Is this really the best Craftsman ratchet?

[qqzj]

Watched this video a few days ago. By some weird chance, today someone gave me such a ratchet with 3/8 drive size. Depending on you guys comments, I shall see how happy I am going to be. Please let the comments coming. Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[theoldwizard1]

The one that I have in my hand !

 

[Fedwrench]

I don't think so. It might have been a good ratchet in its day but, not the best one to wear the Craftsman name. I would pick the round head fine tooth quick release ratchet as being the best Craftsman ever offered but, that's just me.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I have a full set of C-Man Arrow ratchets. I do not use them because I like my SK so much more.

 

[ShadowRuleZ]

I like the most recent 84t professional, I've got a USA made set.

 

[Packard V8]

Gadzooks! I'm shocked; just shocked. Do you mean we can't believe everything on you-tube-jerk-off?

jack vines

 

[qqzj]

Thanks guys! Makes a lot of sense. Craftsman has lots of expensive stuff. This should not be the best. Probably not even close. The YouTuber is typically fair. I guess in this case, he probably pushed it a bit too hard. Enjoyed all the comments!

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Skin]

Most old coarse tooth ratchets were built like tanks and the mini-zerk in the head is a sign of the times when things were designed to last. Not much fun to use in anything remotely modern though. The old ESCO round heads with the QR button in the middle were probably the best before they started offering the 60 and 84 tooth pear heads. All pre-Apex of course.

The new stuff under Stanley seems pretty good too. I've just avoided it since its fairly pricey for imports and they have nothing that tickles my interest like a super long 1/4".

 

[qqzj]

What is the proper tool to feed oil via that super small hole? What kind of oil to use?

Typically these old ratchets work well with superlube. However, that small hole implies that we should use something with a lot less viscosity.

I am thinking using a pick to depress the ball and drop a few drops of ATF. Does it sound right?

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Mgdoug3]

I was told the oiler was on the ratchet because originally the hole for the spring and detent ball was drilled through the top of ratchet. The oiler was added because it acted more as a plug than for lube. Later the machining process changed and no longer needed a plug.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Does it compete with modern fine-tooth, compact head ratchets? No.

On the other hand I can't think of another ratchet bearing the Craftsman logo that is so clearly designed to be bulletproof as this one.

I'm not a member of the RHFT church. I find the quick-release pins to be insufficiently hardened. The ball bearing wears a groove and socket retention becomes laughably bad.

 

[dogdog]

The one that I have in my hand !

always true.

 

[RoundedNut]

I get the nostalgia over the Craftsman name but none of the tools were made by Sears so the quality and recognition belong to the OEM.

As an aside, those low tooth count ratchets seem beefy but are actually weaker than modern fine tooth ratchets.

 

[bonneyman]

Most old coarse tooth ratchets were built like tanks and the mini-zerk in the head is a sign of the times when things were designed to last. Not much fun to use in anything remotely modern though. The old ESCO round heads with the QR button in the middle were probably the best before they started offering the 60 and 84 tooth pear heads. All pre-Apex of course.

The new stuff under Stanley seems pretty good too. I've just avoided it since its fairly pricey for imports and they have nothing that tickles my interest like a super long 1/4".

 

[bonneyman]

Does it compete with modern fine-tooth, compact head ratchets? No.

On the other hand I can't think of another ratchet bearing the Craftsman logo that is so clearly designed to be bulletproof as this one.

I'm not a member of the RHFT church. I find the quick-release pins to be insufficiently hardened. The ball bearing wears a groove and socket retention becomes laughably bad.

Agreed, the baby rattle selector ratchets were stout. The wife's car tool set has a pair of those in there. I don't have to worry about them ever failing in an emergency.

Now those professional ratchets Sears offered for a few years looked really nice. i still kick myself for not buying a set back then.

 

[exmaxima1]

............
Now those professional ratchets Sears offered for a few years looked really nice. i still kick myself for not buying a set back then.

Why? There's really no warranty on them as there are no USA tools to replace them with when they break.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

I've damaged a couple of Craftsman ratchets in that style in normal use. That's about half of the ratchets I've damaged in 40+ years. The teeth on the main gear stripped out. I still have three or four of this style of Craftsman ratchet but they're all in retirement except the 3/8" flex head, which is a convenient ratchet for low-ish torque applications. I don't particularly like these ratchets, I don't trust their strength and they have a slight tendency to slip into neutral or auto reverse.

The only ratchet I've regularly abused is a cheap Sears Companion ratchet from the 70s. It's a clone of the old Thorsen external gear ratchet. Probably the strongest Sears ratchet of the 70s. Also, VERY crude. The Thorsen is practically identical, but much smoother.

