Man is "weak in himself, and of small stature,"

wrote 19th-century essayist Thomas Carlyle. Yet, with tools, "the granite mountain melts into light dust before him, seas are his smooth highway, winds and fire his un­wearying steeds." And this from a guy who never felt a 5800-rpm circular saw scream to life in his hand.





While much has changed since Carlyle's day, one thing hasn't: We need tools to build, repair and maintain the mechanical world in which we live. With these 50 tools, you'll be ready for just about any project--whether it's melting mountains or swapping out the kitchen sink.





1. Sledgehammer

* Few tools combine brute force and finesse as elegantly as a sledgehammer. Swing it overhead to deliver bomb-blast destructiveness or to fire a wood-splitting wedge through a big log. Handle it like a putter to salvage architectural elements such as a post-and-beam barn frame that needs knocking apart. Most of us are better off with an 8- or 10-pound model that we can swing easily, not a 16- to 20-pounder.





2. Center Punch

* In theory, you use a center punch to start holes in metal. In practice, it's far more useful than that. You can tighten a loose handle on a knife or shovel by centering the punch on the rivet and then firmly striking it with a ball-peen hammer, expanding the rivet's head. In a pinch, you can also use a center punch like a steel pencil to mark a line on wood or metal. Or you can use it to countersink a large nailhead or drive down the stub of a broken nail or staple.





3. Putty Knife

* The putty knife is more than a single implement. Rather, it's a group of tools, ranging from knives with flexible, thin blades to heavy-duty models that are ground with a tip like a chisel (which, not surprisingly, are called chisel-edge putty knives). Better tools have a high-carbon steel blade; plastic, disposable ones are perfect for the no-scuff application of putty on painted surfaces.





4. Safety Glasses

* DIY projects may come and go, but you won't get a second shot at good vision--protecting your eyes should be your first priority. Opt for high-impact safety glasses over those rated "basic impact." For maximum protection, wear high-impact goggles because they cover more of your face and the area around your eyes.





5. Adjustable Wrench

* For portability and convenience, you can't beat the time-honored adjustable wrench, which enables you to turn a wide range of nuts and bolts with a single tool. If you're going to own just one, make it a 10- or 14-inch model so that it's big enough for residential plumbing fittings. Pull it so the reaction force is applied to the fixed jaw, not the movable one.





6. Pipe Wrench

* A pipe wrench may not be versatile, but when you need to hold a pipe and fittings, nothing else will work. The body is rigid and heavy, and the teeth bite forcefully into smooth, round surfaces. While most pipe wrenches are cast iron, spring for an aluminum model if you face a long day of plumbing.





7. Socket Wrench Set

* Reach for a socket wrench when you need to tighten fasteners or loosen frozen ones. The 1/2-inch drive is the heavy hitter of the socket wrench kingdom, followed by a switch hitter, the 3/8-inch drive, which is big enough to do light-duty automotive work yet small enough for some appliances. Reserve the 1/4-inch drive for appliance and electronics repair.





8. Metal File

* If the deadly twin-engine Heinkel 219 had been available in larger numbers, some World War II historians speculate, Germany might have stopped the Royal Air Force bombing that hastened the end of the war. As it was, fewer than 300 of the gun-bristling night fighters were made. Today, one remains, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Will Lee is slowly piecing it back together. Along with a rawhide mallet for hammering aluminum, the aircraft restorer's go-to tool is a metal file. He relies on four dozen files to finesse excess metal--both single- and double-cut, triangular and those he's cut down to shave rivets. "With a file, I can get right down to the lines I've scribed," says Lee, who did electrical work and built prosthetic limbs before joining the Smithsonian in 1990. He prefers hand tools for the most precise fits. "I seem to have more control doing it the way I've been doing it for years," he says.





9. Combination Square

* Used for marking out, measuring and testing the squareness of corners, the combination square is versatile and accurate. For maximum precision, first position your pencil (or the scratch awl stored in the head), then gently slide the square to the pencil (or awl) and strike your line. Check the tool's accuracy by marking a line 90 degrees to a straightedge. Flip the square and make another mark next to the first. If the two lines are parallel, the square is, well, square.





10. Combination Wrench

* Your wife has the family silver tucked away in a felt-lined box, and you've got your set of combination wrenches. The tool's design is prototypically simple--box-end on one side, open on the other. It has no moving parts and is covered in shiny chrome. If you're lucky enough to have inherited the set from your dad, that makes it as precious as the silver, while cheaper to insure. No one knows who invented the combination wrench or when, but it was popularized in the U.S. by Plomb Tools in the 1930s, a period of social and technological ferment. As automobiles became more numerous and sophisticated, so did the tools to work on them. New steel alloys and forging methods have only improved the wrench with the passage of time. Today's wrench is thinner, sleeker and stronger than the bulky ones it replaced; it weighs half what it did in the '20s. While it is hard to improve on perfection, in 2006 Craftsman introduced a new twist--literally--in its Cross-Force Combination Wrenches, turning the handle so your palm presses on the tool's broad face, not the narrow edge. Back when blacksmiths forged tools, they would inscribe the year onto the head as if to announce that it would last decades, maybe centuries, into an uncertain future. A fine set of wrenches, bearing dates or not, exudes the same sense of permanence.





