Company decides to manufacture its own MILSPEC/SAE-compliant replacement tools

If you have been looking for a set of Parker beading tools for your toolbox, you probably know that they have become harder and harder to find. The Parker beading tool has for years been the number one choice of mechanics for making hose clamping beads on metal tubes. In fact, Aircraft Tool Supply, who used to sell them on a surplus basis, eventually removed them from their catalog because they simply could not find any more.

According to ATS' Des Lynch, the company nevertheless continued to receive inquiries for the tools, and eventually decided to look into what it would take to produce its own quality beading tools.

After all was said and done, the company saw that it would take quite a bit of money to design and produce a set of tools that would meet their stringent QA requirements. Given the demand, though, they decided to go ahead with the project.

The result is the ATS Pro Tube Beading Kit, a recreation of this classic tool, with some enhancements of ATS' design, such as ground, hardened and polished surfaces for mar-free beads in aluminum, copper, brass and mild steel tubes ranging from 1/4 inch to 1 inch diameters. The ATS Pro Tube Beading kit also meets MILSPEC MS33660D and SAE AS5131 standards.

List price for the full tool kit is $399; Oshkosh show special price is $315. If you don't need the full set of tools, you can also buy three different packaged versions of the tools.

FMI: www.aircraft-tool.com