Specialized Hand Tools: To Include In Your Tool Chest or Not?

Hardware stores tend to be very large places, and if you’ve ever glanced into their special sections (or browsed through the online equivalent), then you may have been slightly intimidated by the sheer variety offered. Today, I’m going to take a little of the mystery out of these areas and help you decide whether or not you should be adding these to your own tool kits.

The Basics of Specialized Tools

For most people, a hammer is a hammer and a nail is a nail; there’s no need to get more complicated than that. For certain jobs, however, a specialized touch is required in order to get the job done right, and that’s where unique tools start to come into play. For the most part, specialized tools are a modification of the basic design, intended to provide a specific benefit in certain circumstances. One of the most common examples of a specialized tool set is a set of differently-sized screwdrivers, but different shapes and materials may also be used.

Do you need Specialized Tools?

In Short:

Maybe. The thing about specialized tools is that they’re very situation-dependent – more importantly, some of them are so specialized that they may actually be less effective than a standard tool when used outside of their intended area. Let’s take a look at a few situations where specialized tools may be a good idea.

Danger Zones:

If you’re working around electrical wiring, flammable substances, or anything else that’s potentially hazardous, then you might want to use a specialized tool. One of the best choices for these situations is a non-sparking tool or similar item that’s specifically designed and rated to avoid triggering a problem.

Hard to Reach Spaces:

Most tools can easily do their job if you can reach the problem, but some problems are incredibly inconvenient to reach – and would be expensive to get to the easy way. Many specialized tools are designed to reach into these areas (even operating around corners) in order to provide the best function with the least effort on your part. If you regularly find yourself having trouble reaching a problem area, then you should look into specialized tools.

Unusual Materials:

Problems can be created by something as small as having a plastic screw and a metal screwdriver. Though not the most common products on the shelves, some tools are designed to deal with unusual materials in one way or another.

As you can see, specialized tools aren’t always the answer. Their main purpose in existence is to solve problems or be more useful in different circumstances than a standard tool is. To make the final decision on whether or not you need the tools, just take a look at your past efforts at home improvement: if your tools seem to be more of a problem than a help, then you’re probably using the wrong tool. Switch it to something more specialized and you should be just fine. Otherwise, keep what you’re already got; there’s no need to buy Specialty Hand Tools from any Hardware Supplier sunless you actually have a use for them.

Specialty Hand Tools from Hardware Suppliers can make all the difference when improving a home or office setting and getting rid of problems.