Is there a phrase to use when someone is using a tool incorrectly so that to barely achieve the result?

Question

I am looking for hyperbolic word or phrase for the case when you are using very complex or capable thing in such a way that even though the purpose is served, it was not used in the optimal way thus the optimal result was also not achieved. Like when someone is using a car as a hand cart or something.

EDIT: 
The message I want to convey is "you can do the same task in better way using the tool" and not "you can do the same task using a simpler tool".

While "A sledgehammer to crack a nut" represents the later idea, I am looking an expression for the former.

Chris H · Answer

This is rare, and the wording isn't fixed, but I've heard in in real life, and there are hits on Google (without the quotes you get a lot more relevant hits, but they're buried in a lot of irrelevant material):

Hitting the nail with the handle (of the hammer).

Because it's an obvious metaphor (actually more often employed as a simile) you can get away with it not being  well established.  I've come across it in engineering (and science) circles in the UK, where tool metaphors are common, and problems  in particular are often described in colourful terms.

It works well in a deliberately mixed metaphor: "Fred tended to use sledgehammers to crack nuts. Unfortunately for the rest of us, this time he decided to use the handle"

Is there a phrase to use when someone is using a tool incorrectly so that to barely achieve the result?

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