Best Electrical hand tools
Introduction:
Electrical hand tools are not limited to just electronic work; they play a crucial role in everyday hobby projects, repairs, and small-scale production industries. With the integration of modern technology, the efficiency and accuracy of these tools have improved, helping to ensure high-quality work.
As the demand for electronic devices continues to grow, hand tools are being upgraded and developed with new technologies to enhance their capabilities. These tools are not only becoming more advanced but also smarter. Using the right hand tool for a specific task allows for faster and more precise completion of work. The addition of modern sensors, automatic calibration, and digital displays has significantly increased the performance and functionality of these tools.
Electrical hand tools list:
- Electric drill and drill bits: Electric drills and drill bits in the range of 0.31 cm to 1.27 cm will come in handy when you need to drill holes on the printed circuit board (PCB) that has been etched. Drilling of plastic or metal enclosures that house the PCB is sometimes necessary. A suitable PCB high speed drill can be easily obtained from any electronics shop.
- Soldering iron: A 20-watt to 30-watt soldering iron with tips of 0.31 cm to 1.27 cm can be used for soldering through-hole components. Soldering surface mount components may require smaller tips, depending on their size. Soldering irons normally last a long time if taken care of properly by keeping the tips clean and well tinned.
- Wire stripper: This is used to strip off the wire insulator from its conductor before it is used to connect t another wire or soldered into the PCB. Some wire strippers or cutters have a measurement engraved on them to indicate the length that will be stripped.
- Long nose pliers: Nose pliers of 10 cm length will come in handy when you have to hold components that have short leads and need to be soldered onto the PCB but it will be too hot to handle with bare hands. It can also be used to hold the component that needs to be de-soldered from the board.
- Side-cutting pliers: A pair of 10 cm side cutting pliers is handy to trim off excess component leads on the PCB and cut wires into shorter lengths before being used.
- Tweezers: Small tweezers are used to hold small components, especially when soldering and de-soldering surface mount components.
- Flat head screwdrivers: These tools come in various sizes since there are many different screw sizes.
- Socket wrench sets: These include nut drivers, hex drivers and starters in assorted sizes which are handy during the assembly work of electronics projects.
- Pocket knives: These are useful to cut PCBs, wires or remove some coper from the board.
Electrical hand tools can be divided into several groups:
- Laying out tools – used for measuring and marking.
- Impact or striking tools – hammers, mallets and sledges
- Twisting tools or fastening tools – wrenches and screwdrivers
- Metal-cutting tools – dies, drills, files, punches, reamers, taps
- Holding tools – clamps, pliers, vices
- ESD safe equipment – goggles, gloves
- Grinding and sharpening tools
- Finishing tools and abrasives
- Tool storage and accessory containers
Advantages of electrical hand tools:
Hand tools are faster than machines. Of course, if many identical parts need to be cut, hand tools are definitely slower. But if you work on a unique project, it will surely be easier to perform some operations with hand tools, rather than waste time in setting up and configuring a machine.
One advantage of hand tools is that they are cheaper than power tools. Another benefit is that they are much safer than power tools, which is important for both beginners and amateurs, who use hand tools for quick repairs.
Important things to look in electrical hand tools:
Safety in work:
Though it is difficult to make improvements to tools such as hammers, wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers, but there have been some products which have to be come improvements so that electric work can be done with much safety way. The utility of knife is a great example of a hand tool that has been given a lot of attention, and there have been some great safety enhancements made to it recently.
Testing process:
A lot of communication and electronic systems are deployed on the field, and this requires live testing in active conditions. With the advent of new technology, nearly 80 per cent of the actual testing can today be caried out with handheld tools.
Easy to handle:
Small changes to hand tools go a long way making them safer as well easy to handle. One major safety feature of most hand tools is insulation with rubber or plastic materials. This not only protects those working with live electricity but also gives them an extra grip, making the tool easier to handle and reducing the chance of it slipping from their hands.
Multi-functional uses:
Tool manufacturers are working hard to design electrical hand tools that not only work better, but are multi-functional as well. One of the most common multi-functional tools used today is a multi-bit screwdriver. It works in one of two ways – by either storing multiple bits in its base which can be snapped on magnetically when needed, or by using a slide system by which you can simply slide the bits up from a track on the inside of the screwdriver’s base.
Tips to purchase electrical hand tools:
Most users are not educated enough about the right way to use these electrical tools and they are often used without considering whether a particular tool will yield the desired result or not. Besides, as most buyers are price sensitive, they are not particularly concerned about the functions of these hand tools. However, when making a purchase decision, it is very important to consider tools that are of high quality. Working with inferior quality tools will not only take more time but will not give a smooth finish to the end product. It is best to go for branded tools as they ensure high quality. However, branded tools are also higher priced.
Safety is another important factor to be taken into consideration. These devices, though small, can cause serious injuries and burns. Though there are hand tools that are non-powered, most tools today are either automatic, semi-automatic or power-operated. Thus, it is important to note that serious damage, cuts and bruises can happen due to improper use or lack of maintenance of these tools.
Maintenance tips for electronic hand tools:
Good quality tools can last a lifetime if they are taken care of properly. Ensure that the tools are used only for their intended purposes and lubricate them with a light film of oil to prevent rusting. Keep the tools clean and sharp, keep the soldering tips clean and well tinned, and ensure that the tools are always used properly by following the instructions given in the manual.
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