digital Multimeter – A multimeter in which the measured value of voltage, current resistance
and other parameters is shown on direct reading digital display.

Oscilloscope – is the most versatile piece of test equipment available for working on electronic
equipment’s and circuits. It provides a visual display of what is occurring in the in the
circuit.

Care and Maintenance for Tools

1. Wipe or clean tools after every use with a clean and soft cloth to remove dirt.
2. Keep all tools in a tool room or in a tool cabinet.
3. Tools should be applied/wiped with an appropriate oil to prevent it from rusting.
4. Drill tools should be sharpened properly if they are dull.
 5. Tooth cutting tools should be sharpened as often as necessary.
6. Do not drop tools especially precision instrument or testing tools.
7. Except hammers, never use tools as hammers.
8. Do not use screw drivers as wood chisel nor cold chisel.
9. Do not use dull tools, it will cause harm to your work or yourself.
10. Damage tools should be repaired.
11. Tools must be checked and cleaned before returning it to the tool cabinet.
12. Keep tools away from the edge of the benches and place it properly so they cannot slide, roll or
fall.

Direction: Answer the following questions

1. Why is it necessary to used soldering stand for the soldering iron when performing soldering process?
2. Why is it that low-power soldering iron is suitable for electronics work?
3. What are the advantages of using the right tools for the right job?
4. Why is it necessary to have proper care and maintenance for the tools/equipment?
5. Why is it important to use/apply center punch before boring holes in a piece of metal?

Direction: Match Column B with Column C.

B C
1. Use to smoothen, remove rough surfaces or edges of metals a. Wire stripper
2. Drill holes in bricks & concrete walls b. Hacksaw
3. Used to measure the size of conductors c. Long nose plier
4. Use in tightening & loosening slotted head screws d. Desoldering pump/tool
5. Used for bending pipe. e. Screwdriver
6. Used for holding & cutting wires & it can reach into tight space f. Mini drill
7. Used to check/test the line wire or circuit if there is current g. Mason bit
8. Used to drive or remove nails in a piece of wood h. Wire gauge
9. Use to drill holes in the printed circuit board i. Claw hammer
10. Use for cutting metals. J. Test light
k. Hickey

Activity: Making Job plate or Activity no. 2

Title: Common Electronics and Electrical Tools
Materials/Tools Needed: Long bond paper, pencil, ink pen, coloring pens/, eraser &
Ruler/triangle
Instruction: Search and draw 20 pcs. of different electronics and electrical tools. Put
name/label in each tool including uses/functions on a separate sheet of bond paper, lettering
all in capital letters and use the format for the title block.

References:
Interior and Exterior Wiring & Trouble Shooting Book
 By. Feliciano C. Agpaoa
Electronics Technology, Learning Element
By the Curriculum Development Division, BTVE
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