Section 2: Fastening & Driving Tools

    Fastening and driving tools are used to join materials together or apply torque to install or remove fasteners like screws, nuts, bolts, staples, or rivets. This category includes some of the most common hand tools found in toolboxes for assembly, construction, repair, and maintenance tasks across various fields including woodworking, automotive, plumbing, and electrical work.


Screwdrivers & Drivers:

Tools designed to insert and remove screws by engaging with a slot or recess in the screw head.1 The proliferation of different screw head types necessitates a variety of corresponding screwdriver tips. Using an incorrectly matched screwdriver can damage both the screw head and the tool tip, preventing proper tightening or removal.

  • Flat-Head Screwdriver (Slotted): Features a single flat blade tip for screws with a linear slot. One of the oldest and simplest types.
  • Phillips Screwdriver: Has a cross-shaped tip designed to fit Phillips head screws, which allow for more torque and better centering than slotted screws. Comes in various sizes (#0, #1, #2, #3, etc.).
  • Torx Screwdriver: Features a 6-point star-shaped tip for Torx screws, commonly found in automotive, electronics, and appliance applications, offering high torque transfer and resistance to cam-out.
  • Hex Screwdriver/Key (Allen Wrench/Key): Tool with a hexagonal tip (either on an L-shaped key or a screwdriver handle) for driving bolts and screws with hexagonal sockets. Often used for assembling furniture, bicycles, and machinery. Available in sets covering various metric and imperial sizes.
  • Square Drive Screwdriver (Robertson): Has a square-shaped tip, providing a secure fit and resistance to cam-out. Common in electrical work and construction, particularly in Canada. (Implied by screwdriver sets and electrical context).
  • Precision Screwdriver Set: Set containing small screwdrivers with various head types (slotted, Phillips, Torx, hex) designed for working on electronics, eyeglasses, watches, and other miniature devices.
  • Insulated Screwdriver: Features non-conductive material covering the handle and shaft (except the very tip), providing protection against electric shock when working on or near live electrical circuits. Essential safety equipment for electricians.
  • Stubby Screwdriver: A screwdriver with a very short handle and blade, designed for use in confined spaces where a standard-length screwdriver cannot fit.
  • Ratchet Screwdriver: Incorporates a ratcheting mechanism that allows the user to turn the screw continuously by rotating the handle back and forth without removing the tip from the screw head. Often features interchangeable bits for different screw types.
  • Nut Driver: Tool resembling a screwdriver but with a socket end designed to fit and turn nuts and hex-head bolts. Commonly used in electronics and appliance repair, often available in sets.

Wrenches (Spanners)

Wrenches (Spanners):

Tools used to provide grip and mechanical advantage for applying torque to turn rotary fasteners like nuts and bolts. Like screwdrivers, matching the wrench type and size to the fastener is critical.

