Standard Aviation Practices - Hand Tools Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards defining aviation hand tools, pounding tools, punches, holding tools, screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, and torque wrenches from General Textbook Chapter 9A / 11.

Ball Peen Hammer

A pounding tool with head weights ranging from 1 ounce to 3 pounds, featuring a smooth striking surface suitable for metal work but not for driving nails.

Cross Peen and Straight Peen Hammers

Hammers designed with a wedge-type end used for shaping metal, creasing sheet metal to start bends, or straightening rolled edges.

Claw Hammer

A hammer with a slightly crowned face for driving nails and claws for removing them, featuring a hardened head that is brittle and must never be used on hardened steel parts.

Dead-Blow Hammer

A soft-faced hammer filled with shot that prevents bouncing and efficiently transfers impact energy directly into the workpiece.

Rubber Mallet

A non-marking pounding tool with a large head used to apply gentle yet forceful blows to workpieces without causing surface damage.

Wooden Mallet

A mallet used alongside a sandbag for forming irregular shapes in soft aluminum alloy sheets, which can be damaged if struck against hard materials.

Drive Punch

Also called a tapered punch, a tool designed with a flat face used for driving out damaged rivets, pins, and bolts that bind in holes.

Starter Punch

A tapered tool driven with a ball peen hammer to initiate the initial movement when removing a stuck pin or bolt.

Pin Punch

Also known as a drift punch, a tool with a straight shank used following a starter punch to drive pins, bolts, or rivet shanks completely out of holes.

Prick Punch

A small, sharp-pointed punch ground to an included angle of 60^\ncirc used to transfer reference dimensions and hole locations onto metal or paper patterns.

Center Punch

A punch with a point ground to a 60^\ncirc angle (120^\ncirc included angle) used to create small indentations in metal that guide drill bits and prevent wandering.

Automatic Center Punch

A center punch containing an internal spring-loaded trip mechanism that automatically releases a uniform striking blow when handle pressure is applied.

Transfer Punch

A punch matching the exact diameter of a rivet hole with a raised center dot on its tip, used to accurately transfer hole positions from an old skin template onto new skin.

Aligning Punch

A tapered punch used to align mating holes in structural components prior to installing rivets or bolts.

Hole Finder

A tool featuring a locator pin and drill guide used to locate and match hidden structural rivet holes when placing new skin sheet over existing structure.

Slip Joint Pliers

General-purpose holding pliers featuring a double-hole pivot that allows the jaws to adjust between two opening widths, commonly used in the 6-inch size.

Interlocking-Joint Pliers

Also called water pump pliers or Channel Locks, these pliers feature curved interlocking grooves providing multiple jaw positions and long handles for leverage.

Vise-Grip Pliers

Compound-action clamping pliers with an adjustable knurled screw and toggle locking mechanism that clamps onto workpieces until released by an internal lever.

Duckbill Pliers

Long-handled, flat-nosed pliers with serrated jaws used specifically in aviation to grip, twist, and pull safety wire.

Needle Nose Pliers

Pliers with long, tapered jaws available in straight, 45^\ncirc, or 90^\ncirc bends, designed for delicate electrical and electronic work.

Safety Wire Pliers

A specialized aviation tool combining duckbill gripping jaws, diagonal cutters, and a center pull-twister mechanism for twisting safety wire.

Interchangeable Head Screwdriver

A screwdriver equipped with a hollow magnetized shaft that holds 1/4-inch hex driver bits stored inside the handle.

Torque-Limiting Power Screwdriver

A powered screwdriver equipped with an adjustable internal slipping clutch that disengages when a preset torque value is met.

Yankee Ratchet-Type Screwdriver

A spiral-shank screwdriver that rapidly spins replaceable driver bits as the handle is pushed inward and outward.

Slotted Screwdriver 75 Percent Rule

The standard requirement specifying that a flat-blade screwdriver must fill at least 75% of the screw slot width for effective torque and to prevent slot damage.

Reed and Prince Screwdriver

A cross-recess screwdriver with a sharper point than a Phillips driver, making the two non-interchangeable.

Open-End Wrench

A wrench with open parallel jaws offset at a 15^\ncirc angle relative to the handle, enabling fastener movement in tight quarters by flipping the wrench.

Box-End Wrench

A wrench with enclosed 6- or 12-point openings offset 15^\ncirc from the handle axis, used to break high torque without spreading wrench jaws.

Combination Wrench

A tool featuring a box end and an open end of the same size on opposite ends of a single handle.

Flare-Nut Wrench

A 6-sided box-end wrench with a cutout slot that allows the head to slip over fluid lines to engage tubing nuts.

Ratcheting Wrench

A box-end wrench incorporated with an internal ratchet mechanism that turns nuts continuously without requiring removal from the fastener.

Spanner Wrench

A specialized wrench equipped with pins or hooks designed to engage drive slots on security fasteners, threaded collars, retainer rings, and shafts.

Strap Wrench

A gripping wrench utilizing a plastic-covered fabric strap to turn cylindrical or delicate components without scratching or marring them.

Deep Socket

A socket with an elongated barrel providing internal clearance for protruding bolt threads and long studs.

Flex Socket

A socket constructed with an integrated universal joint to allow turning fasteners at awkward or off-axis angles.

Crowfoot Socket

An open, box, or flare-nut wrench head with a square drive attachment hole, used with handles/extensions to reach tight or recessed locations.

Breaker Bar

A long drive handle used with sockets to deliver high leverage for loosening tight or high-torque fasteners.

Speed Handle

A brace-shaped drive handle attached to sockets or bits for rapidly spinning threaded fasteners.

Impact Driver

A hand tool that converts a direct hammer stroke into a powerful rotational twist to break loose frozen or corroded screws.

Torque Wrench

A precision measuring tool used to apply a specified rotational force to fasteners, calculated as force multiplied by distance ($T = d \times f$).

Deflecting-Beam Torque Wrench

A torque wrench where applied force flexes an accurately ground beam, moving a stationary pointer across a scale near the handle.

Torsion Bar Torque Wrench

A torque wrench measuring internal shaft twisting through a rack-and-pinion gear mechanism that drives an indicator dial.

Toggle Type Torque Wrench

Also called a micrometer torque wrench, a tool preset to a target value that produces an audible click and slight handle release when torque is achieved.