Toolmakers

What does a toolmaker manufacture?

Hi,

Many people are under the illusion that toolmakers make spanners and screw drivers etc.  This is really not the case.  It is a completely different industry.

Toolmakers make press tools.  Press tools are bespoke.  They are designed to make whatever the customer requires.  For instance, someone wants to sell metal brackets for shelving, they have no means of making this product so they turn to a pressworker.  The pressworker then contacts a toolmaker to design a tool that will press this bracket out of sheet metal.  The toolmaker will only make the tool once, however, the pressworker will make hundreds, most likely thousands of these shelving brackets and supply them to their customer who sells them to the various building trades.




This is an example of a complex press tool


Toolmakers are sometimes known as precision engineers.  Basically a toolmaker will make anything out of metal that you require, I'm not saying it will be cheap.  As I'm sure you know, one off items cost more than if you were to order a thousand. 

Toolmakers are very skilled people.  They use a variety of machinery and methods in their work.  One method that revolutionised the industry some years back was wire erosion, also known as wire cutting, EDM.  It uses a very thin copper wire with an electrical current to cut through very thick steel blocks.  It is extremely accurate.  The old method was to file a radius by hand.  These machines have eliminated that.


Toolmakers also use 3D machining to their advantage.  Millers with CNC controls can cut a shape out of steel in moments.

Press tools are a toolmakers main area of focus.  It is a very specialist industry which separates them from regular precision engineers.

I hope this has been very informative.  If you have any more detail you would like to add that you think I have missed, please feel free.

Automotive Engineering

I've being hoping for a long time now that the manufacturing industry in the UK would grow.  It seems proffessions such as toolmakers and engineers are becoming few and far between.

At one time the UK was a huge manufacturing centre.  These days the Government seem to help the banking and financial industries rather than wanting to produce things.  Eventually we will become a nation of shops and banks.  You may think that this is ok, however, if all we do is buy things we will eventually the nation will run out of money.  We are very lucky we still have North Sea Oil.  Without this we would be in very deep trouble.

Our Governments of recent years have completely ignored the fact that the precision engineering, press work, and general manufacturing companies of this country have provided jobs for generations of people.

How long is the Government going to let great UK manufacturing companies go out of business.  We have lost so much manufacturing and engineering work to countries such as India and China.  China were one of the only countries who sustained growth through the last recession which the UK are struggling to get out of.  How ridiculous is that?  We are supposed to be a world power.  When we have some of our biggest engineering companies losing work to foreign countries it's no wonder we are in the middle of the biggest recession in history.

It has got to the point where Indian companies are buying us out.  Chorus steel for one, Jaguar, Land Rover, M G Rover.  To be fair to TATA who own Chorus, Jaguar and Land Rover.  They give work to British toolmakers and presswork companies.  Back in the 90's all Rover wanted to do was send their business abroad.  It's no wonder they went bankrupt.  Nobody wants to buy cheaply made poor quality cars.

I would love to know what other people think about this matter.  Please leave your comments.  We need manufacturing back where it belongs.