  • Adjustable Wrench (Crescent Wrench): An open-ended wrench with one fixed jaw and one jaw adjustable via a screw mechanism, allowing it to fit various sizes of nuts and bolts. Particularly useful when the exact fastener size is unknown or a specific size wrench is unavailable. Common sizes include 6-inch and 10-inch.
  • Pipe Wrench: A heavy-duty adjustable wrench with hardened, serrated jaws designed specifically to grip round pipes and fittings. The jaws tighten their grip as pressure is applied to the handle. Typically used in pairs in plumbing – one to hold the pipe, one to turn the fitting. The serrated jaws can mar surfaces, making them unsuitable for hex nuts unless necessary.
  • Combination Wrench: Features an open-end wrench on one end and a box-end (ring) wrench of the same size on the other end, offering versatility for different access situations.
  • Box End Wrench (Ring Spanner): Has enclosed, ring-like ends (often with 6 or 12 points) that surround the nut or bolt head, providing a secure grip on the flats and reducing the risk of slipping or rounding the fastener.
  • Open End Wrench (Open End Spanner): Features U-shaped openings on each end designed to grip two opposite flats of a nut or bolt head. Useful when access from above is limited.
  • Socket Set: A collection of sockets (cylindrical tools that fit over nuts or bolt heads) in various sizes (both metric and standard/imperial) used with a ratchet handle or other drive tool. Sets often include accessories like extensions and universal joints to improve access. Sockets connect to the drive tool via a square drive, commonly 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, or 1/2-inch.
  • Ratchet Handle: The lever arm used to turn sockets. It contains a mechanism allowing free rotation in one direction and engagement in the other, enabling tightening or loosening without removing the socket from the fastener. Air-powered (pneumatic) or electric versions are common power tools.
  • Socket Extension: A metal bar placed between the ratchet handle and the socket to increase reach, allowing access to fasteners located in deep recesses or obstructed areas.
  • Universal Joint (Socket Adapter): A flexible joint that connects between the ratchet/extension and the socket, allowing the drive tool to operate at an angle relative to the fastener. Essential for accessing awkwardly positioned nuts or bolts.
  • Spark Plug Socket: A specialized deep socket designed to fit spark plugs. It typically includes a rubber or magnetic insert to hold the spark plug securely during removal and installation, preventing damage.
  • Wheel Nut Socket (Lug Wrench): A socket specifically designed to fit the lug nuts used to secure vehicle wheels. Can be a single socket used with a ratchet/breaker bar or part of an X-shaped lug wrench.45
  • Torque Wrench: A specialized wrench used to apply a precisely measured amount of torque (rotational force) to a fastener. Crucial in automotive, aerospace, and other mechanical applications where specific fastener tightness is critical for safety, performance, and preventing damage from over-tightening or failure from under-tightening. Various types exist (click type, beam type, digital). The need for such tools underscores that achieving the correct clamping force, not just arbitrary tightness, is a key engineering requirement in many modern assemblies.
  • Basin Wrench (Sink Wrench): A plumbing tool with a long shaft and a pivoting, spring-loaded jaw at the end, specifically designed to reach up behind a sink basin to tighten or loosen the nuts securing the faucet. Its design is a direct response to the severe access limitations in that specific location.
  • Faucet Key: An X-shaped tool with multiple square-shaped sockets of different sizes, used to operate outdoor spigots, sillcocks, or valves that lack a standard handle.
  • Faucet Valve-Seat Wrench: A specialized plumbing tool designed to engage with and remove or install the valve seats inside a faucet body.
  • Oil Filter Wrench: An automotive tool specifically designed to grip and turn spin-on type oil filters for removal and installation during an oil change. Various designs exist, including strap wrenches, chain wrenches, cap/cup wrenches that fit the end of the filter, and plier-type wrenches.
  • Tap Wrench: A handle designed to securely hold and turn taps, which are tools used for cutting internal screw threads (e.g., inside a hole).
  • Tap and Die Set: A set containing taps (for cutting internal/female threads) and dies (for cutting external/male threads on rods or bolts), along with the necessary handles (tap wrenches, die stocks). Used for creating new threads or repairing damaged ones.

Other Fastening/Driving Tools:

  • Wire Crimper: A tool used to deform a metal connector (a crimp terminal) around an electrical wire, creating a secure and reliable electrical and mechanical connection without soldering. Specialized crimpers exist for different types of connectors, like coaxial cable connectors. Power crimpers offer increased force and speed.
  • Staple Gun (Hand Tacker): A hand-operated tool that drives metal staples into materials like wood, upholstery, or insulation for fastening fabric, thin wood, wiring, or paper. (Common tool, fits category).
  • Rivet Gun (Hand Riveter): A tool used to install blind rivets, which fasten two or more pieces of material (often sheet metal) together from one side. The tool pulls a mandrel through the rivet body, causing it to expand and clamp the materials. (Common tool, fits category).
  • Bradawl: A simple tool with a pointed shaft sharpened to a chisel edge, used in woodworking to create a starting hole for small screws or nails, making them easier to drive straight and preventing wood splitting.

The variety of fastening tools highlights the importance of matching the tool not only to the fastener type and size but also to the access constraints of the work environment. Tools like stubby screwdrivers , basin wrenches , socket extensions, and universal joints are specifically designed to function where standard tools cannot reach, demonstrating how physical limitations heavily influence tool design.