Thomas Smith Fasteners hosted a meeting of the Wigan Borough Manufacturing Group on the 3rd May 2012.

The WBMG is a group of local manufacturing businesses and professional advisors.

The meeting was preceded by a tour of our facilities, which included the trade counter, warehouse, manufacturing and quality.

The Mach 12 exhibition at the NEC is held every two years to showcase the machine tool industry and associated products.

The global, quality, and precision aspects of this industry were demonstrated by the number of Formula 1 cars on display.

Machining is an important secondary function that is of significant importance to us, especially when manufacturing specials.

Useful contacts were made with tooling and quality equipment suppliers.

Here is a brief history of the Ferrari 365 GTC/4 that will be undergoing renovation.

Our barn find was originally ordered on the Ferrari factory by the UK agents Maranello Concessionaires in October 1971.  The purchaser was Gerald Ronson – who at the time, amongst his many business interests was chairman of H.R. Owen Ltd.  The sales contact at Maranello with responsibility for the sale was Mike Salmon, the well known racing driver who drove on many occasions at Le Mans and other important sportscar events.  The car took longer than expected to arrive in the UK, but chassis / engine No. 15131 was eventually delivered in June 1972.

These pictures show our classic car under wraps just as it has been for the past 15 years.

The picture below was included in a previous blog post and gave a clue to the thoroughbred nature of this classic car.

The car is garaged in a shed next to thoroughbred race horse – which will be the better performer?

Our upcoming blog entries will tell you all about our classic, its previous owners, and the restoration trials that enable us to make our much-loved subject roadworthy.

We will give you a brief clue as to the model involved – it was manufactured in Maranello and is an Enzo vintage vehicle.

Stay tuned for regular updates!

A Sorting Bridge allows the user to separate mixed batches if items with equivalent dimensions but differing material types become mixed.

If the material of the sample matches the test piece, a sinusoidal waveform is produced.  If the material of the sample does not match the test piece, the waveform is inconsistent.

Thomas Smith Fasteners are proud to sponsor our local running club – Astley & Tyldesley Road Runners, who are to host the Bent & Bongs 10k Trail Race on Sunday, April 1.

The race may take place on April Fool’s day, but the course is no joke!  The race takes place on the trails around Astley, Tyldesley, Hindsford and Atherton and will start and finish at the Astley & Tyldesley Miner’s Welfare Club, the Gin Pit.

All abilities are welcome, and every runner who completes the course will be rewarded with a memento.

Entry details are located on the club’s website http://astleyrunners.blogspot.com. Alternatively, email the race organiser Gary Stevens at stevensgary@hotmail.com.

We are delighted to help the local economy.

As a relevant aside, we have plenty of pictures and videos of our products and facilities that will be uploaded to our site soon, so be sure to keep checking the site!

Follow our blog in 2012 to watch the progress of a 1972 classic car restoration project.

The horse gives a clue as to the make of the car!

We have now added Assorted Fastener Packs to our online shop.

We currently sell BSF and BSW packs, each one consisting of 105 pieces and containing a handy assortment of bolts, nuts and washers in a durable case.

Priced at only £12.99, these packs are a great value way of keeping an assortment of imperial fasteners to hand.

Larger packs will be added shortly, so be sure to keep checking the site!

400+ delegates including Thomas Smith Fasteners were present at the NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) Supplier Event held on the 21st November 2011.

This event was the first ever collaborative supply chain event for existing and potential suppliers in the nuclear decommissioning sector.  The supply chain spend by SLCs (Site Licensing Companies) in 2010/11 was £1.37bn.