New SK ⅜” drive ratchet from Ideal - PICS

I had an SK 45170 ratchet that had really bad peeling chrome. It was relatively new, but was clearly defective. The chrome was coming off in big, sharp chips.

I mailed it to SK on November 30 and three weeks later this ratchet arrived directly from the “new” SK. The ratchet works great in both directions.

The chrome on the new ratchet is flawless. I can’t find any scratches or rough spots under the chrome. I recently had a wrench set from right before the old SK went under and there were quite a few flaws under the chrome. Here's a link to a thread showing those wrenches.

This ratchet had some storage oil on it from the factory. After cleaning that off with some solvent, the chrome is very bright and mirror like. You may see some streaks from my cleaning. Those aren't scratches.







Here are some pics comparing the new ratchet to an older SK ratchet. It appears SK is now using date codes. You’ll see the new ratchet has an “AA” marking. I assume this is a date code mark where A = 1. So AA is 11, meaning 2011. I’ve never seen another SK ratchet with a date code, and I’ve owned a lot of SK ratchets.

The only other obvious difference is the knurling. The old ratchet has sharper knurling. The newer ratchet uses knurling that is flatter.





The new ratchet has well-machined teeth in the head. I’ve seen some older SK ratchets where the teeth were poorly formed.


The mechanisms are interchangeable. I swapped them and both ratchets worked well with the other mechanism. You’ll see there has been a design update on the mechanism. The newer mechanism has a two-piece lever for changing direction. The old lever is machined from a single piece. I don’t know if this change was made before Ideal purchased SK or not.

I've got an older S-K ratchet that I picked up from a pawn shop a couple of months ago that has the two piece selector switch. So apparently they've been building them that way for a while.

I got a new 1/4 inch SK 3 wks ago..very nice, totally love it...only thing is the direction switcher on the back is so flat its hard to change...small thing, but really love it.

New ratchet looks great but I must say I'm not a fan of the new knurling I'd rather have sharp knurling on my ratchet if it has any at all

Thanks for the review and pictures, very helpful. Overall, I'm liking what I'm seeing on the forum of pics of the 'new' SK manufactured tools.

If anything, this kind of reports boost my confidence in buying even NOS SK... because it looks like they're getting their act together again, so if something isn't right they'll make it so.

byoungblood said:

I've got an older S-K ratchet that I picked up from a pawn shop a couple of months ago that has the two piece selector switch. So apparently they've been building them that way for a while.

Click to expand...

That's interesting.

I have two older 1/2" drive ratchets that have the two-piece lever. But, I have relatively new 1/4" drive ratchet that has the one-piece machined selector. I guess they switched some ratchets before others.

I just got a 1/2" SK ratchet and it has the "AA" on the label also. I got it from Tooltopia and I wasn't sure whether it was from the new or old SK. I guess the "AA" means it is from Ideal then?

The knurling is also fairly flat but I don't want to pass judgement on that until I get to use it some more.

The two piece selector isnt really new, I'd say '80's or '90's (just guessing)

The "diamond" logo ratchets and S-K Wayne (IIRC) ratchets used the one piece selector. The post diamond logo pre Wayne (like in your pic) would also have the one piece selector lever.

I've seen alot of different "codes" stamped where the retaining ring nubs are, I assumed it was for different tooling/forgeings. I find it interesting that they would add a date code of sorts.

I have an old SK 3/8" ratchet I got from my wife's grandfather that the chrome had all peeled off of. I contacted SK and was told that they don't warranty for peeling chrome, so sorry! I wire wheeled it and painted it with silver steel wheel paint (seems to be holding up so far). Maybe I should have just sent it to them and not bothered contacting them first (but I was afraid they would lose it and I'd be out a ratchet!).

stephen9666 said:

I had an SK 45170 ratchet that had really bad peeling chrome. It was relatively new, but was clearly defective. The chrome was coming off in big, sharp chips.

Click to expand...

Whatever... We all know SK doesnt warranty anything. How bout you try not to use this one as a hammer?


Lol.. Thanks for the Pics.

BigAl62 said:

I have an old SK 3/8" ratchet I got from my wife's grandfather that the chrome had all peeled off of. I contacted SK and was told that they don't warranty for peeling chrome, so sorry!

Click to expand...

Was this the "new" SK, or was it before the old SK went under?

Since the new SK won't warranty tools that are worn out or abused, guess I understand why they would do this. I assume lots of people would try to warranty tools that were old and rusty for "peeling chrome." I should have taken a pic of the ratchet before I sent it in. I've never seen another ratchet peel like this. The ratchet was in very good to excellent condition, but big 1/4" chunks of chrome were coming off. It was more of a safety issue than cosmetic issue, those chips were sharp.

Hiball said:

Whatever... We all know SK doesnt warranty anything. How bout you try not to use this one as a hammer?


Lol.. Thanks for the Pics.

Click to expand...

Ha! I (not so) fondly remember those threads.

plinker said:

The two piece selector isnt really new, I'd say '80's or '90's (just guessing)

Click to expand...

A member on another forum pointed this out:
The original patent drawing in 1939 showed a two-piece lever like my new ratchet. Here's a link to the drawing.

So, it appears they started with a two-piece lever, then went to a one piece (or made both at the same time), then went back to a two-piece lever. Definitely strange.

plinker said:

I've seen alot of different "codes" stamped where the retaining ring nubs are, I assumed it was for different tooling/forgeings. I find it interesting that they would add a date code of sorts.

Click to expand...

Same here on the forging codes. There's no pattern with them that I can see.

But the "AA" stamp sure looks like a date code to me. I actually like date codes. I just like to know the age of tools.

IMO peeling chrome on a chrome plated socket is definitely a manufacturing defect and should be replaced under the warranty.

AA for 11? perhaps?

the two piece lever is probably significantly cheaper to make. Punch them out and peen them in place!

Ah, that luxurious SK chrome is back.

I'm not much of a fan of the new knurling, the deeper knurling looks better IMO, and I like knurled handles when working with oily hands more than any other metal, plastic or "soft" handles. I'm glad to see SK back in town making tools one can be proud to own. I have sets of sockets and combo wrenches that I bought 35 years ago that are still looking good and holding up after all these years. I busted a few sockets, and I have a few that I will replace or warranty in the near future.

Greatbear said:

I'm glad to see SK back in town making tools one can be proud to own.

Click to expand...

Definitely agree...

I don't think this will happen but since Sears is set on China, I would like to see the Chinese line as their everyday value tools and then re-badge SK product for their professional line.

Hiball said:

Whatever... We all know SK doesnt warranty anything. How bout you try not to use this one as a hammer?


Lol.. Thanks for the Pics.

Click to expand...

I've had a ratchet and a socket warrantied by SK many years ago. These are the only SK tools that I had that ever needed to be warrantied.

I emailed them about 3 or 4 months ago. I figure as long as it works, I'll just keep using it as is. I also have a number of sockets and extensions that all the chrome is off of, did SK use cheap chrome years ago? None of the sockets look like they ever even had chrome on them, none visible anywhere!

That new ratchet looks tops. One thing i noticed.. Really old sk's from the late 30's n 40's have a relatively thin handle compared to 50's through 80's ( haven't seen any 90's n later).
Now it seems like they slimmed em down a bit.