Britool (Made in England) thread

[Bob H]

Posters

 

[Bob H]

Who has a secretive hankering for a Refrigeration Set ?
(even if, like me, you have absolutely no practical need for one).

 

[esben57]

Tidying up and just found this addendum. Have an idea where it came from but not sure of year.
Never saw a Britool ratchet with quick release.

 

[humber2]

Looking at 1968 Cat the largest 2JM spanner was 3032 so list is more recent.

All the small 2JM sizes are in the 1975 Cat under James Neill control, but not the three largest as 3032 was still the largest.

Have to go to this Cat, perhaps 1989 to find the QR Ratchet and more big 2JM spanners.

 

[tim378]

Hi just wondered if anyone could help me get a rough idea of the value of some tool sets, that I picked up from a house clearance.

Theres a couple of Britool sets, I need to check if they are complete, look to be the same age and fairly mint one i think was probably unused a whitworth crowsfoot set still in the paper sleeve the other an 80A which has been used, but still in really good condition, and theres a spanner set in the sleeve guessing same era, will dig that out and put some details up.

Completely understand if this isnt the kind of thing that the forums for, just thought I would give it a try as I cant find any matches on ebay to try to gauge a value.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[esben57]

Socket set looks all there and all in good nick. I would say they are for collecting over using due to age and condition.
There is also a facheache site 'Britool made in England' you could try there.
You may have had some offers or should do if you advertise these.

 

[tim378]

Thanks for the help, I'll check out that facebook group.

 

[Bob H]

Thanks for the help, I'll check out that facebook group.

You will be welcome, I’m Admin over there.

 

[tim378]

Brilliant thanks Bob.

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

What was the idea with these ?

ring spanners with hex (6-point) & Bi-hex (12-point) rings. The smaller size is 6-point and the larger size is 12-point.

 

[esben57]

Looks like a later Britool Hallmark.
Bob H might have a catalogue.

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

They're listed as Britool England and the text says made in England.

I get the trade-off of positions vs. grip with bi-hex vs. hex, seems odd to have a range like this. There may have been more models available in the past. Taking a closer look:

13x15
15x17 - so you have 15 in both
16x18
17x19 - and 17
18x21 - and 18
19x22 - and 19

It does give you two separate spanners of each size for use at the same time. Same reason sometimes given for having sets of double open end and double ring end, rather than a single set of combination spanners.

 

[Farmer J.]

It does give you two separate spanners of each size for use at the same time. Same reason sometimes given for having sets of double open end and double ring end, rather than a single set of combination spanners.

I assume that's the idea of it, but the sequence of sizes never seems to be of any practical use!
I avoid carrying combination wrenches in tractors or vehicles, they're best as a compliment to a socket set.
In the field i carry a set of open end and a set of ring ends.

 

[DAustin]

What was the idea with these ?

These should have been made with both ends the same size. The 6 point to break something lose and the 12 point to take it off faster in tight spaces. I'll buy Open-end and Box-end wrenches in the combinations I would use most. 10x13, 15x17 for my VW Beetle or for Japanese cars 10x12, 14x17.

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

They just caught my eye when browsing.

There doesn't seem to be any new old stock left of anything in 10mm, otherwise I had my eye on picking up a couple of spanners from the homeland brand while I still can.

 

[esben57]

They just caught my eye when browsing.

There doesn't seem to be any new old stock left of anything in 10mm, otherwise I had my eye on picking up a couple of spanners from the homeland brand while I still can.

What are you looking for exactly, 10mm Britool spanners only?

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

What are you looking for exactly, 10mm Britool spanners only?

Nothing exactly really Just would like to have something (or a few) Britool things that are useful, thinking maybe some type of spanners in 10,13,17,19. But that would be an annoying set without a 10mm. There is new old stock at Prime Tools and Trademarque tools.

 

[esben57]

Nothing exactly really Just would like to have something (or a few) Britool things that are useful, thinking maybe some type of spanners in 10,13,17,19. But that would be an annoying set without a 10mm. There is new old stock at Prime Tools and Trademarque tools.

