4.1 Hand Tools You May Encounter on the Job
Douglas Rupik, M.Ed., JIW
Common Hand Tools and Their Functions
(see Chapter 6 for a more thorough discussion on shop tools)
After your welding machine, probably the most common tool you will use is an angle grinder. “Grinding and paint make me the welder I ain’t!” “Weld your best; grind the rest!” These jokes abound, but the truth is that electric and pneumatic angle grinders, end grinders, die grinders, and even bench grinders are indispensable tools for joint and surface preparation as well as weld cleaning and repair.
The next most common tool you’ll likely use is from the variety of hammers (chipping hammers, sledgehammers, engineer’s and shop hammers) and struck tools (chisels, punches, stamps, and wedges). A third category of hand tools we will discuss in this chapter are clamps such as C-clamps, bridge clamps, clamping pliers, and half clamps.
Why cover these tools? Because we are discussing safety, and these tools tend to cause more injuries on the job than soapstones and tape measures.
Safe Use of Welder-Specific Tools
First and foremost, only use tools in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations. This goes hand in hand with using the correct tool for the task at hand. For example, a screwdriver may seem like a good chisel or pry bar; however, it may chip when hit with a hammer and could send fragments into your eye or perhaps bend or break, and lead you to drop the heavy item it was supporting onto your hand or foot. Improper use of a tool may cause injury or damage to the workpiece.
Further, do not modify or remove a tool’s guards or other safety features. Tools are designed the way that they are partially because it makes for the best way to get a job completed as efficiently as possible while still being safe. Even though your tool modification idea may seem clever at the time, when you are seated on the witness stand in a courtroom explaining to a lawyer how the accident caused by your modification happened, your enthusiasm for the idea may fade a bit.
A third rule for the safe use of tools is that if a tool is or becomes damaged, immediately remove it from use. Have it repaired by a qualified service person or replace it. You may not appreciate this rule unless or until you are injured by a damaged tool.
And finally, always wear the appropriate PPE for the task you are performing.
Handheld Grinders
Handheld grinders may be powered by either electricity or pneumatics. Before using a grinder, always inspect the tool for damage. Is the power cord or air hose damaged? Its powerful supply of 110V of electricity and water can be fatal. Also, a one-inch diameter air supply hose that has a connection failure during use can subject you to a severe beating. Make sure all the safety features work, including any trigger guard mechanism, like a glade guard, and be sure the handle(s) are all in proper working order. Verify that the glade wheel is the proper one for the material you’ll grind and that it has the correct RPM rating for the grinder tool. Using an improper grinding wheel may cause it to break, which would send fragments flying and potentially cause severe injury.
When using a grinder, be aware of which way the wheel or blade rotates and understand how the grinder will react when under load. When you grind with it, which way does the tool want to move? It is not unheard of for a grinding wheel to catch and unexpectedly throw itself into the welder’s face. Make sure the handle is properly located and you have a good grip. Some handheld grinders generate 3.5 horsepower: that is similar to holding a running lawnmower engine in your hands.
Also, be sure you do not have loose or dangling clothing, hair, or jewelry that can get caught in the grinding wheel. A grinding wheel rotating at 4500 RPM will entangle itself in a hoodie’s drawstring and yank itself into your face before you can react. Unfortunately, this really happens. Never use a grinder without a guard and do not remove the guard.
Hammers and Struck Tools
Welders very commonly use hammers and struck tools like punches, stamps, wedges, and chisels. While these are much less complicated than grinders and more on the level of Stone Age tools like rocks, they can still hurt you. I vividly remember working in a shop, swinging a four-pound hammer in one hand at a number stamp held in my other hand and accidentally smashing my thumb. After jumping around for a time, clutching my rapidly swelling thumb, I took a second attempt at stamping the number into my workpiece and hit my thumb again.
Besides hitting yourself, the primary hazard you face when using hammers and struck items is the risk of fragments breaking off and becoming projectiles. Mushroomed heads on chisels, punches, and stamps may look like cool marks of usage, but they should be ground off before they break off. Be sure that any cracked or otherwise broken hammer handles are replaced. Do not tape them up and hope for the best. If working in an environment where sparks should be avoided, such as a refinery, be sure to use a brass hammer that does not produce sparks. And when using wedges, do not stack them on top of each other: pressure and force on them will increase and the stacked wedges will pop out at you. The more you have to pound them in, the harder they will hit you when they fly out.
Clamps
The hazard from using clamps—such as C-clamps, bridge clamps, half-clamps, and bar or pipe clamps—is the possibility of failure under load. Clamps are used to hold things in place and, sometime, to force things into place. They may suddenly fail when under a heavy load, which would mean parts flying out. This is especially dangerous when clamps are used to secure heavy components that may fall or shift if clamps fail. Never position yourself in any place that would put you in harm’s way if clamps were to fail.
Other safe practices to note are that bridge clamps, while especially strong, should never be used as an anchorage for fall protection. When clamping pieces together, be aware that surfaces that are not flat but rather at an angle, such as the legs of a channel, have a chance of slipping as pressure with the clamp is increased. And keep an eye out for a clamp that begins to bend and distort as you tighten: it is trying to warn you that danger is imminent.
Safe Use of Related Tools
The variety of hand tools and small power tools is quite wide, with new types of tools still being developed. With this in mind, keep these safety practices in mind regardless of what tool you are using:
- Always use tools according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
- Never modify tools from their original configuration.
- Use tools only for their intended purpose.
- Repair or replace any damaged tool.
Above all, remember this: creativity and power tools are a bad combination. Only use tools for their intended purpose!
Attributions
- Figure 4.1: image released under the Pexels License
- Figure 4.2: A hammer which is rusty, damaged and poorly repaired. Colour Wellcome L0026413 by Wellcome Collections is released under CC BY 4.0
- Figure 4.3: Damaged Hammer Head by Noel Hankamer is released under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
- Figure 4.4: 140627-Z-IL540-017 by U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos in the Public Domain; United States government work
- Figure 4.5: Irwin Quick-Grip bar clamp white by J.C. Fields is released under CC BY-SA 3.0
- Figure 4.6: ST3DSC_0682 by zittware is released under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
A powered hand tool that uses an abrasive disc for cutting or grinding.
A small hammer with a chisel-like blade for removing slag from completed welds. Also called a slag ax.
Extra heavy c-clamp that requires a wrench to tighten.
A half of a c-clamp that is tacked to a seam so that the main body and the clamping screw are on opposite sides of the joint, allowing precise alignment.