Mechanics Tools
Primary 6 · Science and Elementary Technology
Mechanics Tools
Lesson 1 of 5
14 min
Let's begin
Mugisha spends his Saturday mornings at his uncle Gatete's small garage in Nyamirambo. A moto driver rolls in with a loose mirror and a car arrives with a flat tyre. "Pass me the 10 millimetre spanner!" calls Gatete. Mugisha hands him a hammer.
Gatete laughs, but he also explains: every tool in a garage has its own job, and the wrong tool can spoil the machine or hurt someone. By the end of this lesson you will never mix them up.
A mechanic is a person who repairs and looks after machines: bicycles, motorcycles, cars, water pumps and maize mills. Mechanics tools are the hand tools a mechanic uses to take a machine apart, put it back together, tighten, loosen, cut, hold and lift its parts.
The easiest way to learn them is to group them by the job they do.
| Tool | Its job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Hammer | Striking (hitting). The claw at the back pulls out nails. | Knocking a stiff pin out of a bicycle pedal. |
| Screwdriver | Turning screws in or out. A flat screwdriver fits a straight slot; a cross (Phillips) screwdriver fits a + shaped slot. | Opening the back of a radio. |
| Spanner (also called a wrench) | Tightening and loosening nuts and bolts. Spanners have sizes in millimetres: a 10 mm spanner fits a 10 mm nut. An adjustable spanner can be opened or closed to fit many sizes. | Tightening a loose moto mirror. |
| Pliers | Gripping, holding, bending and cutting wire. | Bending a brake cable into place. |
| Hacksaw | Cutting metal: pipes, rods and bolts. Its thin blade has small, fine teeth. | Cutting a rusty bolt that is too long. |
| Hand drill | Making round holes in wood, metal or plastic. You turn the handle and the drill bit spins. | Making a hole to fix a number plate. |
| Jack | Lifting a heavy vehicle a little way off the ground. | Raising a car so a wheel can be changed. |
| Bench vice | Holding work firmly on the workbench so both your hands are free. | Holding a pipe still while it is cut. |
| File | Smoothing rough metal and sharpening edges. | Smoothing the sharp end of a cut pipe. |
| Spirit level | Checking whether a surface is level (horizontal). When it is level, the bubble sits exactly in the middle. | Checking that a workbench is not sloping. |
Here is Gatete's job list for Saturday. Read the job, find the action word, then choose the tool.
Your family may not own a spanner, but almost every Rwandan home has tools. A hoe and a spade are for digging. A machete (panga), a sickle and an axe are for cutting: the machete cuts grass and branches, and the curved sickle harvests crops such as rice, wheat and sorghum. Mechanics tools are the same idea, made for machines instead of fields.
Tip
Match the tool to the action word
HIT → hammer. TURN a screw → screwdriver. TURN a nut → spanner. GRIP → pliers. CUT metal → hacksaw. Make a HOLE → drill. LIFT → jack. HOLD still → vice.
Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.
Keza wants to make a small round hole in a piece of wood. Which tool does she need?
Answer: A hand drill.
A nut is 13 mm across. Gatete has spanners of 10, 12, 13 and 14 mm. Which one should he use, and why not the 14 mm?
Answer: The 13 mm spanner. A 14 mm spanner is too wide, so it would slip and round off the corners of the nut.
Which tool is used to check if a shelf is perfectly level?
Answer: A spirit level. The bubble must sit in the middle.
Sort these tools into CUTTING and TURNING tools: hacksaw, screwdriver, machete, spanner.
Answer: Cutting: hacksaw and machete. Turning: screwdriver and spanner.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
Quick check
Gatete calls for a tool to tighten a loose 10 mm nut on a moto mirror. Which tool should Mugisha pass him?
