depressing ball when re-assembling ratchet tool

[farmer bill]

I searched around for this on the forum, and did not find anything,

Maybe I did not use the correct terminology, sorry about that if this is a common question

anyway, what are some home made or easily found tools or jigs to hold the ball bearing in on the spring when putting/ sliding the direction changing pawl or claw (depending on which diagram you look at) back into the base on a number of pear head ratchets?

thanks

 

[RTM]

I recently took all mine apart to lube, and of course the pawls came out, whether I wanted them to or not. Best tool I found was a tiny bladed screwdriver to hold the ball down. It was a horrible kludge to do it. Took 3-4 tries per ratchet, and did not get better with practice. I used a fine tweezers to hold the ball in place, then depress with the screwdriver. I imagine a feeler gauge might get a better result, but the bulk of the pack of blades in my hand was a pain. Clamping the ratchet upright, slightly leaning away, might have helped to, but the trajectory of the ball was less predictable when I failed.

Watching this thread for better answers.

 

[demarpaint]

I cut a strip out of plastic soda bottle. I found it to work well. You have to fool around with the size, and it can be curved slightly if needed.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I use a feeler blade that I have punched a little dimple in.

 

[Tuc04]

Snap On spp744

 

[RTM]

Snap On spp744

Will be making something like that with Lugz’ idea

 

[signcrafter]

Last I knew they had stopped selling these. I was lucky enough to buy one years ago when they were like 99 cents with free shipping from snap on.

Snap On spp744

 

[farmer bill]

looks like the snap on tool is discontinued.

so yes, looks like it will be fabrication time.

the idea of clamping the body/ handle into or onto something is probably also a good one.

and lots of good light.

i have a handful of older ratchets from the farm shed I am seeing if I can get to functioning like they should again

 

[four.cycle]

Snap-on SP744 thread: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/snap-on-ratchet-detent-ball-holder-tool.291456/

I have one of those around here somewhere. Got it from Ebay, believe it or not, after I'd seen it mentioned here.
Essentially what Private Lugnutz has described above: it's a small, very thin piece of spring-like sheet metal - about the same shape as a feeler gauge blade - with a little dimple at one end.

And yes, I wish I had thought to clamp the ratchet body into something when I attempted to disassemble an older Herbrand 3/8" drive ratchet. Detent ball went flying off to Narnia. It's in pieces in a bag here somewhere.

 

[unslow1]

Here is a link from an older thread with guys explaining how they made them.

The elusive ratchet ball bearing tool

So after cleaning and greasing 2 Craftsman ratchets , I looked into finding the tool for holding down the spring loaded ball bearing. I found ONE seller on eBay selling them for $8.99 each , making it sound like a bargain. After a little more Google-Fu, I found them on Snap on's website for...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Tools4Me]

Last I knew they had stopped selling these. I was lucky enough to buy one years ago when they were like 99 cents with free shipping from snap on.

I bought two of the Snap-on tools about 10 years ago as well. They work great. Likely now discontinued, because they're not needed for rebuilding the current Dual 80 ratchets. Dimpling a homemade bent feeler gauge (as mentioned above) should work well as a substitute.

For anyone wanting to custom make a similar tool, my official Snap-on tool uses 0.020" (0.508mm) thick spring steel. That's about 25AWG steel for those more familiar with thinking of it that way. I've never encountered a situation where the Snap-on tool was too thick to work correctly when rebuilding a ratchet.

I made one in a pinch at a friend's house once, out of a scrap piece of blued steel pallet strapping that was laying around. That's basically what my Snap-on tool is made out of anyways. 1/2" and 5/8" width blued steel pallet banding is usually 0.020" thick just like the official Snap-on tool, so if you have any in that size it should work perfectly to make one of these tools yourself.

Before learning about the Snap-on tool, I used a homemade tool that consisted of a finishing nail that was first pressed halfway into a small wood dowel scrap to make a small handle. Then I smashed the end of the exposed nail flat with a ball peen hammer before bending it at a very slight curve. I then used a drill bit to drill a slight dimple into the tip so it would be less likely to slip off the ball bearing during use. It worked about 80% as well as the official Snap-on tool.

 

[four.cycle]

"...a scrap piece of blued steel pallet banding..."

...and that's exactly what mine looks like, except it's all nicely finished around the edges.

 

[Jswain]

Small precision flat heat screwdriver & a small dab of grease on the tip. Make sure you're doing it in a clean, quiet room because you WILL eventually shoot one across the room lol

 

[Tools4Me]

Small precision flat heat screwdriver & a small dab of grease on the tip. Make sure you're doing it in a clean, quiet room because you WILL eventually shoot one across the room lol

I have a spare cheap magnetic dial indicator holder that I made a simple clamp for, which I use to hold a small telescopic pick-up magnet. I set it right next to the ratchet I am working on and adjust the magnet so it's less than an inch from where I'm working. When using that setup, if the spring ball gets away from me there's about a 90% chance it will stick instantly to the magnet instead of flying away. I use the same setup whenever I'm removing small external e-clips.

 

[steaks&anvils]

Small precision flat heat screwdriver & a small dab of grease on the tip. Make sure you're doing it in a clean, quiet room because you WILL eventually shoot one across the room lol

One of the threads around GJ suggests using a big ziplock bag to disassemble tools that have springs. Put the tool in the bag, use the opening for your hand, zipped as closed as needed.

 

[RTM]

And yes, I wish I had thought to clamp the ratchet body into something when I attempted to disassemble an older Herbrand 3/8" drive ratchet.

Make sure you're doing it in a clean, quiet room because you WILL eventually shoot one across the room lol

when I did mine, I left the garage, with sawdust and furniture and milk crates on the floor, and moved into my home office. Large open space with dark wood floors, all the lights on, and working on the floor to minimize the bouncing options. Still lost one for a little while, as it rolled the longest way, under the chair five feet away.

 

[Tuc04]

One of the threads around GJ suggests using a big ziplock bag to disassemble tools that have springs. Put the tool in the bag, use the opening for your hand, zipped as closed as needed.

I also try to use 1 or 2 gallon ziplock bags when dealing with small springy bits if possible. I learned that after a misadventure with a RHFT ball bearing that I spent way too long looking for.

 

[andersen24]

This is where I bought mine from and they are still available.... EBay Snap-On Ratchet Repair Tool. Also when you go to put the ball bearing back in, put a dab of Super Lube on your tool to hold the ball bearing in place so you won't have to worry about it bouncing away to never never land!

 

[Jason280]

I've made a couple of very simple right angle versions using trimmed strips of hang iron (the type that comes on rolls with the screw holes punched out). They are absolutely invaluable, especially on some of the older "V" selector Craftsman ratchets.

 

[lardy1]

I had good results from putting the ratchet vertically in a vise and using a small screwdriver to hold down the ball/spring combination. It's easy once you've done it a couple times.

 

[DadsTools]

Home made. Works like a champ. Positive hold, no flexing, can't slip, total control..

 

[steaks&anvils]

Home made. Works like a champ. Positive hold, no flexing, can't slip, total control..

FONDUE FORK!!!!!!

Great job modifying that screw driver, looks factory!

 

[tool_scrounge]

It was my understanding that the Snap On spp744 tool was removed from their website after folks decided to buy large volumes of them for <$1 and resell the on ebay for much higher. I have been told you used to be able to get them from your dealer, but they were no longer inexpensive.