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Wednesday, 24 July 2019
A True Story that Hurt Like Hell
As you may have already guessed I am Mechanic, so what goes hand in hand with being a Mechanic are the day to day hazards of the job, and believe me when I say there are lots.
This true story began many years ago when I was in my early 20’s, I had already completed what seemed to be a lifetime of an apprenticeship and passed all my exams and all the other crap that goes with it to become a “qualified mechanic”.
During my training and carrying on into the job properly learning as you go along, you find good and bad ways to work but safety is without a doubt one thing you really can’t cut corners on.
I ended up that day working on a Rover 3.5, this was parked on a lift at a nice working height and all was fine and safe, wheel chocks in place and hand brake on etc etc no problem there.
The car had been in for a full respray and looked like new, resprays were not our normal thing but it all paid the wages, anyway the final job I had to do was simply re fit the front number plate, sounds simple and it really was.
However on this particular vehicle the front number plate was of the metal type not like these days when they are all made of plastic, so this number plate was fixed to a piece of angle iron about 60 cm long that bolted to the front of the car, great I thought 2 bolts and job done.
So far so good, all I have to do is now fit 1 nut while holding the thing in position, no problem but wait where have I put the nut ?, ohhh there it is just out of reach, easy I thought I can just slot the second bolt through the other end and leave it sitting there while I retrieve the Nuts.
I had in my mind this simple job, fit 2 bolts and get on with my day, and yes I did slot the second bolt into the bracket and angle iron and yes it did sit there without falling off until I moved to pick up the nuts.
As I turned my back for a few seconds the Angle iron fell off one bolt and swung down like a pendulum, within a second or 2 it came off the other bolt and plummeted to the ground, a bit like a javelin but at a much slower pace.
All must be ok!! because even if it hit my foot I have my “safety boots on, steel toe caps and all, well when the thing hit my foot I felt a pain like being shot (and yes I have been shot but that’s another story).
The sharpest corner of the bloody angle iron had pierced my boot and gone straight through just missing the back of the steel toe cap, not only had it punctured my foot but it had also broken my toe.
I didn’t realise how bad this was until I tried walking about while swearing profanities at the car, the number plate, the angle iron, the bolts and nuts and my stupid self.
The moral of the story is “SAFETY FIRST” but still doesn’t always work specially when your a monkey like me.
Saturday, 15 June 2019
BRITOOL the British Tool and Engineering Company
Britool originally incorporated way back in 1915.
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| Original factory now under different ownership |
Britool expanded rapidly and by 1920 expanded their business into a large factory based on Owen Road in Wolverhampton.
It was Jenks Brothers who set up the company and I dare say that lots of Mechanics have since taken a strong grip of the Britool Tools.
The main production range was Spanners and Wrenches and Britool soon became very well known for their high quality products.
Britool however didn't limit themselves to just Spanners they soon expanding and in a 1920 advert claimed to make all descriptions of small tools.
The original company name was "British Tool and Engineering Co Ltd" soon to use the well known brand name Britool.
In 1937 apparently the company was taken over by John Shaw and Sons, however the word was that Jenks Brothers already had taken control of John Shaw and Sons, many years later it was written in a handbook that the Company was the manufacturing part of John Shaw and Sons (Wolverhampton).
It was 1969 when the company was taken over by James Neille a toolmaker that now included Britool and Eclipse, if your a mechanic of the older generation like myself then you may well have come across Neille or Eclipse tools.
The later advert gives a good idea on the range of tools available.
So now how things move on as in 1991 the company was taken over by Facom.
The main production range was Spanners and Wrenches and Britool soon became very well known for their high quality products.
Britool however didn't limit themselves to just Spanners they soon expanding and in a 1920 advert claimed to make all descriptions of small tools.
The original company name was "British Tool and Engineering Co Ltd" soon to use the well known brand name Britool.
 |
| Picture taken back in 2002 |
In 1937 apparently the company was taken over by John Shaw and Sons, however the word was that Jenks Brothers already had taken control of John Shaw and Sons, many years later it was written in a handbook that the Company was the manufacturing part of John Shaw and Sons (Wolverhampton).
It was 1969 when the company was taken over by James Neille a toolmaker that now included Britool and Eclipse, if your a mechanic of the older generation like myself then you may well have come across Neille or Eclipse tools.
The later advert gives a good idea on the range of tools available.
 |
| An advert from 1967 |
 |
| Advert from 1974 |
So now how things move on as in 1991 the company was taken over by Facom.
If you type Facom into any search engine you will surely be amazed and the massive range of tools they supply.
So that's just a little snippet about the British Tool and Engineering Co, Britool.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, 14 June 2019
So far whats included on gigoclick Help Fix Your Car
This is an update of the variety of Tools and Garage Equipment now listed on our Website.
Home Page
https://sites.google.com/view/helpfixyourcar/home
Our home page is what we call your Pitstop, incuded here are several different pieces of helpful information, the main heading is "Things on your vehicle do wear out and break but you can help right here" .
Try our 3 step strategy here on “Help Fix Your Car”
1: Prevent breakdowns before they happen, checkout our “Prevent Breakdowns” page.
2: Get advice from a professional Mechanic, Contact Us or Email direct to info@helpfixyourcar.com
3: Find the right tools for the job on our “Find the Right Tools Page”.
Please visit our Website using any of our links here, also feel free to send a message.
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Britool originally incorporated way back in 1915. Original factory now under different ownership Britool expanded rapidly and b... -
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