Might consider King ****, made in England tools though. Very good spanners and sockets.

 

[Bob H]

Looks like a later Britool Hallmark.
Bob H might have a catalogue.

i don’t have them in a catalog, and have not seen one, but did find this on line …..

Britool England Ring Spanner / Wrench Series 6-Point X 12-Point, Sizes 13-22mm​

Original made in England ring spanners with hex (6-point) & Bi-hex (12-point) rings. The smaller size is 6-point and the larger size is 12-point.
Manufactured from high quality alloy steel.
Highly polished, bright nickel and chrome plated.
Offset swan neck design with a different size ring on each end.
The hexagon ring ensures positive grip on even the most stubborn fasteners.
The bi-hex ring allows for short turning movements.
This item was made in the Cannock manufacturing plant before it closed.
Please note picture is for illustration purposes only. Therefore, the size shown may be different from what it advertised. You will receive the size advertised.
The HALLMARK range was developed by Britool in the 80's for the automotive aftermarket. it has been the professional’s choice ever since. Each tool is marked with the Britool hallmark , your guarantee of quality.

 

[Bob H]

Trawled through this from start to finish.
In a post from 2018 (page 11), ' 3/8 deep bi-hex sockets that say Britool - England - MDMB - SIZES10-19.'
If I am correct, M = 9/32" drive D = deep, M = metric, B = bi- hexagon.

Off to dig out my Britool oddities. Will stick some pictures up here soon.

M = Midget, = 9/32” drive.
3/8” drive is A = Aero.

 

[Shergar]

Now I hope I’m not diluting thread too much, but I thought you might all like to hear how a 34 year old Britool ratchet has shown a brand new Stahlwille who‘s boss!

Now I was issued (actually they took it out my pay in 52 weekly instalments!) this little 1/4 drive ratchet in 1992 by British Rail as part of my apprenticeship toolkit, and I still have most of the tools, though this little thing is in better condition than most of the tools (Purely because it was only used to do up BA sized electrical connections and everything else was used to pull crusty trains apart). I’ve no idea of the model number so shout if you have an I.D. But I can vouch its never been apart or dunked in ATF, its as delivered when I was 17!

Solid cast construction, low drag backlash and plenty of teeth make it a winner. The rubber/plastic handle is as good as new too. (Side note the handle on my same age 1/2 drive is just as good, even if the ratchet itself is a bit chrome scabby these days). I think - but I'm guessing - this is a forged body.




So onto the Stahlwille: It‘s not heavy - but like the Britool it also has a nice density to it and has quite a precise action, whilst still being quite sturdy. However though the new kid on the block from Germany feels just as sturdy as the old Britool, but is sadly no where near as precise. The handles rather nice and feels just like their excellent (Witte made) screwdrivers.



There is an if…. In a nutshell had I felt the Deutsch wunderkind in my palm in a shop, I’d have left it there on the shelf, despite how great the internet says it should be! The fit and finish is excellent, but the mechanism is nothing to write home about. I paid £18 ($24) for what I think is an ex-military stores new stock, a new in wrapper would be theoretically £50+ ($68).

The 1/4 drive Halfords ratchet below (UK autoparts chain, and part of another lot) could be bought for £14.40 ($19.60) over the counter and is a very good generic Taiwanese ratchet and (whispers quietly) has a better smoother action, but not Britool smooth.



Last up (just because) is this mid 80’s Gordon ratchet. It has the last gasp Gordon logo, before the brand vanished forever. Actually quite nice casting, but this example has lived a hard life and is sloppier than an exotic dancer in her 70’s… I guess the length meant you could put quite a bit of force through it which led to its demise. The square grips quite nice.

I would like to try a box fresh example one day though.




Apologises for the thread drift

 

[esben57]

The

Now I hope I’m not diluting thread too much, but I thought you might all like to hear how a 34 year old Britool ratchet has shown a brand new Stahlwille who‘s boss!

