Thursday, June 26, 2014

King Klik



I recently came upon this British-made "King Klik" pop rivet gun.  I'd never heard of the make before, and I believe the name must have been a play on the better known and older "King Dick" line of British hand tools.

After serving in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, W.G. Townley founded Harmsworth, Townley & Co. Ltd in 1945 as a manufacturer of hand riveting tools.  During the 1950's, he patented the King Klik Lazy Tongs hand riveting tool, and during the 1960's the company was supplying over 90 percent of the world hand riveter market. Unlike many other small British tool makers, the company managed to survive the turbulent decades beyond this, and his daughter Clare assumed control in 2003.  Under her leadership, the company has moved to a new 'green' premises' called "The Melting Pot" in Todmorden on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border.  The company continues to make King Klik tools in that location.  Their website proclaims:


"As testament to the durability of our tools, we are frequently contacted from around the globe for spares and extra tools by customers from 30+ years ago when the Mr Townley was in charge!"

I like to put such tools back to work, keeping them original if possible.  However, the paint is in such poor condition on this tool, and the exposed steel is rusting, so I decided to strip and repaint it:

 




2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi. I bought one of these from a car booty recently and can't work out how it works. Any advice would be appreciated!

Graham Clayton said...

Looks brand new!