Graphical Construction Glossary >> Tools. >> Hand Tools >> Gimlet

Gimlet

A one handed boring tool with a wooden T handle and a metal worm or small screw on the tip. Used for making holes in thin material or for making starter holes for screwing or drilling.

Awl

A small tool having slender pointed sharp blade with which holes may be made.l

Bradawl

A joinery tool with a metal spike on a round handle used for making small starting holes for screws or brads which are small nails.

Scratch Awl

A joinery awl used for making scratch marks in wood.

An all metal gimlet Photo thanks to Wikimedia Commons, User: Saintswithin

Used in joiner's shops for making a quick indentation to start screws or drills. To stop the point wandering off on a smooth surface. The one above is all metal, but in the main they seem to just have a wooden bar at the top making the tool look like a letter "T"

Some of them are quite small and the auger is barely evident, but ones with well defined awls on the ends like the one above are used for drilling through thin material like leather or thin plywood.

Photo thanks to Wikimedia Commons, User: Emrys2

The bit above is used in a carpenter's hand brace for faster and deeper drilling than the hand one above.

A scratch awl Photo thanks to Wikimedia Commons, User: SilentC

A nicely made Scratch Awl. These are used similarly to a scriber for making a more permanent mark than a pencil. In a similar way to a marking gauge the small recess that the tool makes gives a guide to the placement of a chisel.

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