I also have a Craftsman RHFT ratchet from the same era. A very smooth, easy to like ratchet. The best Craftsman ratchet of that era.

Generally, I prefer my SK or Pittsburgh Pro ratchets to any of my Craftsman ratchets. Except for the damn PP floppy flex heads.

 

[Toold_up]

What is the proper tool to feed oil via that super small hole? What kind of oil to use?

Typically these old ratchets work well with superlube. However, that small hole implies that we should use something with a lot less viscosity.

I am thinking using a pick to depress the ball and drop a few drops of ATF. Does it sound right?

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

That's a ball oiler. You use an oil can to depress the ball and inject oil into the head of the ratchet. I have a few of these style ratchets and love em. You see a lot of these ball oilers in machining.

Good oil to use would be Mobil DTE.

 

[itwnexus]

Craftsman Premium Ratchets are the best Craftsman ratchets. They were sold at Sears in 2011.

Craftsman Premium Ratchets Hands-on Review:
https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-premium-ratchet-review/



They were made in the USA

The ratchet head is completely sealed, and contains an 84-tooth mechanism for a 4.5° swing arc.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I never have used any lube in any of my ratchets. I have one SK that is 75 years old and it works like a new one. My Dad bought it in 1945.
It is not like a ratchet has to be continually in motion and heavy wear from the movement causing heating that might cause some damage. Think of what a ratchet does. A few quarter turns and ratcheting back and that is it. Grease and oil attract dirt. Lube will become dry and cause a ratchet pawl to skip.
Save the lube for the bedroom door knob, it helps to keep the kids out.

 

[Toold_up]

I never have used any lube in any of my ratchets. I have one SK that is 75 years old and it works like a new one. My Dad bought it in 1945.
It is not like a ratchet has to be continually in motion and heavy wear from the movement causing heating that might cause some damage. Think of what a ratchet does. A few quarter turns and ratcheting back and that is it. Grease and oil attract dirt. Lube will become dry and cause a ratchet pawl to skip.
Save the lube for the bedroom door knob, it helps to keep the kids out.

Yeah and oil filters can be reused too. Save those pennies $$$$$

 

[isb cornbinder]

Yeah and oil filters can be reused too. Save those pennies $$$$$

That is a stretch. I don't need to know how you got from a few drops of lube to filters.
But if that silly comment works for you, so be it.

 

[SynViks]

To be fair to Catus, he was claiming it's the best out of the C-man he's had experience with... Wouldn't be surprised if he corrects himself when he acquires a Easco-made Craftsman.

 

[itwnexus]

Craftsman Premium Grade Ratchets tear down video:

If you held or used one, these hands down are the best of the best.

 

[Rinspeed]

Grease and oil attract dirt. Lube will become dry and cause a ratchet pawl to skip.
Save the lube for the bedroom door knob, it helps to keep the kids out.

Seeing SK sends grease with their rebuild kits I would say it's most likely a good idea to use it, but that's just me.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

To be fair to Catus, he was claiming it's the best out of the C-man he's had experience with... Wouldn't be surprised if he corrects himself when he acquires a Easco-made Craftsman.

A few weeks ago, Catus gushed about the second gen Craftsman roundhead:

 

[qqzj]

Is it the rhft people talk about here? I saw someone is selling such a torque wrench for $20 recently. Is that a good deal?

Anyways, seems the reviewer place rhft one notch below the one featured in the first YouTube video.

A few weeks ago, Catus gushed about the second gen Craftsman roundhead:

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Mechanical Noise]

Is it the rhft people talk about here? I saw someone is selling such a torque wrench for $20 recently. Is that a good deal?

Anyways, seems the reviewer place rhft one notch below the one featured in the first YouTube video.

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

No, the RHFT was made earlier. They were excellent ratchets and I'm not sure Catus will be able to contain himself should he ever get his hands on one.

I'll correct myself -- what I called the "second gen roundhead" I should have called the "second gen tri-wing roundhead".

 

[isb cornbinder]

Seeing SK sends grease with their rebuild kits I would say it's most likely a good idea to use it, but that's just me.

I did not know about the included grease. I have never had to repair or replace anything in my SK ratchet. As I mentioned, it is 75 years old.

 

[bonneyman]

Why? There's really no warranty on them as there are no USA tools to replace them with when they break.

They were the first Sears ratchet in a long time that I thought were worth a darn, and though more expensive I heard that they were pretty good tools. Sadly I didn't jump for awhile, and Sears discontinued them.

Is there a durability problem I don't know about? I don't need them now, but always up to looking at good tools.

 

[BFHtime]

Craftsman Premium Ratchets are the best Craftsman ratchets. They were sold at Sears in 2011.

