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In most cases, we do not know the purpose that the tools we are making will be used for. But every so often we do learn about the job, and often times out tools help make some really cool stuff. One that stands out the most, and perhaps the one that I am most proud of, was back in 2009 when we were providing drills to our armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The drills were being used to help re-armor our Humvees to better protect against IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). These bombs were devastating to our troops, and are responsible for a large percentage of the deaths and wounded.
At the start of the war, the armor protecting the Humvees was flat on the undercarriage, horizontal to the ground. When an IED exploded underneath the vehicle the force from the explosion was absorbed directly into this flatness with deadly results. The creative minds of our armed forces came up with a new design
that eventually made its way to the battlefield. They incorporated an angular design for the armor on the bottom rather than flat. When the IED exploded underneath the force from the explosion hit the armor at an angle rather than directly into the flat bottom. As a result the chance for survival was greater because the vehicle was blown more to the side rather than straight up from underneath. Although it was not perfect it had a better rate of survival than the previous design.
Super Tool had the honor of providing the drill bits to re-armor the fleet of Humvees in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once the design was finalized we were literally over-nighting these drills to Baghdad as part of kits that were designed to retrofit the Humvees. The type of drill used was Super Tool’s Silver & Deming drill (pictured below). Silver & Deming drills are larger diameter drill bits ranging from ½” to 1-1/4” in diameter with a reduced ½” shank diameter. This reduced ½” shank diameter allows the drills to be used in handheld drivers so the work could be performed out in the field rather than in a machine shop resulting in faster turnarounds. We offer these in two styles; 118° standard point and a 135° split point. The 118° were the ones that were used in re-armoring the Humvees. Here is a link to them on our web site: https://www.supertoolinc.com/tools/carbide-tipped/drills-carbide-tipped-tools/9691/ .
I am proud of the tools we were able to provide for this admirable purpose. It instilled a sense of pride in the workers in the shop making the tools as well. As I said previously, we don’t usually know what purpose of the tool we are making, but in this case it was an honor to be a part of the process for everyone invloved.
What jobs have you performed that instilled a sense of pride in your work? Leave us a comment below.
Bryan Enander
President, Super Tool Inc.
941-751-9677