FOOTPRINT TOOLS – SINCE THE 1760s
With hundreds of years’ history, the story behind Footprint Tools is an example of how tool companies have to be agile to survive and be profitable. We took a tour around its manufacturing floor...
Sheffield is still the home of much toolmaking activity in the UK. And, yes, some of it still involves the bashing of metal at high temperatures, because that is what is needed to produce the highest quality tools, that will last the course and perform at the required level.
I suspect that ‘heating and beating’ metal was also part of the production process when the company was established in the 1760s making augers (a highly skilled process) for the wooden-hulled ships of the Royal Navy.
Footprint Tools first came onto my radar about ten years ago at Cologne’s International Hardware Show where the Jewitt Brothers, Tim and Richard, had a small stand showcasing some basic tools like brick bolsters and the famous Footprint Wrench that was still showing a healthy demand in the market.
I have been following the company’s progress since then and I was delighted when Tim Jewitt arranged a time for me to come to Sheffield and see for myself. Time to get my prejudices confirmed or shattered?
Since 2008, Footprint’s production has been based in a newer premises, the Admiral Works, at Owlerton in Sheffield. From the front of the building it would be hard to imagine the amount of space behind that is dedicated to manufacturing tools. I didn’t expect ‘modern’ at Footprint. The facilities are practical, efficient and do the job required. Today’s budgets are tight and the requirements for making tools demand a lot of space, energy and skill. No fripperies!
// It was only in 1968 that all the Jewitt-owned companies were merged into the Footprint brand, and in 2009 the name Footprint Sheffield Limited was adopted. //
Over a mug of tea, the brothers gave a lightning overview of the history of the company. It has only been associated with the Footprint trade mark since 1948. There had also been quite a few acquisitions of related companies like the John Bull Company, makers of edge tools, and CH Jenkinson, makers of brick bolsters.
It was only in 1968 that all the Jewitt-owned companies were merged into the Footprint brand, and in 2009 the name Footprint Sheffield Limited was adopted.
As enlightening as it was to see just how agile tool companies have to be to survive and be profitable, the almost constant window-rattling ‘thump’ from the factory floor got my attention. I am fascinated by production processes, so donning the required ear protectors, we went to watch the real world in action.
A long bar, heated to the required red heat, is hauled out of the furnace by the forger and placed in the die. A swift press of the foot pedal and a floor-vibrating thump later, the brick bolster, still glowing red, is passed to the next man who trims the edges and recycles the waste. It is amazing, but the forging knowledge required to produce a Footprint quality brick bolster that will retain an edge for longer and perform better than a fabricated version, is not always appreciated or acted upon. The subtle changes in steel composition and alloys need to be taken into account in the making. Tim and Footprint have this knowledge at their fingertips, and this has led to some strange bedfellows where existing forgings from other manufacturers have been reforged at the Footprint works to bring them to the required standard. The lesson may be that we should be using local companies to make things when the price differentials compared to Far East manufacture are getting less and less.
One of the advantages of the Owlerton works is that there is plenty of space to expand production. Some existing plant capacity can be moved to form more logical and economically viable production lines. Yet another example of how British manufacturers can be agile enough to move quickly to follow a market or trend.
We saw this on our factory visit where the production of line pins was concentrated in a particular work area. Footprint has identified a ready market for brick line pins and we saw them being forged, trimmed and polished in that space where big machines did the hard work while the humans put in the finishing touches. The flexibility of the space enables Footprint to manage the peaks and troughs of supply and demand. It seems that line pins by Footprint are much in demand by bricklayers throughout the world.
Being a part of Sheffield University’s Advance Manufacturing Research Centre since 2004, in partnership with Boeing, has also opened up other doors for more advanced manufacturing techniques, of which I am sure we will hear more soon.
The simple manufacture of hacking knives, another product with worldwide appeal, is another example of making a product properly, so that it stands out against the fakes and also-ran products that can fill the vacuums in the market. The demand for these fills a very big trolley every few months. And I am not surprised since they are still made with the riveted leather handles and sharp edge that defines a good quality hacking knife.
It also became clear in our tour of the factory that Footprint has lots of irons in the fire, so to speak, that will increase the range of products to market as well as increase profit margins. The ‘Footprint Boys’ work very hard on all aspects of the business, reinforcing my notion that agility and flexibility must be the tenets on which our UK tool makers work to. Demand and supply are still the masters of the markets.
Don’t ignore the history The Museum at Kelham Island in Sheffield is a must-visit for people interested in the history of tools, and I can recommend the Hawley News for keeping up to date. To ensure that the Footprint brand is remembered (and maybe even plundered for inspiration in the future) the company has invited the Hawley Trust to identify and catalogue its collection of tools made under various brand names. At one point in the 1950s and 60s I am sure that almost every woodworker in Britain and the colonies owned a Footprint tool (mine is a modest blue-handled chisel that seems to have been used for a variety of non-chisel jobs).
Tim showed us some of the boxes of stuff now being trawled through. It was partly a trip down memory lane for me because I was able identify and handle tools that I had sold when I worked in a tool supplier in my student days. In tools, as in other things, we forget our past at our peril, and the Footprint collection is a fascinating glimpse into the downs, but also the ups of tool manufacturing in Britain.
// Demand and supply are still the masters of the markets. //
The visit to Footprint Tools is memorable for lots of things, but the standouts? Definitely the enormous thump of a forge shaping red hot metal, and the glimpses into vital parts of our history and future where specialist manufacturing will be ever more important.
