Amateur Radio Quiz: What Kind of Tool Am I?
1) Which tool is used to trim wire leads flush with a circuit board?
b. side cutters
c. gas pliers
d. compound snips
2) Which is most likely to have a "T handle"?
a. soldering iron
b. crimping tool
d. flat file
3) Which type of tool family has a "Double D" member?
4) What type of holes does a "fly cutter" cut?
5) True or False?
T F A tap puts threads in a hole while a die puts threads on a rod.
T F The second number in a screw size (i.e. 6-32) represents body size.
T F The higher a drill's number, the smaller the hole it drills.
T F It is desirable for a drill bit to walk.
T F Chips and curls are created by rip saws.
6) Which solder alloy is the easiest to melt? (%Sn:%Pb)
7) What does a bending brake do?
a. Curves electrical conduit without crimping it.
b. Removes material from the inside of square holes.
c. Bends sheet metal precisely.
d. Holds the workpiece for milling.
8) What does a nibbling tool nibble?
a. wire insulation
b. coax braid
c. sheet metal
d. finger stock
9) The material left around the edges of a hole after drilling is called a ___________.
10) Which of these is supposed to be used to poke holes in things?
a. nail set
b. thread chaser
d. Phillips screwdriver
11) Which of the following is not a type of screwdriver bit?
12. Rank these measuring tools in order of most precise to least precise:
Bonus: What tool is also the name of a popular antenna and why?
1) b -- These have cutting edges on the side of the jaws to slide along a surface as they cut.
2) c -- The T-handled reamer is used to enlarge holes by hand.
3) a -- A double-D punch creates a round hole with two flat sides.
4) a -- The fly cutter is used to cut large-diameter circular holes in sheet metal.
5) T; F (it represents threads per inch; T; F (walking means the bit is moving sideways; F (these are the material removed by drilling.)
6) d -- This mix of tin (Sn) and lead (Pb) melts at the lowest temperature.
7) c -- Built-in clamps hold the metal while forms shape the bend.
8) c -- A nibbling tool removes small bits of sheet metal to form a non-circular hole.
9) b -- The burr is then removed with a countersink, a de-burring tool, or by filing or scraping.
10) c -- Yes, all of them can be used to poke holes in things, but the awl is the proper tool to use.
11) a -- Pan (as in "pan-head" is a type of screw head, not the shape of the bit used to turn it.
12) -- micrometer, calipers, rule, tape (with few exceptions).
Bonus: The variable-length mobile "screwdriver antenna" is so named because the original prototypes used dc motors from electric screwdrivers to adjust the length of the antenna's whip.
H. Ward Silver, N0AX
ARRL Contributing Editor