TOOL STORIE
Page 92
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Colin Sowman gets to grips with the last Exclusively Tools show to take place at Olympia.
This year's Exclusively Tools exhibition is the last one to be held in Olympia. Next year it will be held in Earls Court from 6-8 September and emphasis will be on tool hire and portable equipment for workshops. The event will run alongside the Exclusively Housewares exhibition.
CeKa Tools launched its Matador range of spanners, sockets and pullers to replace the Stahlwille brand. While both brands are made in Germany the Matador product will be more competitively priced, says CeKa's marketing manager, Nick Vanderhoest.
Around 1,500 lines will be imported to complement CeKa's own range of screwdrivers and other products. The company was also displaying its recently awarded AQUAP 4 certificate. For more information on the Celia range circle Turbo 120.
Tapered heads
Also launching a new range of spanners at the show was Facom (Turbo 121). Its 44A series open-ended spanners have tapered heads for improved accessibility and exceeds both ISO and MN standards.
The Britool (Turbo 122) stand was displaying the company's latest product, a 72toothed ratchet which drives on 17 teeth. This enables the ratchet to withstand 45% more torque than a conventional tool, says the company. The ratchet is available in 'A (£22.91 retail), 34 (£28.79) and )4 (124.66) inch drive. Repair kits enabling the softer sintered 17-tooth segment to be replaced when worn will be available.
Also on display was Britool's latest range of 59 ergonomically designed screwdrivers. The larger screwdrivers in the engineer's range have hexagonal bolsters allowing a spanner to be used on the shank.
THH Tools (Turbo 123) is looking for distributors for its products which were attracting a lot of attention, particularly the Power Ratchet and the Multi-Ratchet. Power Ratchet looks like a normal swivel handle for a socket but with a larger section on the head. This enlarged section carries a ratchet mechanism allowing ratchet drive
in-line, at 900 or at a slight angle. The mechanism will withstand 80-90Nm of torque and the 4 inch version should cost under X30.
Multi Ratchet is a single ratchet covering a range of nut and bolt sizes. On display was the larger model covering from 1119mm. When the grey lever on the reverse side of the handle is pushed up the jaws open. Releasing the lever allows the jaws to grip the nut. The gearing is designed to tighten the jaws when torque is applied. Up to 125Nm can be applied with the MultiRatchet which should cost under £30.
A bent version of the long-nosed ViseGrip was launched by Levermore (Turbo 124). It comes in a single 150mm (long) size. In addition, all new Vise-Grip tools will have a double start helix on the adjusting screw thereby needing only half the movement for a given adjustment.
Proto grows
An enlarged range of Proto tools was displayed by Stanley (Turbo 125). Since the launch of the Proto division its product range has grown from 450 to 4,500 lines. All new Proto sockets and ring spanners in the Professional and 500 series will feature flank drive and a range of extra-long combination spanners will be available later in the year.
New products on the stand included a range of wobble drive socket extensions allowing up to 17° of mis-alignment and a set of three stacking tool cabinets.
A range of trolley jacks from 2.25 tonnes to 20 tonnes were on Kestrel's display (Turbo 126). its long series covers from three to 10 tonnes and there is a pneumatic jack with a lift of 220mm and a 20 tonnes capacity.
Clarke (Turbo 127) has produced a new catalogue which includes many additions to its range. Items from MG welders and air compressors to axle and engine stands have been added.