There is no denying that humans had been using variety of tools and utensils for performance of works swiftly. And it is not the otherwise for the field of construction. Knowing about different construction tools names and their uses is essential for any field civil engineer.
Diverse collection of tools is out there for special nature of jobs. Whether you are dealing in concreting, laying bricks or blocks, carpentry works, plastering etc. You would be in need of these tools for kicking start the work and finishing it as a splendid product.
Mastering the use of construction tools would unwrap floods of jobs and opportunities for you. However, apt safety precautions must be made during usage of these tools to avoid any hit-or-miss.
So in this read I am going to enlist and elaborate these handy gadgets.
Let’s dive in.
Here’re common construction tools names with their uses
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Brick hammer or Stonemason’s Hammer
Now if you are a brick mason, keep it with you for your whole life. It is also known as Stonemason’s hammer because it is widely used by them. Being one face as flat, the other part of the hammer is like a chisel that can be used for removal of nailing in the bricks.
The grip handle is thicker than its metal frame for efficient slip-free grip.
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Boning rod
You know in old English the word boning was used for a gradient and from there comes this boning rod. This tool is an old one but is as effective now a days as it was in the past. When you are in a need to establish levels you can get these boning staff rods as an ideal choice for fixing these level by a line of sight.
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Bolster
At times, you need a half brick called brick bat so for those times bolster is an ideal tool. It had a cutting sharp edge that can be used for cutting the bricks. As its width is more than that of the brick so it leads to accurate and seamless cutting.
Bolster is sometimes also termed as cold chisels. The bolster tool is also used for cutting of stone pieces. For that a groove is made along the cut line and then by hitting hard a perfect break is achieved.
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Screed
Well this is a very famous tool and there are dozens of types, categories and brands out there in the market. From a simple straight edge to automatic power driven screed devices are available. As it is used to cut the bumps in the concrete so it is usually called a bump cutter.
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Sod Roller
If you are growing grass on turf of sod than you must use sod roller for it. Most of the times this step is skipped in installation of sod roller and because of that things go south. The sod roller would help to flatten out the edges while growing grass in your lawn. This tool is also termed as lawn roller or lawn leveler.
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Circular saw
If you are working with wood, soft metal or even a plastic you sometimes need a piece or a cut and there you need a circular saw. It has a power operated rotary motor that is used to rotate a disc blade either smooth edge or toothed for cutting.
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Chisel
This tool is common not only in construction industry but in carpentry works, or even for sculpture works this tool is a must to have. It had a cutting sharp edge or blade at the end with a holding grip. With this you can carve a wood part or stone by hand.
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Cordless drill
Well I am very much amazed when I got to know about this tool because here at site when we were working at number of times we had to delay our drilling operation because of unavailability of some power source or load shedding. So in such cases this cordless drill is very useful which does not need to be plugged in the switch for operation as it has a rechargeable battery.
This machine is used either for drilling a small hole in some metal or wood and even for screw-driving operation.
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Chalk Line
This tool is very handy for setting out jobs, marking straight lines on flat surfaces. There are variety of types and sizes of chalk line tools available now we have a semi-automatic chalk line trolley tools.
In the simples one, a nylon taunt is dipped in a dye or chalk that is laid on the line of the surface and the pulled tight and snapped to stroke the surface and mark a straight line. Usually this tool is sold along with a mason’s plumb bob.
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Crowbar
Now this is one of the ancient tool still used effectively. Crowbar is a lever having a curved end and flat end that is usually used for removing the nails or for pulling apart two parts of an object.
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Dead Blow Hammer
If you have every worked for supervision of tile works you might already know what dead blow hammer is. The mason use this dead blow hammer to place firmly the tile to make bond with the mortar. It is actually made of elastomeric sort of material that has an elastic rebound once got struck with the surface and resultantly it had minimal chances of damaging the surface.
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Float
Whenever the word float is used in construction tools we are talking about concrete floats. They are actually set of tools that have a smooth bottom surface and are used to smoothen the concrete surface like a screed.
There are variety of float types available from small hand tool to fully power driven trowel floats.
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Framing Hammer
Now framing hammer is a must to have in pocket for any carpenter. You can’t do any wood work even from making a small cupboard to a full fledge timber frame structure; you are always in a need of a framing hammer. It had a flat heavy end for the nails to be stroke and a claw is there for removal of nails from the wood.
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Gloves
You already know about gloves, but there are many types of gloves that are handy and are mandatory for safety and security precautions. While working with conductive materials like steel in the vicinity of power plugs and cables it is always wise to wear shock resistant gloves.
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Hand saw
Well it is a traditional blade / cutter used for cutting the wood panels or logs. The are operated with one hand have a grip hole handle and a toothed sharp blade at one side and a straight edge at the other.
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Helmet
These are a part of mandatory PPEs being practiced as per the international construction industry safety standards. Wearing helmet protects your head from head injuries which are the most causes of deaths in construction industry.
