The speed with which technology is evolving and the sheer number of new inventions that pour into the market every day makes it difficult to ensure that you are using the right tools to do minor carpentry around your home. Simple chores like measuring surfaces, cutting or fastening hardware and basic furniture construction do not require specialists if you know the correct hand tools to use. While you may want to choose between mechanical hand tools and electrically powered ones, their basic functions remain the same.

The most practical use of hand tools that you will often have is to pry things apart. Going back to the basics, the best tool to serve this purpose is the pry bar. A pry bar is a flat bar with two ends, one forked and the other, wedged. As simple as it may look, the pry bar forms an essential part of any woodworking kit. Its construction makes it ideal to remove nails or force apart two objects with minimum effort. While the wedged end helps maintain a better grip, the forked one can be conveniently inserted into crevices to pry open jammed crates or pop out stubborn nails.

Usually made of metal like medium-carbon steel, the pry bar is a relatively heavy hand tool. However, markets now offer lighter, non-magnetic titanium versions, too. Alternatively, they may be composed of insulation material and prove useful where electricity conduction is an issue. Also, a pry bar's length can range from 10 inches to over a yard.

Using basic principles of leverage, applying force on one end of the pry bar increases its power to push up the other. Sometimes, this versatile hand tool even doubles as a sledgehammer to break unnecessary walls.

While the pry bar's name obviously originates from its utility, it is often known as a "crowbar" or "iron crow" due to its resemblance to a crow's beak. Another bird etymology terms it as a "gooseneck". Informally, the hand tool is also referred to as a "jimmy" or "wrecking bar".

Without a doubt, pry bars are extremely handy around the house to extract nails, unscrew door hinges and polish moldy walls. In addition, they also make an appearance in the carpentry kits of inspectors at loading docks, security personnel, policemen, construction workers and firemen, forge.