British routers

[Nick Gibbs]

I am trying to equip our tiny British Woodworking shed only with products made in Britain. This means a Coronet Imp bandsaw and a host of hand tools from Sheffield and beyond. However I was wondering if the early Stanley routers (without plunge), were made in Britain. Does anyone know? If that's the case we might be in the market for a second-hand model.

Cheers

Nick

 

[The_Stig]

That's a good question, I'll have a forage around on the Internet

 

[The_Stig]

Is this the sort of thing your looking for?

It appears to be made in the USA.

http://myvintagetools.com/vintage-stanl ... mps-115-v/

 

[Nick Gibbs]

Could be, but I was thinking of a slightly more modern model, with the threaded body for rise and fall. I suspect they were made in the USA. Thanks anyway. I was once taken around the Hitachi factory outside Dublin, but that may not count for a number of reasons! It was the only time I've been flown anywhere first class!

Nick

 

[The_Stig]

First class isn't all people make out although I'll admit that the extra leg room, leather seats and a choice from the menu is always nice, it's just a shame about the damn price!

Unfortunately off the top of my head I can't think of another company that could have made routers in Britain, that's got to say something sad about our countries manufacturing capabilties... maybe James Dyson will reinvent the router and remarket it to us at twice the usual rate! lol

Jamie

 

[Kalimna]

Arent some of the Makita routers made in the UK? Some of their other gear is, but maybe Im being a little naive?

Adam

 

[The_Stig]

Their hedge trimmers certainly are...

...I'm just wondering if my uncle has an old Makita that I could check on, as I recall they used to come in metal boxes until they started making them out of that high impact plastic.

 

[Nick Gibbs]

Arent some of the Makita routers made in the UK? Some of their other gear is, but maybe Im being a little naive?

Adam

Good call. I'll ask. I rather like the potential for this story. It could raise all sorts of twists. I'm pretty open-minded about where things are made, but I do like the idea of countries retaining their skill base.

 

[barkwindjammer]

Arent some of the Makita routers made in the UK? Some of their other gear is, but maybe Im being a little naive?

Adam

Good call. I'll ask. I rather like the potential for this story. It could raise all sorts of twists. I'm pretty open-minded about where things are made, but I do like the idea of countries retaining their skill base.

In Britain that stopped circa A.D. 1975 - early Thatcherite period

 

[The_Stig]

I do like the idea of countries retaining their skill base

I agree, plus heritage is important, its just a shame that so much business has gone abroad because things can be made cheaper... whether that warrants a better product or not who knows but as I'm sure many will agree, when it comes to buying tools, you get what you pay for! :wink:

 

[The_Stig]

Would Bosch routers be manufactured in the UK?

 

[Nick Gibbs]

Would Bosch routers be manufactured in the UK?

Don't know. I'll see if I can find out.

So what's the difference between a Bosch product made here and one that is designed and owned by a British company but manufactured overseas? Let's have 1000 words by tomorrow morning, Stiggy.

 

[The_Stig]

So what's the difference between a Bosch product made here and one that is designed and owned by a British company but manufactured overseas?

Gees! You sound like my boss, not that I work for a magazine, lol. I'm normally found reading yours with a cup of tea as work kindly subscribe

Your right in saying a product could be designed and owned by a British company but manufactured over seas but then surely its not 'Made in the UK' which is the grail you seek (sorry, that Monty Python ad came on again!), you only have to watch an episode of Dragon's Den to realise how many people use oversea's manufacturing, its a great shame but unfortunately I think we're a country lacking in both skills and the desire to knuckle down and build great things... its just easier to let the finished product come to us.

If a product is made here then it is produced inside the EU which gets around the import quota's which is one of the major reasons foreign companies invest in UK based manufacturing, for example you only have to look at the car industry. Surely despite a product being designed and even licensed elsewhere if it is manufactured here in the UK then its good enough to bare the stamp, 'Made in the UK'.

However, what if the people who work in the factory are EU nations, is it made by Britain then, lol.

 

[Ironballs]

You could end up going off on a right tangent there Nick, ie the next logical step from it's a foreign company but we're making it over here to use local labour is where do the raw materials come from? How far do the all the components travel in their various states of manufacture? I doubt there are many metal ores mined in Europe these days.

But then you're doing an enviro piece instead of woodworking.....

That said, I would greatly encourage you to do a piece on ethical woodworking. Or even a piece on the very serious threats facing UK and European timber resources from foreign pathogens and beasties. I read an article in the Telegraph recently that left me feeling very depressed

 

[The_Stig]

This is something that I get heavily involved with at work since they've put the FSC, PEFC and really anything to do with sustainability on me. Its a mine field out there but an interesting one. It is thought that the timber industry is one of the few sustainable industries due to the forward thinking of the forestry bodies, I know there is still a lot of illegal logging taking place but even a lot of African sawmills are not trying for FSC certification.

The one thing I never, never get is the amount of paperwork that's involved! Should I be using FSC paper? Should it be 100% accredited or will mixed source do? Argh!!

 

[Nick Gibbs]

I agree, Ironballs on all your points. The Forestry Commission sent round a press release today about new infections to Lawson cypress in Scotland. I suspect we all underestimate the possible consequences.

I'm not trying to be particularly strident, rather the opposite. I think there are so many different ways to look at most situations. But it's an interesting topic to discuss.

 

[Nick Gibbs]

The FSC is really interesting. We should applaud the use of FSC timber and paper. However it was set up to give tropical countries the opportunity to prove that their timber is sustainably managed. Unfortunately it has North American, Scandanavian and Eastern European countries that have huge forestry businesses that have found it easiest to certify their timber. Forests in Britain are too small, and find it too expensive to be FSC certified. The same is true of many less developed countries around the world.

Britain has been inundated with FSC white oak from North America and Eastern Europe, partly due to price, partly due to availability of clean boards and partly because it is certified so local authorities are allowed to buy it. Meanwhile the British supply of oak continues to linger in the shadows, and we import the vast bulk of our timber needs.

 

[The_Stig]

New infections to Lawson cypress in Scotland

The border agencies are hot on phytosanitary certification and nothing gets released from port and into the yard with out a certificate but clearly people are under estimating the consequences of the beasts within...

PS. Damn the IT world for naming the little box that connects your PC to the internet a router! It makes searching through Google difficult!!

 

[The_Stig]

The FSC is really interesting.

PEFC (Programme for the endorsement of forestry certification) is also interesting given that a lot of French sawmills will not contemplate the idea of becoming FSC certified. The vast majority of people fail to realise that PEFC has been recognised by the British government as being of equal stature to the FSC scheme although I'll admit that FSC seem to do a lot more marketing to get themselves known and whilst a lot of African sawmills are struggling to gain FSC certification on things like I Balau, Greenheart and Sapele there are other schemes available such as SFI, SGS and MTCC to name a few.

The other big problems with the schemes is that the actually certification can be a bit of a daunting task, should you make a mistake you might get a simple minor non-conformity slapped on you, these usually are minor issues that need to be addressed within a certain time frame whilst a big mistake could cost you your investment in the scheme and all certification being withdrawn. I'll admit that I've never heard of this being done but its on the assessment sheets so the possibility is always there.

I recently got talking with an assessor and he believes that word on the street is that the way FSC is currently run will be changing although I've yet to receive official details from FSC it seems that the scheme could be getting a lot simpler for people to understand, whether that be on product or off product labelling I don't know at this stage.

 

[promhandicam]

The border agencies are hot on phytosanitary certification and nothing gets released from port and into the yard with out a certificate but clearly people are under estimating the consequences of the beasts within...

Since when?