Rulers are used to both measure distance and to draw straight lines. Tape measures are flexible rulers useful for measuring longer distances and in tighter spaces. Rulers and tape measures provide similarly accurate measurements.

The most common striking tool is the hammer and the most common variety of hammer is the claw hammer. The claw hammer has two ends, one to drive nails and one to remove nails. Ball-peen hammers replace the claw with a rounded end that's used to round off the edges of metal pins and make gaskets.

A mallet is a hammer with a relatively large head, often made of rubber or wood. Both the size and material of the mallet head help prevent damage when striking more delicate surfaces.

Screwdrivers come in many different handle, shaft, and tip configurations for use in a wide variety of applications. Screwdrivers are classified by their tip which is shaped to fit a corresponding screw head. Common tips are slotted (flat) and Phillips (x-shaped).

Wrenches are used with threaded fasteners like bolts and nuts. A bolt has external threads while a nut has internal threads and this thread pattern combination allows them to lock together and act as fasteners. Nuts come in a variety of configurations including wing nuts which provide appendages that allow tightening and loosening by hand, slotted nuts that use a cotter pin to lock the nut in place and prevent it from loosening, and lock nuts that also prevent loosening via nylon in their threads. Threads are identified by pitch which is the number of threads per inch.