| Questions | 5 |
| Topics | Clamps, Mallets, Miter Box, Pliers, Punches |
A clamp applies pressure to prevent two objects from moving relative to each other, for example, to keep to pieces of wood together while the glue between the dries. A clamp is commonly made of metal and shaped like the letter C with a perpendicular flat-edged plate providing variable pressure between it and the top of the C as a screw to which it is attached is tightened and released.
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.
A miter box utlizes a back saw (a fine toothed saw with a rigid strip of steel opposite its blade edge) to make cuts in wood at a specified angle.
Pliers are designed to provide a mechanical advantage, allowing the force of the hand's grip to be amplified and focused with precision. Pliers also allow finer control over objects that are too small to be manipulated by the fingers alone. The standard configuration is combination pliers which provide a fixed maximum jaw width. Other styles include adjustable joint pliers that allow selecting jaw width, needle nose pliers for holding small objects in tight spaces and locking pliers that will lock in place to hold or clamp objects together.
A punch is narrow and is used to drive objects like nails (pin punch) or for making guide marks for drilling (center punch) or patterns in wood or metal.