Britool (Made in England) thread

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice toolboard farmerj. Have not seen that long swivel grip extension before.

 

[humber2]

Here's some pics of the 37A set I have with the short speeder.
I bought this set a while ago, before prices went so crazy. As it's in such amazing good condition I have just packed the parts in corrosion inhibiting paper, wax polished the box and kept it complete and original in storage.
Maybe it's an investment?
I have seen sets in the same tin as this but with Whitworth sockets, and also sets of the same sockets but in smaller tins with no speeder.

This tin is what I have, it contains 6 A/F and 5 WW sockets.

There's quite a range of tins starting with the end hinged lid one that fits in the palm of ones hand but those sets use shorter sockets.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Dave455]

Out of interest, this Universal Service Set is on U.K. eBay right now.

Owner wants £3k for it

Don’t know if it’s complete without going through all the pics, but it has the flare nut wrenches and crowfoot wrenches that came with the original, seemingly in both A/F and Whit.

If you need metric, stroll on!

 

[Farmer J.]

Nice toolboard farmerj. Have not seen that long swivel grip extension before.

Thanks, pleased you enjoyed seeing it.
The long swivel grip is thoroughly horrible to use though! You need at least 3 hands, and the cross bar slides out of the hole and falls in to the dark muddy oily underworld beneath the Land Rover.. If it had a detent ball to retain the cross bar and a groove in the bar (like a Snap-On F5) things may be different. So, it's a 'Wall Hanger' and a nice interesting piece of history and the 'Ferret' rules supreme in my workshop.

 

[Farmer J.]

Out of interest, this Universal Service Set is on U.K. eBay right now.

Owner wants £3k for it

Don’t know if it’s complete without going through all the pics, but it has the flare nut wrenches and crowfoot wrenches that came with the original, seemingly in both A/F and Whit.

If you need metric, stroll on!

Ha, yea, I have been watching that for some time now. An 'instant collection' and probably it all adds up to around that value I dunno. It would be handy if he put a full list of all the contents as the way it is advertised makes me think some is missing from the original full Universal Service Set list. The seller usually has a good range of Britool and sometimes some very good NOS stuff.
Metric? That new fangled foreign stuff?

 

[outofbounds]

For all those that love pics of that obsolete Britool .448 Hex Drive... here's the up-to-date collection, complete with the short speeder crammed in on the board

Very impressive indeed, Farmer J!

Ironically, I'm taking a flyer on a lot of similar here tonight in the Detroit area of Michigan. As soon as I glanced the pics over on the advert, I asked the seller "you're granddad was a Brit wasn't he?" To which he confirmed, a bit curious how I might have divined that.

Very anxious to get them back home and sorted for better pics and inventory.
Also I'll be curious of the Snap-On hex drive plug ratchet included, wondering is that sort was of British manufacture as well....

 

[Farmer J.]

Very impressive indeed, Farmer J!

Ironically, I'm taking a flyer on a lot of similar here tonight in the Detroit area of Michigan. As soon as I glanced the pics over on the advert, I asked the seller "you're granddad was a Brit wasn't he?" To which he confirmed, a bit curious how I might have divined that.

Very anxious to get them back home and sorted for better pics and inventory.
Also I'll be curious of the Snap-On hex drive plug ratchet included, wondering is that sort was of British manufacture as well....

Thanks, glad you enjoyed seeing mine.
That looks like a quite reasonable selection you are getting. Post up pics when you have it, and an inventory of what you have. We can then work out what set it was originally and see what you need to fill the gaps.
Originally it may have been a '40 A' set. I have a ton of 'extras' that could replace missing parts to make up a set.

 

[Farmer J.]

Here's a pic of a rather good condition label from inside the lid of a box, it's from eBay.
Useful to check as reference, for .448 hex drive part numbers and sizes of sockets for Whitworth, US, and SAE bolt sizes.

 

[outofbounds]

Here's a pic of a rather good condition label from inside the lid of a box, it's from eBay.
Useful to check as reference, for .448 hex drive part numbers and sizes of sockets for Whitworth, US, and SAE bolt sizes.

Farmer J,
Here is a first look of what I’ll call the “British invasion” I’ll spend a little time and detail in list form everything in case it’s not captured appropriately in these pictures

 

[outofbounds]

4124 SOBE 1/2 W - War Finish marked
4112 SOBE 5/8 A/F

 

[outofbounds]

2706 1/2 Square
1907 1/4 W
1911 5/16 W
1912 5/8 AF
1914 11/16 AF ?
1915 3/8 W
1917 3/4 AF
1918 25/32 AF
1922 7/8 AF
1924 1/2 W
7916 16mm
7918 18mm
7919 19mm
7922 22mm
7923 23mm

 

[outofbounds]

2098 11.5” Extension
2079 12” Breaker Bar
2809 Hex F x 9/16 ? square drive adapter ?
2066 Sliding Tee Hex Drive less T Bar
2042 Speeder

 

[outofbounds]

SnapOn R-716 Hex Drive Plug Ratchet (sans plug)

 

[outofbounds]

Nubo 7/16 AF x 1/2 AF brake adjustment spammer DBE
I&D Smallwood Makers No 228 12” Ruler
Chesterman Sheffield No. 332D 6” Ruler
H.M.M. Combination Square

 

[Farmer J.]