Now I was issued (actually they took it out my pay in 52 weekly instalments!) this little 1/4 drive ratchet in 1992 by British Rail as part of my apprenticeship toolkit, and I still have most of the tools, though this little thing is in better condition than most of the tools (Purely because it was only used to do up BA sized electrical connections and everything else was used to pull crusty trains apart). I’ve no idea of the model number so shout if you have an I.D. But I can vouch its never been apart or dunked in ATF, its as delivered when I was 17!

Solid cast construction, low drag backlash and plenty of teeth make it a winner. The rubber/plastic handle is as good as new too. (Side note the handle on my same age 1/2 drive is just as good, even if the ratchet itself is a bit chrome scabby these days). I think - but I'm guessing - this is a forged body.




So onto the Stahlwille: It‘s not heavy - but like the Britool it also has a nice density to it and has quite a precise action, whilst still being quite sturdy. However though the new kid on the block from Germany feels just as sturdy as the old Britool, but is sadly no where near as precise. The handles rather nice and feels just like their excellent (Witte made) screwdrivers.



There is an if…. In a nutshell had I felt the Deutsch wunderkind in my palm in a shop, I’d have left it there on the shelf, despite how great the internet says it should be! The fit and finish is excellent, but the mechanism is nothing to write home about. I paid £18 ($24) for what I think is an ex-military stores new stock, a new in wrapper would be theoretically £50+ ($68).

The 1/4 drive Halfords ratchet below (UK autoparts chain, and part of another lot) could be bought for £14.40 ($19.60) over the counter and is a very good generic Taiwanese ratchet and (whispers quietly) has a better smoother action, but not Britool smooth.



Last up (just because) is this mid 80’s Gordon ratchet. It has the last gasp Gordon logo, before the brand vanished forever. Actually quite nice casting, but this example has lived a hard life and is sloppier than an exotic dancer in her 70’s… I guess the length meant you could put quite a bit of force through it which led to its demise. The square grips quite nice.

I would like to try a box fresh example one day though.




Apologises for the thread drift

The Britool and Gordon MAY have been made overseas. Bob H will Know. I have the Gordon with /|\, not great.
Some of those Halfords 100 tooth ratchets are very weak, yours looks like regular type. Warranty is good though.

 

[esben57]

Old RJQ437. Q for double square. Price £0.51 GBP 1971 price list

 

[Bob H]

The

The Britool and Gordon MAY have been made overseas. Bob H will Know. I have the Gordon with /|\, not great.
Some of those Halfords 100 tooth ratchets are very weak, yours looks like regular type. Warranty is good though.

Sorry to disappoint, but Far too new for me. I expect they were made overseas, but have no evidence to support this supposition.

 

[Ayrhead]

Some Bristol DOE Wrenches. Not a full set. I purchased them from a gentleman who was a mechanic and worked on a socks machine. These were some of the tools he used to repair the machine…

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

Cross posted from the new arrivals thread.

Sellers list these with an "E" suffix (e.g. CELM13E), to distinguish from the Hallmark ones which appear to use the same product codes.

The printing variances on them hints at them being far apart in manufacture, in terms of time/batches, or perhaps even by thousands of miles by what I've read speculated on here

13 - take it as a starting point
17 - shallower
19 - shallower again, "19" in modern font (still doesn't match the rear font)


Britool CELM Combination Spanners 13, 17, 19mm
New old stock, just for historical reasons. These were made in England but later offshored and apparently continued to be marked as such. The 19mm has shallower text and the font of the size number has been modernised.

 

[Rangie]

Some photos of my No.45 448 Hex Drive Set.
This is my "master" hex set, I've expanded it with a couple of convertors, stud extractor and small ratchet

This one gets used regularly as its quite versatile with the metric additions









Alec.

 

[Farmer J.]

