Tool Names & Safe Use

Every single tool in your school workshop was invented to solve one specific problem. A screwdriver is designed to twist, a hammer is designed to strike, and a saw is designed to tear through fibres. When you try to use a tool for something it was not built to do—like using a heavy flathead screwdriver to pry open a can or act as a chisel—you put forces on the tool that it cannot handle.

Using the wrong tool damages the tool, ruins your project material, and often causes injuries. If a tool slips because it does not fit the job, your hands are usually in the path of the slip. Learning which tool to grab is the very first sign of a great designer.

Workshop tools are split into two main families: hand tools and power tools. Hand tools run on your own muscle power. They give you high control, allow for delicate adjustments, and are excellent for learning basic making skills. Think of hammers, hand saws, chisels, files, and pliers.

Power tools use electricity from a wall plug or a battery pack to do the heavy work. Tools like drills, jigsaws, and sanders work incredibly fast. While they save a lot of muscle energy, that high speed means mistakes happen in a fraction of a second. That is why you always need extra safety training and a teacher's permission before touching any power tool.

Whenever you are cutting, shaping, or filing, there is one golden rule that will save your fingers: always cut and work away from your body. If you are carving wood with a chisel or slicing card with a safety knife, the cutting stroke must move out into empty space, never towards your chest or your holding hand.

Your non-dominant hand is your holding hand. It must always be placed behind the cutting edge, never in front of it. If the tool suddenly slips—which can easily happen if you hit a hard knot in wood—it should slide harmlessly into the air, not into your skin.

On many power tools and workshop machines, you will see plastic or metal shields covering the moving parts. These are called machine guards. They are physical barriers engineered specifically to block your hands, hair, or loose clothing from making contact with spinning blades, drills, or belts.

Sometimes, a guard might seem to block your view slightly or make you work a bit slower. It can be tempting to push it out of the way, but removing a guard is incredibly dangerous. It removes the only physical barrier standing between you and a serious injury. A professional designer respects the guard as an essential part of the machine.

A messy workshop is a dangerous workshop. When you finish using a tool, even if you plan to use it again in ten minutes, put it back in its designated storage rack or shadow board. Tools left scattered on workbenches can easily roll off onto feet, get buried under sawdust, or cause trips.

Finally, always inspect your tools before you start. If you notice a hammer has a loose head, a screwdriver handle is cracked, or a saw blade is blunt, do not try to use it anyway. Stop immediately and report it to your teacher. A blunt tool requires more force to use, which makes it much more likely to slip and cause an accident.