Thanks for posting the pics and lists. Surely that's quite an unusual find, in Michigan?
I am surprised to see the metric sockets, they are very rare the only other ones i have ever seen are the ones in my set.
The square drive socket 2809 is for drain plugs or 'pipe plugs' and the 2706 for square nuts or brake adjusters same as one end of your NUBO spanner.
They should polish up nicely. What are you intending to do with them?

 

[outofbounds]

Thanks for posting the pics and lists. Surely that's quite an unusual find, in Michigan?
I am surprised to see the metric sockets, they are very rare the only other ones i have ever seen are the ones in my set.
The square drive socket 2809 is for drain plugs or 'pipe plugs' and the 2706 for square nuts or brake adjusters same as one end of your NUBO spanner.
They should polish up nicely. What are you intending to do with them?

Thanks for your expertise Farmer J. The sockets themselves seem to be of a finish other than chrome somewhat akin to what many here are identified as “war era” would polishing be appropriate? And would it be safe?

As for the group, it was the “contents” of a Craftsman toolbox that piqued my interest. Although I find them to be a fascinating find, my initial instinct would be to offer them for sale.

 

[Farmer J.]

All the 'war finish' Britool I have seen so far is just plain steel, but yes, be very cautious if thinking of polishing anything from that era.
Britool which is actually marked 'war finish' seems to command a bit of a price premium so maybe mention that when advertising it. I have only ever seen a very few 'war finish' marked pieces, there was a whole set advertised a few months ago and it it quickly sold for a lot more that I would want to pay! Maybe there wasn't much actual production of it, I have heard it said that the factory took a hammering from the bombing.

 

[Dave455]

Thanks for your expertise Farmer J. The sockets themselves seem to be of a finish other than chrome somewhat akin to what many here are identified as “war era” would polishing be appropriate? And would it be safe?

I can concur with Farmer J.

The “utility” Britool, seems to be predominantly unfinished tools in plain steel. I have quite a bit of it. It continued to be made well into the 1950’s. Yours looks like ‘50’s stuff to me. Metric was quite rare at that time.

The good news is that, while materials were saved with regard to finishing, the steel itself (particularly the later stuff) was absolutely first class. It’s generally very hard, long lasting, and not particularly prone to rust either. I have several combination wrenches from that period that are the most durable I own.

The finish that immediately followed the plain steel tools was a dark grey that I have always thought was a matte chrome. This was relatively short lived I believe, giving way to the bright chrome in the ‘60’s.

The hex drive tools continued in parallel with square drive. I’m not sure when it was finally discontinued but I think in the ‘60’s.

 

[Farmer J.]

Thanks Dave. I don't have much of the unplated stuff. I seems hex drive lasted until 1968

The 1968 Catalog announced the discontinuance of hex drive socketry but some components were still available.

 

[outofbounds]

The knowledge here at GJ never ceases to amaze. Thanks all!

 

[humber2]

Nubo 7/16 AF x 1/2 AF brake adjustment spammer DBE
I&D Smallwood Makers No 228 12” Ruler
Chesterman Sheffield No. 332D 6” Ruler
H.M.M. Combination Square

The Nubo named wrench intrigues me. Does it bear a Country of manufacturer?

Most USA tool makers turned out these for adjusting the brakes on Ford Model A vehicles with later versions having kinks to make the V8 brakes less of a knuckle busting exercise.

Ford UK cars used cable brakes into the 1950's, would certainly have a use on the V8 Pilot.

Nubo was a name for products sold by Gerald Stains Ltd of London, pre-war most of their tools were Foreign Made from Germany.

The brake spanner is listed in their 1939 Catalog as T496/503 priced @7 shillings each.

 

[fanders]

Britool catalogues

Thanks to humber2 I can add a few extra catalogue covers from 1975-1997:

View media item 108338
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If anyone else has a catalogue not shown here, please PM me a picture and I'll add to this list.

fanders

 

[fanders]

War finish

Here's an example of a Britool double box end spanner in unplated 'war finish', and stamped as such:

View media item 76997
View media item 76996
View media item 76994
A bit rougher finished than the regular fare of that period, but there was a war on!

Regards, fanders

 

[3baygarage]

Very nice finds of late. Especially enjoy the hex drive and sockets.

Fun to see the catalog grouping. I have that ratchet on the second last cover, from when someone in the US offered NOS ratchets for sale. The selector is neat. I’ve also posted my 1/4” ratchet flea market find, like that model on the last cover. Not the most vintage, but both very stylish looking tools.

 

[humber2]

A few notes on the last three catalogues.....

No numbers on any, the back cover of the 1975 Cat implies the issuer is James Neill Tools and has the printers reference GC/8/28M/5/75

The mid 80's cat is almost totally undated and is another James Neill issue.
However the issue has a history chapter and declares almost 80 years of production.

The black Cat is issued by Britool Limited with printers ref BCAT97/1 with copyright January 1997.
It introductory page states hand tool production since 1908 which gives a time line for the prior Cat.