Some photos of my No.45 448 Hex Drive Set.
This is my "master" hex set, I've expanded it with a couple of convertors, stud extractor and small ratchet

This one gets used regularly as its quite versatile with the metric additions









Alec.

That's a nice useful set, especially with the additions and those Allen hex drivers.
Was your box originally black? I have a box for mine which looks black but it's been repainted in the past and is in poor condition. The pieces are on my wall board but it would be nice to refinish the box as original.

 

[Rangie]

That's a nice useful set, especially with the additions and those Allen hex drivers.
Was your box originally black? I have a box for mine which looks black but it's been repainted in the past and is in poor condition. The pieces are on my wall board but it would be nice to refinish the box as original.

This one was always black. They went red in the early 50s kind of period, by the mid 50s all the black ones were sold off, I'm not sure exactly when the transition was.

I prefer this "era" of hex sets and theres no ambiguity when you go to the shelf to grab a set

If yours has a riveted aluminium badge, with an etched aluminium legend inside, it would fit for a black box. They progressed to riveted plastic labels, plastic inserts, stuck-on labels etc as time progressed. More knowledgeable types may know more accurately.

Alec.

 

[Farmer J.]

This one was always black. They went red in the early 50s kind of period, by the mid 50s all the black ones were sold off, I'm not sure exactly when the transition was.

I prefer this "era" of hex sets and theres no ambiguity when you go to the shelf to grab a set

If yours has a riveted aluminium badge, with an etched aluminium legend inside, it would fit for a black box. They progressed to riveted plastic labels, plastic inserts, stuck-on labels etc as time progressed. More knowledgeable types may know more accurately.

Alec.

Thanks Alec. I reckon this one was originally a dark red hammered finish. It probably had a stick on label on the outside, and there's no evidence of any insert at all.
The actual structure of the box is pretty good, it's just filthy and very poor exterior paint. Hardly any rust, I suppose the oily crud has protected it!

 

[f121]

Thanks Alec. I reckon this one was originally a dark red hammered finish. It probably had a stick on label on the outside, and there's no evidence of any insert at all.
The actual structure of the box is pretty good, it's just filthy and very poor exterior paint. Hardly any rust, I suppose the oily crud has protected it!

Good workmate too!

Do you use that set day to day? How does it compare to using a modern set?

 

[Farmer J.]

Good workmate too!

Do you use that set day to day? How does it compare to using a modern set?

Thanks, I bought one of the first Workmates ever.
The old Britool sockets aren't quite as good a fit as modern Snap On flank drive ones, and the ratchet is truly awful but of course that's not a fair comparison. Technology has moved on.
It has it's place and is a pleasure to use occasionally. The .448 hex drive system is very efficient in tight spots and the set has the full range of imperial socket sizes so i'm never stuck for a socket that will fit. Any size fastener within the range, and that set has it and square plugs as well!
It compares very well on cost, buying a modern set with all those options of sockets and drive tools would cost a heck of a lot more.

 

[DAustin]

It always felt right to use Britool tools when i was working on my British cars and motorcycles back when I still had them. It's kind of like using Hazet working on old VWs.

 

[DetailSeeker]

Found this in a fairly large wrench (spanner) haul.

Top to bottom, the text reads
BRITISH BRITOOL MADE
9/16 A/F 4209 5/8 A/F
CHROME ALLOY-WAR FINISH

This thing is solid. It's eight inches long, but the handle is a consistent half-inch around, and it weighs 6.9 oz. (I weighed another 9/16 × 5/8 box end that was an inch and a half longer, and that one only came to 4.2 oz.)

I cleaned it up a little (just soap and Autosol). No owner's stamp or broad arrow, but the ends are in not-terrible shape; I've definitely got some DH box wrenches that are much closer to rounded.

Frances

 

[Stubby1743]

i picked these two up at my small local car boot sale this morning.

1/2" x 7/16" tappet spanner. Marked "CHROME ALLOY TAPPET" on reverse.
1/2" x 7/16" double square. Part no.Z6009. Special application of some sort.