A tool is any hand-held instrument or simple piece of equipment used to do a particular kind of work. Shown below are items from the CSS Museum and new items if purchased today.
Drill, hand (breast) – This portable breast drill was placed against the chest or shoulder to increase the pressure and force the drill bit into the work. A hand drill is a manual tool that converts and amplifies circular motion of the crank (arm on the drill turned by hand) into circular motion of a drill chuck (part of the drill that hold a drill bit).
File – A file is a hand tool with rows of metal teeth across its face. The size and pattern of the teeth determine how much wood or metal will be taken off the object with each pass over it. The teeth on single-cut files run in one direction, while double-cut files have a crisscrossing pattern to remove wood more aggressively. Files come in different sizes and shapes as flat, round, or triangular.
Gauge – Shown below a handmade wooden gauge for marking woodwork. A marking gauge, also known as a scratch gauge, is used in woodworking and metalworking to mark out lines for cutting or other operations. The purpose of the gauge is to scribe a line parallel to a reference edge or surface.
