The Appreciation Of Good Tools

The appreciation of good tools

March 1, 2013

One of the joys of my daily work is that I can indulge in my passion for the appreciation of good tools.  I have mentioned before that I find it fascinating to watch our equipment evolve and improve over time as new technology allows.  I am like a kid in a candy store when I visit some of our suppliers factories and workshops where they have state of the art CNC robots and laser cutting equipment that perform their ballet day in day out to produce a perfect product every time.  Remarkably though there are some old school tools and manufacturing processes that continue to shine over modern technology.  The Edelman Auger is certainly one of these.  This indispensable tool is now more than one hundred years old in design.  Todays Edelman auger head is almost a carbon copy of the original that was first made in a small forge shop outside Arnhem in the Netherlands back in 1911.  That we still sell these augers in large numbers today is a testament to the timeless versatility of this tool.  Not only that but in spite of huge technological advances the Edelman auger head is still hand made today.  As yet there is no machine that is able to faithfully reproduce the complex shape of the auger head.  So there it is.  One hundred years have passed, technology has advanced and the bestselling soil sampling equipment is a handle tool made by hand.

I will leave you on that thought and also with a link to a small film that illustrates another shining example of old school technology that today is still the best of the best.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=J3nojb-gFH4

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