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Old 8th Feb 2018, 11:37 pm   #21
emeritus
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Default Re: Tool manufacturers

"King Dick" spanners is another quality product of bygone days that you might be lucky to find second-hand.

For cropping the leads of delicate components I use the "Xuron" Microshears. They cut with a wiping action that transmits very little shock to the component. As the original patent has long expired, there are a number of cheaper copies around, but I have found that the original American-made tools are often stocked by shops that sell stuff for model railways. They usually carry a range of sizes suitable for cropping various sizes of the brass and nickel silver rails of track.

Incidentally, I have found them eminently suitable for painlessly cutting toe and finger nails and removing hard skin, especially for anyone who suffers arthritis: my late mother-in-law used to dread the pain of having her nails cut until I got her a pair of Microshears that her husband could use instead of the very expensive shiny nail cutters preferred by the professionals that cut by crushing with a violent snap action.
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Old 9th Feb 2018, 8:50 am   #22
Craig Sawyers
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Default Re: Tool manufacturers

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Originally Posted by Boater Sam View Post
Its not straightforward with tools for electronics, they come from many different makers who specialise in their own fields. Hellerman for instance.
For carpentry tools its much easier, Record, Stanley and Tyzac spring to mind. There are others of quality.
Regrettably I think if you want quality tools these days you will more often than not have to find used in junk shops and auctions, the current standards of hand tools is generally abysmal.
I'm a bit late to this thread. I couldn't agree more about "abysmal"!

Record and Stanley are pale shadows of their former selves.Their planes are often described as "steel bananas". And a plane with a banana shaped sole is less than useless.

Indeed some years ago a group left Record, fed up with the lousy standard, and set up Clifton, who make some superb planes. Not cheap.

A US manufacturer, also not cheap, is Lie-Nielson. More expensive than they used to be because of the post-Brexit dollar rate.

But enter the Chinese, who have essentially ripped off Lie-Nielsen and Clifton products. Quangsheng planes really are superb, dead flat out of the box (well, as flat as Clifton and Lie-Nielsen), with excellent thick blades. And a third the price.

Truly superb hand saws, made in Sheffield, is Flinn-Garlick. The large saws are true taper ground, and the smaller Tenon and Dovetail saws are a delight.

Staying in the UK, chisels by Marples, Robert Sorby and Ray Iles are things of beauty and don't break the bank. Crown is another, rather cheaper, but also excellent maker of tools.

But steer clear of Record and Stanley. Unless you buy their products from the 50's and 60's on auction sites from before the decline.
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