Thanks to Fanders for manipulating the images which were sent upside down from below the equator.

 

[fanders]

Thanks for that info humber2, I’ll add that to the post above. I have a James Neill catalogue from I think the late 1980s which I’ll add too, I think they stopped doing individual Britool catalogues around that time and just issued one big one with all the James Neill Group tools in (Britool/Eclipse/Elliot Lucas/Stubbs etc). Shame as the older Britool catalogues were works of art and really nicely produced.

Salute, fanders

 

[humber2]

The 1997 Cat is a substantial volume rivalling any Snappy issue. It just lists Britool and Sykes Pickavant tools and avoids revealing Bahco made the crescent style shifters.

One can always be suspicious of where and by whom made laser etch branded tools.

It is worth reading post#1 in this thread for an account of this era.

 

[fanders]

Catalogue covers updated in post #542, including Catalogue 93 from 1935 and the 1981 James Neill catalogue

fanders

 

[humber2]

Catalogue covers updated in post #542, including Catalogue 93 from 1935 and the 1981 James Neill catalogue

fanders

Going strong now. I'm curious to establish when Britool 12 point sockets with the 3/16WW hex drive were introduced?

Do you have access to the contents of the 1935 Cat?

 

[fanders]

Catalogue 93 (1935)

I don't have Catalogue 35, it was for sale on eBay and went for more than I would pay, but I always try to grab the seller's images for this thread when I see a catalogue for sale. These are the seller's images:

View media item 108382
View media item 108383
View media item 108384
For what it's worth, these are the five Britool catalogues I do have:

View media item 108385
I uploaded Catalogue 96 to this thread a couple of years ago, it's all there and is a good reference for the 'early-ish' (1949) Britool tool range - everyday stuff, as they produced a lot of items not seen in these catalogues. I'm happy to upload the odd page image from the others as requested, and at some point I hope to find the time to scan all five catalogues in and offer them as free PDFs somehow. Hopefully others will do the same and we could have a reasonably complete back-catalogue that way.

Cheerio, fanders

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nubo 7/16 AF x 1/2 AF brake adjustment spammer DBE

The Nubo named wrench intrigues me. Does it bear a Country of manufacturer?

I'd be interested in seeing a close-up of that wrench, especially the markings, oob. A few years ago I found a DBE wrench with the < NuBo > logo that had all the earmarks of being Bonney. I posted it on the Bonney thread, with some scant NuBo research, humber2 filled in the rest and proceeded to postulate that it was probably Gray-Bonney of Canada, hence the Bonney looks. If you go to page 114 in the Bonney thread, linked here, go to post #2828 and scroll down you can find photos and info.

 

[Farmer J.]

NUBO tools? That's another whole subject on itself, Britool is difficult enough!
There's 98 listings of them for sale on eBay UK right now. Some sets and some individual. Some made in USA and some British Made. I have some in my barn.
Here's a link to the Grace's Guide page:
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im19341226MTrader-Stains.jpg

 

[fanders]

Lovely Britool 'Combination Universal Service Kit' set no. 446 on UK eBay at the moment, although the £3,000 buy it now price looks healthily ambitious. Details of set 446 from Catalogue 104:

View media item 110081
View media item 110082
And the set itself, 275 lbs going off the weight in the catalogue:

View media item 110071
View media item 110072
View media item 110073
View media item 110075
View media item 110074
View media item 110077
View media item 110076
View media item 110078

 

[Nigelhirst]

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

 

[Farmer J.]

Dave posted about it no.523 on the previous page. I've been watching it for a while, just to see what happens. The vendor always seems to have NOS or little used Britool stuff for sale. He's based in Wolverhampton, maybe the garden sheds and garages there are stuffed full of old tools?

 

[Nigelhirst]

Ah yes, I hadn’t spotted that. Maybe they are ‘loaners’ from the factory which were, err, ‘forgotten’...&#55357;&#56834;

 

[Farmer J.]

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

Yea, it's probably something like that. Maybe they were sold at a discount to employees. Luton used to be full of Vauxhall cars, the workers at the factory got a heavily discounted chance to buy the cars. I know a chap used to work there he couldn't even drive but he bought a car every year, then passed it on within his family!

 

[fanders]

1968 Advert:

View media item 110120

 

[fanders]

And some Britool screwdrivers:

View media item 110117
View media item 110118
View media item 110119

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Lovely Britool 'Combination Universal Service Kit' set no. 446 on UK eBay at the moment, although the £3,000 buy it now price looks healthily ambitious. Details of set 446 from Catalogue 104.

Not to defend the price or shill for the seller, but just to add and expand to the wonder from across the pond, a near-complete master set like this, in its original box, of any vintage brand is a rare thing of utterly spectacular magnitude. I literally cannot point to an example of the same thing from Snap-on, Plomb, Blackhawk or Bonney or any comparable US brand. We find the boxes. And sometimes we find the boxes with a few original tools in them, usually mixed in with miscellaneous other brands. All or seemingly all the tools in the box? As I said. I can't think of one example. Not from this era. 1980's or 90's maybe. Not vintage. This is not just UK amazing, it's universally amazing.