11. Bow Saw

* The bow saw is a simple recipe for wood-cutting success: a ribbon-thin steel blade with sturdy teeth tensioned in a steel frame. And it's safer than a chain saw for removing tree limbs while standing on a ladder.





12. Jigsaw

* Because a jigsaw cuts with an up-and-down motion and its blade is comparatively narrow, it excels at cutting curves in wood, metal and plastic. Advanced models have an orbital setting that also moves the blade in a swinging motion for aggressive woodcutting.





13. Coping Saw

* A hand tool with a thin blade stretched in a C-shaped frame, the coping saw is also adept at intricate cuts: It is named for the technique of coping, or cutting, joints where two pieces of molding meet. As with any saw, choose a blade with more teeth for a finer cut, and one with fewer teeth for faster, somewhat rougher cutting. A blade with 15 teeth per inch, or tpi, should do the trick for general use.





14. Side-Cutting Pliers

* Call them side cutters, linesman pliers or electrician's pliers. By any name, the heavy jaws and shears make them indispensable for cutting electrical cable and for pulling the steel tape used to fish wires through wall and ceiling cavities. Models rated as "high leverage" can cut nails and bolts, while those equipped with a die near the jaws can press together the crimp connectors used on grounding wires.





15. Hacksaw

* The fine-tooth blade of a hacksaw can cut through iron and steel, as well as through tough materials like hard plastics and cable. With a blade known as a carbide-grit rod saw, it can even slice ceramic tile. For metal, use a carbon-steel blade with 14, 18, 24 or 32 tpi. Opt for a bimetal blade for high-tension pro models, which exert tremendous tensile force in order to hold the blade arrow straight in tough cuts. The bimetal blade's carbon-steel back, bonded to a high-speed-steel front, can take the tension.





16. Crosscut Saw

* Even if you own an arsenal of power saws, an eight-point crosscut saw should be somewhere in your shop. It may not make the finest cut, but it's the perfect jack-of-all-trades saw for small jobs, like the occasional 2 x 4. Hold the saw so that its toothed edge is 45 degrees to the work surface, and start the cut by drawing the saw back very lightly. Use full strokes, engaging as much of the toothed surface as possible.





17. Snips

* You don't have to be a metalworker to appreciate snips. This tool cuts sheet steel, copper and aluminum, but also rubber, heavy cardboard and plastic. Pro models have color-coded handles to indicate whether they are designed for left curves, right curves or straight cuts (red, green and yellow, respectively). Homeowners can get by with a single, all-purpose utility snip.





18. Roundnose Shovel

* The roundnose shovel digs, cuts and pries, but, like any tool, its efficiency depends on you. Start with the shovel perpendicular to the soil, and use your weight and leg muscles, not your arms, to drive it down. To toss dirt, hold the shovel close and keep your forward hand on the blade socket. Bend both knees. If you're right-handed, point your left foot in the direction of the toss.





19. Needle-Nose Pliers

* When you need to fish a dropped screw out of a tight space, when working on electronics for example, there's nothing handier than a pair of needle-nose pliers. Their elegant shape is also perfect for fastening a wire to a switch or outlet receptacle: Grip the wire at the tip of the jaws and roll the pliers to produce a neat hook, then fasten the hook under the terminal screw.





20. Drill

* Cordless drills readily combine speed, power and portability--so for most of us, they've already replaced the corded variety. They also come with a clutch that disconnects the drive mechanism when it reaches a dialed-in force setting, preventing the user from stripping the screw. While 14- to 18-volt models can handle most jobs, some drills have voltages in the mid-20s or even 30s for power that rivals that of the corded product.





21. Drill Bits

* For almost all general hole drilling, most of us can get by with a set of 15 or 18 high-speed-steel twist drill bits. You don't need to upgrade to a full set to deal with special circumstances, such as knocking a hole through a brick wall or boring through nail-infested lumber. Buy these expensive, single-purpose bits one at a time. As the years pass, the specialty bits add up, allowing you to tackle any job that comes along without a trip to the hardware store.





22. Locking Pliers

* An early multitool, locking pliers--patented in 1924--are sometimes known by the brand name Vise-Grip. They function like ordinary pliers but also as a wrench or welding clamp. Their powerful grip works well to remove stubborn nails or fence staples.





23. Level

* A 9-inch torpedo level is perfect for small jobs like hanging pictures, but you need a 2-foot or longer carpenter's model for bigger projects, such as leveling appliances and bookshelves or plumbing posts to support a fence or mailbox. Another bonus: Long levels make a nice straightedge.





24. Circular Saw

* Nothing beats a circular saw for speed and convenience when it comes to making straight cuts on a variety of materials. It can crosscut lumber or rip plywood, of course. But with a nail-cutting blade, a circular saw can also do demolition work; with an abrasive blade, it can saw through masonry and metal.





25. Spray Lube

* There are a lot of good spray lubricants, such as Liquid Wrench and Jig-A-Loo, but the most iconic is WD-40. The name stands for Water Displacement 40th attempt, since it took inventor Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company in San Diego, 40 tries to find a formula to stop metal corrosion by displacing the water that causes it. WD-40 removes adhesive, cleans bike parts, stops squeaks and loosens rusted bolts. And it has a few more unusual applications: Police once used it to remove a naked burglar stuck in an a/c vent.