Mamod tools The tools for the Mamod range of engines has been in existence for over 60 years. The tools were originally made for the Hobbies engines, which Geoffrey Malins made for the Dereham company in the mid 1930s. These early tools had flat bases and were painted in a darker green to the 'Mamod mint green' to which we are all so familiar with today. Initially two lineshafts and three tools were made. These were the C1 and C2 lineshafts, along with the polisher, power hammer and press. Very early tools are rare and highly sought after. (See my own Hobbies polisher). The grinder illustrated on this page was not introduced until 1952, which is odd since it is basically identicle to the polisher, save for the grit grinding wheels. Sometime during the mid 1940s the tools gained raised bases, although the lineshaft (C2) continued with a flat based until 1954. (see my flatbase lineshaft). The pedestals for these tools were still fabricated from cast iron, and this coupled with the hot brass stamped flywheels (on the lineshaft, press and hammer) gave these post war tools a very solid and well made character. It was supposedly not until around 1952/53 - (however evidence shows cast iron bodied examples with St Mary's Row boxes exist, dating it to at least 1948) that mazak (a zinc alloy) began to replace the cast iron. Boxes in the late 1940s up to late 1950s were all white lablelled with red and black letterpress graphics and type on a strawboard box. The brighly coloured red, yellow and grey boxes were introduced sometime around 1957, and in my opinion were very much of the era and almost 'trendy' for the time! Things carried on in much the same way for sometime then, albeit with the oil lube holes disappearing sometime in the early 1960s and the screw construction of the hammer, press and lineshaft disappearing with the introduction of 'pop' rivets around 1965. Only the shade of minty green really fluctuated with the passing years through to 1979 along with the range of different materials used for the grinders grind wheels (brass at one stage!), when all the tools were upgraded to blue and the workshop collection of tools on the same base introduced. The tools were discontiuned in the mid 1980s, when Mamod was going through all sorts of name and owner changes, although they returned in the late 1990s, albeit on horrible cut down bases. The basic designs have not changed and are as much fun today as they were back in 1936.