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Hoe
Hoe is a very common tool used in agriculture or even in construction industry. The have a 90 degree fixed shovel with a wooden lever. These are mostly used for digging holes in the ground for dig up plants, removing weeds or clearing the harvested crops.
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Iron pan
You always fry eggs in the morning on frying pan but this iron pan is not used to fry concrete but it actually is used to hold up different stuff or material in construction.
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Jack plane or Jack Smoother
This is also a very handy tool for any carpenter. It had a sharp blade / cut at the bottom along with the smooth surface and a handle upside down with an inclined scrap removing guide.
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Ladder
This is the most common type of hard tool in construction. It has a base frame with intermediate steps that are used by a mason or a painter to reach some elevated parts or locations.
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Mason square
This is a very handy geometrical tool that is used for making straight the two perpendicular line of masonry walls. The have a ninety degree angle along with scale and are used to align the brick bonds during brick masonry.
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Measuring box
This is traditionally termed as daga in India and Pakistan. Daga is a calibrated measuring box made of steel having two steel rods affixed at opposite ends making four handles for carrying by two persons on opposite directions.
Usually in small building operations, the batching of concrete is done with measurement of this measuring box.
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Measuring tape
It is a steel tape that is used as replacement of measuring chain in survey for measuring distance or lengths. They are made in different scales in feet and meters.
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Measurement wheel
This is a very handy tool when you are doing a survey of a large area. Measurement wheel is equipped with a device that measures the distance by number of revolutions of the wheel.
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Pick axe
This is a traditional hand tools used by labor for manual excavation or digging in the ground. It had sharp edges on both the sides with a wooden lever.
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Plumb bob
It is a very useful but cheap tool that has a suspended pointed load tied with a string. This is known as plumb line and is carried out for ensuring the verticality of the thing. The plum bob uses the law of gravitation.
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Polishers / Smoother Device
This is a power driven device that work by grinding the rough tile surface to make them smooth and shine as finishing. Marble tiles and flooring require the polishing for a seamless appearance that is eye-catching and refreshing.
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Putty knife
Putty knife is a wide knife with a sharp edge and face made of metal 4” or 5” width. Putty knife is used for application of thin finishing putty on walls. Sometimes it is used by glazers for applying putty at the edges of the glass. The putty is first applied by hand and then by using the putty knife it is smoothened.
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Pegs
A wooden peg or a dowel is actually a rod with a pointed edge that is used for layout out or setting out and mostly while surveying any area for identification and sighting purpose.
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Earth Rammer
Earth rammer is not a heavy duty compacting device; you can either have a mechanical rammer or a simple earth rammer rod. This tool is used for pressing and compacting the soil which is disturbed etc. Earth rammer is of heavy weight and is impacted to the ground meant for compaction.
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Rubber Boots
So, next time you would like to enter a concrete pour, or going to a muddy site and want to avoid the splashes, better wear the rubber boots. These rubber boots, as insulators would also protect person from getting electric shock.
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Safety glasses
Eye protection is a must while doing any work at site; your eyes are exposed to fraction of metal objects and sharp rebar edges and it is not wise to go to site without wearing safety glasses. Likewise if you are grinding a metal or cutting it the sharp fragments would be spreading at fast speeds so better protect your eyes by wearing safety glasses.
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Sand screen machine
Variety of sand screen machines are available in the market; also termed as sand siever. It has a vibrating machine and perforations to get optimum functionality. There are also some machines that operate on rotary method.
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Scratcher
The plaster surfaces meant to receive the tile finish are a must to be roughened and for that you can use this scratcher tool. It has sharp pointed needles that are embedded in wooden base. The scratcher is sometimes used for roughening the first layer of plaster to have an efficient bond with the second layer.
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Sledge hammer
It is a heavy duty hammer that has a flat large area metal head with a comparatively long handle. The long handle and the shape of hammer allows for a solid impact.
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Spade
Spade is similar like hoe and is sometimes named as a shovel. It is a digging tool that is used for planting or for manually excavating the soil. For ease in operation; sometimes it is attached with a rope that is being pulled by another person in opposite direction for speeding up the work.
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Spirit level
As the name suggest this tool uses some liquid for judging the level of the surface. It is a replacement of plumb bob. In the concealed liquid either mercury, alcohol etc. along with an air bubble which is used for leveling the surface.
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Level / Surveying
A level is a surveyor instrument that is used to measure height of distant points in reference to some bench mark. It is a telescopic device and is fixed along with a spirit level and is mounted on tripod for ease in sighting.
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Straight edge brushes
It is like a pen for a writer. The livelihood of a painter is all depend on straight edge brushes. It is also termed as a block brush or a paint brush.
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Tile cutter
Tile cutter is a cutter board that work by scratching a line on the tile and then by apply metal roller with pressure to cut the tile into two pieces.
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Trowel
A trowel is a small hand operated shovel or spoon that is used for mixing the mortar in a steel bowl when doing repair work for concrete or preparing mortar for some small works. Trowel is a steel metaled spoon with a wooden handle for ease in picking up things.
