On the Level and Gripping Tales: CK (Carl Kammerling) Germany

C.K tools is a registered trademark of Carl Kammerling International Ltd.  The company traces its history back over a century to 1904 when Carl Kämmerling set up his own business in Wuppertal selling tools under the C.K brand.  Previous to this, he had worked as an apprentice for Peter Ludwig Schmidt (P.L.S.) , a family owned business of farriers and swordsmiths established in Wuppertal in 1790.  In 1935, his son bought P.L.S. and merged the two companies.  All eight premises were destroyed by bombing in 1943 and the family fled to Melninger which later fell behind the Iron Curtain.  In 1947, the business was once again established in Wuppertal.  Still family-owned, the company now has its headquarters in the UK and offices in Germany and Ireland.  CK now sells in 40 countries but 80 percent of its sales are in Europe.  On their website they declare, "We like to think we embody the best traditions of the so-called "Mittelstand" in Germany, namely honest dealing, a long-term view and financial stability."  Would that more North American tool makers subscribed to the same philosophy.

Below, a pair of their pliers.  I wrote to them to ask about the unusual pins on the pliers' end, and they responded that these pliers had not been made for a very long time, and there was no one in the firm old enough to remember why they were designed that way.