A quick-thinking plumber with more than thirty years’ experience has come up with a new device for safer core drilling. Lee Jones, from PBM’s sister publication Professional Builder, spoke with the tradesman and inventor.
Lessons of the painful variety can often have the most lasting impact, and when one plumber broke his thumb on site it would inspire a brand-new solution for the trades. “I was removing my core bit from my drill in the same way that pretty much every tradesman does it – and that’s by hitting a spanner with a hammer,” explained Devon-based Ty Harnett.
“Unfortunately, I missed and fractured a bone. That put me out of action for a couple of weeks, incurring loss of earnings as a result, which gave me plenty of time to ponder that there must be a better way.”
It is a predicament with which many a tradesman can identify — because the torque tension of a drill is so powerful, the core bit will bind very tightly on the equipment, which then presents a problem when you need to remove it.
Spanners are not designed to be hit with hammers, as Ty found to his cost. However commonplace it might be, it’s a dangerous and time consuming practice but, once you have successfully removed the bit, you’re then faced with the next challenge of how to eject the waste material. Again, the solution has traditionally been brute force, with the inherent risk of denting the metal construction of the core bit.
“It was easy to come to the conclusion that what we currently had on the market was not really fit for purpose, but it’s much harder to come up with an alternative,” admits Ty. “However, I was pretty determined and sketched out a design, from which some prototypes were commissioned. I was then able to test these out on my own jobs and found the idea itself was sound — and the result is QuikCore.”
The 47-year-old plumbing and heating engineer’s focus was on producing a product that would not only prevent injury, but also any damage to the tools themselves. QuikCore features a quick release clip for easy removal of the core bit from the drill or extension bar, as well as an accompanying ‘knockout tool’ that will safely punch the core from the core bit.
A simple solution, perhaps, but behind that concept lies some complex design work to ensure that the bit’s construction is up to the rigours of the job at hand, as Ty explains: “A core drill can run at anything up to 3,000rpm, so the clip had to be incredibly robust to withstand those stresses, but also easily removable by hand when required, and that’s where the real work was required.”
Ty has worked tirelessly on sourcing a manufacturer and distribution (the product is already available in a number of national and independent merchants), all whilst maintaining his successful plumbing business, and has been rewarded with a product that is quickly establishing itself in the marketplace.
For further information on the QuikCore, including testimonials and product videos, go to: www.quikcore.com
