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britool clutch ratchet
- Thread starter bixxjs
- Start date
Dave455
Well-known member
Decent tools. I have the earlier version in 3/8 drive. It's a Britool handle with an 'off the shelf' one way bearing.
By the time they produced the version shown, which was from he Facom owned era, quality was dropping, but they were still buying in bearings which were decent!
After this, it all got bought ought by Stanley and trashed. Britool became a 'brand' applied to the crappiest tools they could find, and the last of the Britool factories was closed! It's a housing development with a crappy statue of spanners outside now - and they're not even Britool spanners!
By the time they produced the version shown, which was from he Facom owned era, quality was dropping, but they were still buying in bearings which were decent!
After this, it all got bought ought by Stanley and trashed. Britool became a 'brand' applied to the crappiest tools they could find, and the last of the Britool factories was closed! It's a housing development with a crappy statue of spanners outside now - and they're not even Britool spanners!
nickjj
Well-known member
Ta for the info Dave,I'm originally from Wolverhampton and apparently the
original Britool factory was based there.As you know all the British makes
Gordon,Bedford and Birmingham King **** are
all long gone.
King **** are still on the go:
http://www.kingdicktools.co.uk/
Dave455
Well-known member
Ta for the info Dave,I'm originally from Wolverhampton and apparently the
original Britool factory was based there.As you know all the British makes
Gordon,Bedford and Birmingham King **** are
all long gone.
Both the Britool factories were in Wolverhampton.
The original, pre war, factory was in Owen Road. It's still there in fact - it's the row of single story buildings with odd pitched roofs on the north end (west side) of the road.
They vacated that site before the war and moved to what I think of as the Britool building, which some of the older locals referred to as the 'Clyno' building. That was their home for many years, and where the best tools were produced!
By the time I was buying Britool, James Neil were making most of it at Cannock but the building survived for a bit. Did I see Goodyear signs once?
Yes, all of Britool has been trashed now. A salutary reminder of what happens when foreign companies take over.
Gordon are gone too, don't know many details, but they survived till the 80's!
Bedford are still going, (Bedford Steels) and seem to be relatively successful, but they sold their handtool manufacturing business to Spear and Jackson, and unsurprisingly, a garden tool maker didn't know what they were doing with it!
King **** are still going, thankfully, and still producing the same sort of stuff they used to!
Britool were always the top dogs though!
fanders
Well-known member
There's a Britool thread in the vintage tools section with more information:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=277755
Top quality British tools, sadly gone.
fanders
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=277755
Top quality British tools, sadly gone.
fanders
king **** are still going as strong as ever take a look on there web site plus there still made in englandTa for the info Dave,I'm originally from Wolverhampton and apparently the
original Britool factory was based there.As you know all the British makes
Gordon,Bedford and Birmingham King **** are
all long gone.
Tipco was one of my British favourites, their ratchet adaptor design was copied by snapon .
Do remember britool and snapon/bluepoint had a roto head clutch ratchet and I thought that actually friction shoes rather than a bearing, was 30yrs ago I last seen/used one so might be wrong as relying on memory of it .
Do remember britool and snapon/bluepoint had a roto head clutch ratchet and I thought that actually friction shoes rather than a bearing, was 30yrs ago I last seen/used one so might be wrong as relying on memory of it .
Quite a few old tool co's are still around going 'strong as ever' but for me when they close the factory in the country that founded them & source their tools from Asia the profit & loss statement may look good but I can't put the words 'strong as ever' next to them. For me when those companies were on home soil employing locals making tools with pride, that's when they were 'strong as ever'. Sadly today its not just a trend, its how most tool co's work.
Hyster Gareth
Well-known member
The current Britool Expert range is an insult to the Britool name!!!
Some sellers on eBay have the last stocks of Britool Hallmark made in England. It is off very good quality. It appears Stanley on buying Britool have done it's usual asset stripping and pushed production overseas as Dave rightly alludes to.
They have the nerve to claim the the moral high ground re Craftsman being made in USA, when they have pushed so much production out of the states.
Some sellers on eBay have the last stocks of Britool Hallmark made in England. It is off very good quality. It appears Stanley on buying Britool have done it's usual asset stripping and pushed production overseas as Dave rightly alludes to.
They have the nerve to claim the the moral high ground re Craftsman being made in USA, when they have pushed so much production out of the states.