Most family garages probably have an assortment of tools and materials that could all be used to make, for example, a basic table for the backyard or even something more complex. The team at Dienamics, a company that specializes in industrial design, toolmaking, and manufacturing, says that tools are the backbone of modern industry and trade. They are essential in almost any construction project. However, we don't often stop to think about the process of making the tools themselves.

Many argue that in prehistoric times, one of the most important eras in our evolution was the utilization of basic tools. The earliest known human-made stone tools date back around 2.6 million years. Crafted and used by homo habilis (sometimes known as "handy man"), these implements marked the first in a series of major toolmaking advances among early human hunter-gatherer societies, lasting from the early Stone Age all the way up until the first modern humans, homo sapiens, made the transition to permanent agricultural settlements around 10,000 years ago. Tools allowed our ancient ancestors to have much more of an effect on the world around them, helping them to survive in more comfort, and achieve more with less.

As we evolved as a species, so did our tools and our ability to use them. These two elements were essential to the development of infrastructure, which spurred the establishment of trades like carpentry and blacksmithing which relied on an individual mastering the use of a certain tool or trade. While hand tools were once forged out of the natural environment, these trades fine-tuned the creation of their tools using iron, wood and other metals which were heated and remolded.

These days, the process of creating tools is a lot more specific which, according to Dienamics, means there is a uniformity in material, size, and weight of hand tools which wasn't possible before. Now, a hand tool is designed on a computer, taking into account specific measurements and densities which make it both efficient and easy to use.