Toolroom

Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, Brandauer’s tool room was a key part of the business, with over 400 different types of pen nibs in production. Brandauer’s home-built tool range was extensively developed!

Moving on from the pen-nib era, the first and second World War saw Brandauer diversify into a range of components and sectors outside of Pen Nib manufacturing, and it was the Government’s Manpower announcement in June 1942 which stated “the manufacture of steel pens and stationers’ sundries to be non-essential work, directing the transfer of all labour engaged in the production of thereof to essentials of war.” That caused Brandauer to fully diversify, and all skilled workers at the time were transitioned onto manufacturing components for aircraft, undercarriage bearing cages, braking systems and blind riveted systems. With 150 employees engaging on work for Lockheed. This wartime transition from pen-nibs was pioneered by the Brandauer toolroom, with full redirection of the toolmaking capabilities from pen nib manufacturing to the making of precision press tools for aircraft, defence and other war-critical components.

Transitioning into the electronics era was a huge developmental shift for Brandauer’s toolroom. Growing demand from companies like Honeywell, BICC, IBM and Bonnella caused investment to occur within the toolroom, with Spark Erosion (EDM) to reduce tooling machine times and a clear indication that manufacturing of tools had shifted to more modern, precision methods of manufacturing.

The final big development of Brandauer’s tool room came in the 21st century, where in 2022, Brandauer joined forces with In-comm training to launch the only UK’s toolroom academy to train young apprentices on their journey into engineering, all whilst fighting the ever-growing skills gap within the precision manufacturing industry.