britool- they any good?

[brightspark]

Do you happen to work on behalf of them?

Britool Hallmark is generic imported stuff with a sprinkling of New Old Stock from when the factory shut down.
Britool Expert is just a branding exercise for Facom and their budget range

They aren't related other than in name.
Neither are what Britool once were.

Odd thing to bump an old thread over with your first post....

all my britool stuff is 50 years old i wouldn't buy the modern stuff any that got lost i bought the old ones of ebay to replace them

 

[Cobbler]

all my britool stuff is 50 years old i wouldn't buy the modern stuff any that got lost i bought the old ones of ebay to replace them

I’ve the same, Britool stuff that I got when I left school in 1965, still good, but not used much now, not much call for AF, even less for Whitworth! I’ve also got a Proto Challenger AF set I bought in about 1970, that was good stuff as well.

 

[Munkul]

I'm not sure about the Halford made by snap on idea. I think it's a myth.
Facom however, do make stuff like spanners for Mac Tools. I've seen them side by side.

 

[MetalMonkey]

I'm not sure about the Halford made by snap on idea. I think it's a myth.
Facom however, do make stuff like spanners for Mac Tools. I've seen them side by side.

The Snap on thing is a myth, perpetuated I think by hopeful owners of Halfords socket sets. I daresay Halfords are in no rush to clarify either.

Snap on do have third parties make a fair few of their speciality and budget tools, especially on the Bluepoint line, so it is conceivable that an OEM makes a tool for snap on and Halfords (amongst others).
However, this won't be hardline stuff like sockets and spanners - Lisle tools are a good example of this.

Facom and Mac are both part of Stanley Black & Decker so there is cross-over on sourcing.
For example Toptul make a version of their SuperTorque spanners for Stanley which are branded as the Facom 440, Mac tools Precision Torque and Sidcrome 440 (for the oz market).

 

[SierraV6]

Facom and Mac are both part of Stanley Black & Decker so there is cross-over on sourcing.
For example Toptul make a version of their SuperTorque spanners for Stanley which are branded as the Facom 440, Mac tools Precision Torque and Sidcrome 440 (for the oz market).

I think there is a USAG version as well, 285(?) if I believe.

 

[Munkul]

Good to know! They're lovely spanners.

 

[grim_d]

The Britool Hallmark stuff is top quality, I buy all my tools from them and i've never had any issues.

It's average at best.

I bought torx and hex sockets thinking they'd be decent.

None of the bits want to stay in and the grub screws come pre chewed.

They are now all glued in with rubber toughened CA.

 

[grim_d]

Another vote here for the Halfords Pro. I got their big set (£360ish) on a half price deal so was very happy with that. No receipt needed for the lifetime warranty, it’s stamped Halfords so they know it’s theirs.

I did hear the Halfords Pro range are made under private label by Snap-On, dunno if there’s any truth to that.

They were made by the apex tool group (they were literally rebranded gearwench, the original Industrial roll cabs had "made in USA" stamped into them) up until a few years ago where there was a very clear change...and not for the best.

 

[Seadog]

A nice set here - https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&view=show_ad&adid=40319&catid=2

Calling @winchman @Dieselkid 63

 

[brightspark]

A nice set here - https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&view=show_ad&adid=40319&catid=2

Calling @winchman @Dieselkid 63

ive got em in af metric and whitworth give about 75 quid for them

 

[Dieselman 63]

A nice set here - https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&view=show_ad&adid=40319&catid=2

Calling @winchman @Dieselkid 63

Plastic tray liner? Modern garbage!

This is a proper mint set.

 

[winchman]

A nice set here - https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&view=show_ad&adid=40319&catid=2

Calling @winchman @Dieselkid 63

Whilst I dont fully agree with Dieselkid63, its a newer set this style is from the mid 80's I think, not bad stuff and possibly still made in England as Facom wasn't involved until the early 90's
It will still work well and should last a lifetime as its older, the newer stuff is ok but I dont feel its quite as good as the older pre 80's stuff.
But at £875! I feel its a £100 set tops and as mentioned above some one paid £75.
Its easier to pick up the older stuff than this style, Winchboy has loads of the older stuff but seen very little of the newer stuff for sale.

 

[winchman]

Do you happen to work on behalf of them?

Britool Hallmark is generic imported stuff with a sprinkling of New Old Stock from when the factory shut down.
Britool Expert is just a branding exercise for Facom and their budget range

They aren't related other than in name.
Neither are what Britool once were.

Odd thing to bump an old thread over with your first post....

I know its old but.
Spot on, Hallmark was the Van sales range when the van sales operation was closed it was sold off, once Facom bought Britool they stopped manufacturing Chromeware in the UK as far as I Amazon aware well the factory is long gone so unless they had another I didn't know about?
The Original Hallmark was made to a higher spec than the Britool Industrial range.
The stuff sold now I have no idea?

 

[Dieselman 63]

Whilst I dont fully agree with Dieselkid63, its a newer set this style is from the mid 80's I think, not bad stuff and possibly still made in England as Facom wasn't involved until the early 90's
It will still work well and should last a lifetime as its older, the newer stuff is ok but I dont feel its quite as good as the older pre 80's stuff.
But at £875! I feel its a £100 set tops and as mentioned above some one paid £75.
Its easier to pick up the older stuff than this style, Winchboy has loads of the older stuff but seen very little of the newer stuff for sale.

I kid really - I have some of this era stuff in my collection, mainly to make up missing RJ series spanners and unobtainable 3/4 metric. It’s good gear.

Check this out - I was proper upset. An early 19 m/m one cracked the other day. The bad thing about old sockets is you just don’t know how they were used. Possibly a bad one, possibly been in a rattle gun.

 

[winchman]

I kid really - I have some of this era stuff in my collection, mainly to make up missing RJ series spanners and unobtainable 3/4 metric. It’s good gear.

Check this out - I was proper upset. An early 19 m/m one cracked the other day. The bad thing about old sockets is you just don’t know how they were used. Possibly a bad one, possibly been in a rattle gun.

View attachment 299666 View attachment 299667

Thats rare to see but not an issue here as plenty about for sale

 

[Dieselman 63]

Thats rare to see but not an issue here as plenty about for sale

Still hunting a full set of metric 1/2” and 3/8” sockets. Hard to find here in NZ, I have a few random numbers (including the 10mm!). Need a few more RJ spanners to complete my sets, too.

 

[winchman]

If you do winch boy a list he can look to see if he has any spares, but I suspect postage would cost too much?
3/8 stuff is rare here

 

[octo0072000]

even without receipt?!

no you need receipt for proof of purchase or you do at my local branch

 

[Dieselman 63]

I was given these, as the owner thinks they’re fake. I’m not sure. Early Britool was quite rough!