OUR STORY
DECADES IN THE MAKING
It all started 45 years ago, I was a supplier for the US and European aviation industries and developed a strong rapport with a large aviation firm. They approached me about producing a high precision cutting tool that could cut the skin of an aircraft; traditionally aluminium or an aluminium alloy, without producing sparks, leaving burrs or sharp edges. This was a common gripe in the industry at the time, particularly when prototyping aircraft. It was a tall order, but I set to work designing my first nibbler.
It was June 27th 1985 when I patented my first design, the Turner Nibbler. Unlike other cutting tools of the time, which tended to be large, bulky and expensive machines. The Turner Nibbler was a compact and portable alternative, taking advantage of the power drill to drive it’s cutting motion. These advancements made the nibbler mobile for the first time and made it significantly more cost-effective than it’s contemporary cutting alternatives while meeting the requirements set out by the aviation industry. The Turner Nibbler was the first ‘nibbler’ as it’s known today, with tools since following it’s compact and mobile design philosophy. The Turner Nibbler was sold and patented in the European Union, The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and the United States (U.S. Patent No. 4,748,744) until the early 2000’s when we parted ways with the design, and pursued a new approach to nibbler design.
One of the earliest technical drawings of our original nibblers dating back to 1985
An early design of my saw nibbler, dated back to 1992.
After a number of years tinkering and subsequently designing the world's first ‘saw nibbler’, I began to settle on a design that built on the innovations of my first nibbler with a number of key changes. While the Turner Nibbler used an over-length cutting apparatus in a linear actuating motion to reduce tool vibration, it came with the drawback of consuming more energy to actuate the drive medium, reducing the cutting potential of the tool. While this was an innovative solution at the time, other manufacturing techniques could now be used to achieve similar results without compromising the cutting power of the tool.
Another innovation was changing the tool to cut on the up-stroke. I discovered that making this change could significantly improve the strength of the tool, and prevent the cutting punches from breaking unnecessarily, a common issue of my first nibbler. To this day, my nibblers are the only ones that cut on the up-stroke.
The last and arguably biggest change was to the design of the die which saw a major reduction in cutting wear, improving the life of the punch and making the tool significantly more manoeuvrable. This new nibbler would be known as the Professional Nibbler, starting production in Perth after we relocated to Australia in the early 2000s.
The Professional Nibbler is and continues to be sold in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, and has been for over a decade. Seeing gradual improvements throughout this time. It was about the time we decided to move to Queensland that I once again revisited my nibbler design. Having spent decades improving my tools I found little change led to any meaningful improvement until I turned my attention to the driveshaft.
I found a slight alteration to the number of faces could reduce the likelihood of the drill slipping, and better transfer power between the drill and the nibbler.
Another change was to the cutting punch, where an alteration to the manufacturing processes and material saw a major improvement in the strength and longevity of the blade. This new nibbler would be known as the CaNibble, the cumulation of over 40 years of nibbler design and refinement, manufacturing techniques and my career. It is without a doubt my life’s work.
We decided to begin selling our Nibblers in North America for the first time in over 20 years, something that had become more difficult since moving to Australia, leading us to where we are today. The CaNibble is sold around the world and is the most advanced drill attachment nibbler on the market, tracing its roots back to the original drill attachment nibbler. The tool that set in motion a revolution in nibbler design, all prompted by a request from a friend in the aviation industry.
