Recent content by Nigelhirst

Thanks Monte!

I used one to trim a hedge, on and off, over 30 minutes. Used one of the four ‘power’ lights, and it recharged in a few minutes. So I would say the battery life was good. One of my neighbours has one and he managed to break two teeth off the chain accidentally hitting a piece of metal, so I...

Ah yes, I hadn’t spotted that. Maybe they are ‘loaners’ from the factory which were, err, ‘forgotten’...��

I saw that too, and thought the same. Where does he keep finding this NOS?? Cheers Nigel

CK is Carl Kammerling. It claims to be a 100 year old German manufacturer.... I’m not sure why it is based in Wales. According to the website the factory was destroyed in the war, then became part of the Soviet bloc, and relocated to Wales in 1954. Maybe it just rebrands generic German Tools...

For those in the UK, I recently bought a Facom SXE.J7MGRPPB set of extractors from Master Outillage in France. The postage charge was high, but they deducted French VAT (post Brexit), and UK customs didn’t charge UK VAT. So it arrived in 10 days for £120, compared to £180 from UK suppliers. And...

All I have to do now is to start my collection of ‘Dwarf’ sockets...:beer:

I’ve just been gifted a catalogue 101, 3rd edition. No year of publication, but it shows ‘British made’ tools, and has rendered drawings rather than photographs. Charmingly it was printed at ‘The Old Grammar School Works’ in Wolverhampton... Nigel

Thanks. That is very useful. Bearing in mind the ratchet appears to be Taiwanese rather than Japanese, I think I will give them a miss. Cheers Nigel

Has anyone actually had experience of those Vessel wood composite handles? I made an enquiry for the 1/4 drive set and the are £77 + £12 delivery in the UK. I don’t want to spend that if they are no good! Nigel

Just make sure you know what you are getting! The current ratchets are soft handled (rather similar to Facom), not the ones shown in the first set of pictures. And so far as I know, none are made in the UK if that is your interest. Nigel

If you want to restore it, here's how to do it: Nigel

Indeed the flat blades are excellent. However my experience with the Pozidriv ones is mirrored in this YouTube video: Nigel

I've had a set of these for a year or so sourced from Amazon and they are fine. I've found the Wera 'laser tips' to be a 'one use and throw away' as the tips are so soft, but these are much better. However I am in Germany at the moment, and they are widely available for €11 or so (Bauhaus, Zoro)...

There was a law suit, which led to the range being canned. As I said, they bear a 'remarkable' resemblance to another make....