Craftsman Premium Ratchets Hands-on Review:
https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-premium-ratchet-review/

They were made in the USA

The ratchet head is completely sealed, and contains an 84-tooth mechanism for a 4.5° swing arc.

I was about to post about these. You pt up a nice pic too!

These are the best ratchets Sears ever made. Craftsman branded. They were Snap-on priced too! USA made. I wanted to buy them, but with the way regular Craftsman was beginning to go cheap, and the price was like Snap-on, I just preferred the Snap-on brand name better. The handles were nice smooth cornered square bar. The action of the ratchet was pretty good, but not consistent from ratchet to ratchet, which in hindsight was just a lube issue. I put Lucas engine oil additive in most of my ratchets to keep them smooth anyway.

I wonder who made these.

Around the same time Craftsman also made a mid grade oval handle which was. Dry comfortable IMO. I think they were professional, with their best being the premium. I thought they were nice too, and a good deal for the money. Like a tool but I wanted them all, it had just got into buying dual 80’s. Also around that time they stated to give a hard time about warranty and you had to talk to the right person to get a warranty, which I rarely used. In general I do not abuse my tools.

 

[Skin]

IThey were Snap-on priced too!

No they weren't. At full retail they were around $80, $70, and $55 for the respective drive sizes. After a couple years they were often on sale for $60/$50/$40 and there was a bundle for around $130. These prices were before their liberal coupons too. At a minimum you could get another $5 off but there was generally a 10% coupon floating around.

A single S80 during the same time was about $140 and all 3 Snap-on ratchets were over $300. Not even remotely close.

 

[dsaabm]

I wonder who made these.

If I remember right they were Apex Group deal ie used the Gearwrench/Matco/Armstrong internal design with an 84T gear. Very nice ratchets, I regret not buying them at the time. Bring big money on ebay last I checked!

Edit: watching that teardown video, they appear to be the apex design with some small design changes like a locating boss for the gear and the bolted cover plate.

 

[qqzj]

But nowadays they are sold for more than snap on and value keeps going up. That means they are 5 time better.

No they weren't. At full retail they were around $80, $70, and $55 for the respective drive sizes. After a couple years they were often on sale for $60/$50/$40 and there was a bundle for around $130. These prices were before their liberal coupons too. At a minimum you could get another $5 off but there was generally a 10% coupon floating around.

A single S80 during the same time was about $140 and all 3 Snap-on ratchets were over $300. Not even remotely close.

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[qqzj]

Btw, here is the picture of the ratchet given to me. I looked up the thread with part numbers. Seems it is made by

V (continued) = Easco, ca. 1968 - 1986 perhaps as late as 1991 as NOS

So ca means california or canada? I just realized this might be my oldest Craftsman.



Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Deadsquiggles]

100% without a doubt, these are the best Craftsman ratchets. Like it was stated above, the Craftsman Premium ratchets. It was the first nice tool I bought myself when I first started working in shipbuilding in 2012. I had a bunch of cheap tools, but an awesome USA made ratchet.

 

[ike]

i had and sold a set of the premium ratchets. i still have a set of the 60t thin profile USA made ratchets. i'd argue all day that the thin profile ratchets are better than the premiums.

 

[JWILL]

I fully agree the Craftsman premium ratchets were the best ratchet to wear a Craftsman name. I used pretty much just craftsman and sk ratchets until later in my 20s and these ratchets hands down were amazing and tough. Ran 6 years daily with all three until someone got their five figure discount **** beaters on them and they walked off.

To add the Armstrong Maxx ratchets I had we're like 88T and also just as awesome.

 

[qqzj]

I opened up this ratchet tonight. Cleaned all the dried up grease with ATF. The ATF is amazing. Even removed a patch of rust like it never existed. Then I counted, there are only 24 teeth there! Talking about coarse tooth count!

I also regreased a normal cman USA black reverse switch ratchet. So I had a good comparison. The normal ratchet's black switch is plastic! Talking about disappointing. This one's reverse lever has a metal tooth which goes into a slot in the pawl. Very nice. Overall, I do think the overall design of this ratchet is a lot more satisfying than normal ratchet. Hopefully, some company can resurecct this design on fine tooth ratchets.

Btw, here is the picture of the ratchet given to me. I looked up the thread with part numbers. Seems it is made by

V (continued) = Easco, ca. 1968 - 1986 perhaps as late as 1991 as NOS

So ca means california or canada? I just realized this might be my oldest Craftsman.



Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Al Borland]

Btw, here is the picture of the ratchet given to me. I looked up the thread with part numbers. Seems it is made by

V (continued) = Easco, ca. 1968 - 1986 perhaps as late as 1991 as NOS

So ca means california or canada? I just realized this might be my oldest Craftsman.



Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

ca. = circa, meaning from 1968-86