Aviation Common Hand Tools Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering common hand tools used in aviation maintenance, including measuring, cutting, drilling, and fastening tools.

Aviation Snips

Specialized cutting tools used for sheet metal, categorized by color: yellow for straight cuts, green for right curves, and red for left curves.

Scribers

Handheld instruments made of tool steel, approximately $10$ to $100\,cm$ long, used to mark fine, accurate lines on metal surfaces.

Rules

Measuring tools made of tempered carbon steel or satin-finished stainless steel, primarily used in aviation with inch-based graduated scales.

Combination Sets

A versatile tool consisting of a ruler, a square head with a level and scriber, a protractor head, and a center head.

Engineers Square

Also known as a Machinists Square, this metal tool conformining to standards like BS 939 or DIN 875 is used to mark or check $90^{\circ}$ angles.

Phillips Screwdriver

A cross-shaped tip tool with a blunt end and a point angle of $30^{\circ}$, sized from #0 to #5.

Cam-out

A term for the scenario where a screwdriver slips out of a screw head recess, often caused by over-torquing or using an incorrect bit size.

Pozidriv

An improved version of the Phillips design that features more contact area between the bit and screw to reduce cam-out attrition.

Torx

Also known as star drives, these provide high torque transfer with reduced risk of cam-out and require less operator effort.

MorTorq

A screwdriver bit with four curved wings that allows for high torque in shallow recesses, often used on structural applications of the Boeing B787.

Hi-Torque

A fastener system with a straight, curved-wall recess that allows extremely high torque application in thin aircraft skins without high end-load.

Ball Pein Hammer

A hammer made from high-grade drop forged steel, ideal for use with cold chisels, punches, rivets, and shaping metal.

Soft Face Mallet

A driving tool with faces made of materials like nylon or natural rubber to prevent damage to the struck surface.

Diagonal Cutters

Also known as snips or wire cutters, these pliers use a wedging action with V-shaped jaws to cut wire rather than a shearing action.

Wire Locking Pliers

A common aviation tool with a lockbox and a pull knob used to grip and spin safety wire to form twists.

Crows Foot Spanner

An open-end or bi-hex spanner with a square drive for a ratchet handle, useful in limited access areas or with torque wrenches.

Ratchet Handle

A reversible tool used with sockets that commonly comes in $1/4\text{"}$, $3/8\text{"}$, or $1/2\text{"}$ drive sizes.

C-Spanner

A tool with a hook or pin used for turning nuts with specialized slots or holes, such as landing gear oleo strut collars.

Torque Wrench Type 1

A torque wrench that indicates the applied force via a mechanical scale, dial, or electronic screen without automatic release or audible aids.

Torque Wrench Type 2

A 'Click Type' wrench that is preset to a value and indicates completion through an audible click, vibration, or visible signal.

Lever Arm (L1)

The nominal length of a torque wrench from the center of the drive to the center of the handle grip.

Prick Punch

A tool with a tip ground to $30^{\circ}$ or $60^{\circ}$ used to mark the location of holes on metal before drilling.

Centre Punch

A punch with a tip ground to $60^{\circ}$ or $90^{\circ}$ used to create a deep indentation to prevent a drill bit from wandering.

Pin Punch

A punch with a parallel shank used to drive out rivet shanks, pins, or bolts from their holes.

Hacksaw Tooth Pitch

The number of teeth per inch on a blade, such as $14$ TPI for steel or $32$ TPI for thin-walled tubing.

Safe Edge

A plain edge on a hand file that has no teeth, allowing the engineer to file one surface without damaging an adjacent one.

Twist Drills

Cylindrical cutting tools with spiral flutes that transport swarf away from the cutting edge.

Swarf

The waste metal chips or filings produced during drilling, filing, or cutting operations.

Reamer

A rotary cutting tool used to finish a pre-drilled hole to an exact size with a smooth surface.

Taper Tap

A thread-cutting tool tapered back for six to seven threads, used to begin the process of cutting internal threads.

Die

A tool used to cut external threads on cylindrical material like rods to create bolts or screws.