1/4 Drive Service Set advise

[Paul Bee]

When I was a teenager I used to work on my bicycle and Mororcycle with Dad's SK socket set. I think it was early 1960's vintage the ratchet says SK Wayne. When I started my Career in Hvac I bought my own set of SK sockets, I also used Craftsman but the Sk held up better. In 2005 Dad passed away and guess what I found in his tool box? That SK Wayne socket set (3/8 drive with deep sockets) all the sockets are in great shape except one 12 point 5/8 socket and he had 2 of them. I would definitely go with SK.

 

[Conductor562]

I gotta have me a round head ratchet for 1/4 drive.

I have the Proto Flex head version of that one. Been contemplating picking up a 3/8" as well.

 

[03protege]

I was able to piece together a Snap On 1/4" drive general service set. It is this one below. It cost me a total of about $140

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...roup_ID=674757&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

Yeah well you don't count, I'm starting to think you are lying about all this cheap Snap On stuff you get.

 

[sk farmer]

You've got a Proto pear head for an avatar, so I'm just guessing SK ratchets might not be your favorite either.

Most of us have likes and dislikes for one reason or another. My opinion of SK round heads is the same as these:





A visual comparison, using 4 of my 1/4" drive ratchets, including, from top to bottom, SK 40970, '60s-vintage Thorsen 77M, Proto 4749, 1939-vintage Plomb 4749:

The SK is the fattest, or thickest, of them all, by .200 inches over the Proto, and .240 inch (almost a full 1/4") over the old Plomb.

lay them the other way i don't think it is wide as those two pear heads.

 

[lunkhead]

Titan ratchets are pretty good and not a bad price, also lets not forget about wright tools, still made in america and a damn good tool for a decent price.

 

[WWIIjeep]

lay them the other way i don't think it is wide as those two pear heads.

Agreed, but the difference that way is considerably less than the difference in thickness.

The Proto pear head is .075 inch wider than the SK, compared to being .200 inch less in height than the SK. The height difference is what I've found to be an issue more often than the width, and if width is the issue, I grab the even smaller old Thorsen.

 

[Chadwilliam1]

Sk ratchets are my favorite, I change directions sometimes with one hand but I usually use both hands no matter what ratchet I am using.

 

[Pumpman1968]

I feel your pain and am willing to lessen your burden by personally disposing of any and all of your broken S-K ratchets.........for the sake of humanity of course.

 

[j.c.whitney]

Bought the SK 91848, no regrets.

 

[dsmnickk90]

i just counted out 60 to be sure.. the 40970 is probably one of the most reliable and longest lived ratchets of any design. it is smaller and less bulky than man others . one can argue that it may take 2 hands but i don't know why it should. i just held mine in my hand and clicked it back and forth with my thumb at least 10 times in just a few seconds.

So SK ratchets are 60tooth? I always thought they were 36 but could never find any information anywhere. I love my Armstrong stuff but SK has awesome chrome.

 

[cundifc]

I went with the sk set

 

[JoeyMitch]

Yeah well you don't count, I'm starting to think you are lying about all this cheap Snap On stuff you get.

In all honesty I am not lying. I've been to every garage sale and flea market trying to piece together my sets and stuff like that!!!

 

[Fedwrench]

I went with the sk set

You have chosen wisely.

I know you wanted a US made set and that's a good thing but, I was going to tempt you with this Napa set which is a clone of a Gearwrench set.

http://www.cripedistributing.com/napa-56-pc-1-4-socket-set-deep-shallow-90927-ro.html

The truck prices are insane. The Armstrong set has a nice ratchet, knurled extensions but, the sockets aside from offering mores sizes like 15mm, are the same as craftsman.

The Gearwrench and Napa sets are very complete, good quality, excellent chrome, have a nice 60 tooth ratchet but, are imported.

The SK is an excellent balance of quality with value, and supports US manufacturing.

 

[tweedlestan]

I went with the sk set

Good choice. You'll like the SK ratchet.

 

[Unmarked Bill]

It's crazy how much you'll use them when you have a decent set. I bought the Cornwells in almost-new condition off a guy on CL for around 125, and I thought I was being irresponsible, but I use those things every day. I'm not crazy about the looks of the ratchet but new ratchets always look kinda like Cylons to me anyways.

Anyways, just saying get the best you can stand to pay for, you might end up using them quite a bit.

 

[Rezeppa]

I have the Mac tools 44pc set. My boss has the S-K set, and my other coworker has the Snapon set. We were joking around just last week about it because the sk set has held up just as well as my Mac (older mac) and the Snapon set. Now the part that hasn't held up is the cases. I replaced my case with the newer snapon case it hold the sockets weirdly but they don't move which is a huge bonus. The box held the sockets better but they moved around. The SK box had broken one latch and doesn't holy the sockets securely either but has room for other storage which is a nice feature. If I was to do it again I would have bought the S-K set.

 

[Rezeppa]

Good call you will be happy

 

[Rickster]

SK 1/4dr deep sockets have a shoulder on them that will rest on the nut or bolt head which means as your backing it out the length is growing. Sometimes that's beneficial for installing nuts. But I prefer they be fluted all the all the way through like the Craftsman which I use as a non-pro. The SK 1/4dr ratchet is a great fine tooth ratchet and ties at second in line with my old-school Craftsman RHFT. My go-to 1/4dr ratchet is the Snap-on black handled Swivel head.