In 2012 an experienced heating engineer working in the south-west of England was trying to change the core drill bit for his next job. Out came his trusted adjustable wrenches for what should have been a routine change. However, the core bit was stuck fast and needed a bit more encouragement, so as usual in these situations the next tool out of the bag was a hammer. Unfortunately, the hammer missed the wrench and instead hit our heating engineer’s hand, with catastrophic results. Nursing a broken hand and unable to work for the next seven weeks the engineer resolved to “find a better way”.
That engineer was Ty Harnett and over the next 4 years, whenever he had a spare moment, he worked on finding a solution. In 2016, with his 75th prototype he was finally satisfied and Clipacore was born! By 2020 Ty had saved enough to give up his day job and he took the plunge, launching his concept into the UK plumbing market. Fellow heating and plumbing engineers immediately recognised the benefits of the Clipacore system and the business went from strength to strength. After a few years Ty recognised that there was only so much he could do on his own so he searched for partners to take his invention to a wider market and in 2023 he sold the brand and intellectual property rights to Carl Kammerling International (CKI), owners of the Nerrad and C.K Tools brands, among others.
In Carl Kammerling International (CKI) Ty had found a company that shared his values in supplying trade professionals with tools that genuinely made their life easier, safer or quicker. CK Tools, supplied by CKI, is the U.K.’s number one brand for electricians and is known for innovative, ground breaking products. Nerrad Tools, a subsidiary of CKI, specialises in supplying plumbers merchants with high-quality tools for plumbing and heating engineers under the Nerrad brand.
CKI’s mission now is to bring the Clipacore system to all trade professionals who drill holes in walls using a core drill bit, be it for electrical conduit, water pipes, waste pipes, boiler flues, exhaust vents and so on. The Clipacore range will remain focussed on core drilling and will be available to plumbers merchants via Nerrad Tools and via Carl Kammerling International for all other merchants and re-sellers.