Cad plated Plomb WF ratchet

[pwinters]

I picked up a WF-21 ratchet that I’m pretty sure is cadmium plated. That is, the ratchet body is clearly cad, I’ve never seen anyone clarify if the other parts are cad plated. There are two plates to hold the guts of the ratchet together and the anvil/gear (not to mention screws to hold the plates together and the pawls and springs).

Should I assume these are all cad plated? I want to make sure I take the right cautions if cleaning and doing restoration.

 

[d42jeep]

Cad plating is very common on wartime tools. Be cautious when cleaning not to produce any airborne particles.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

You can "clean" it up with just Simple Green. Just don't put it on a wire wheel or take steel wool or a wire brush to it.

I have a long plastic tube I use for cleaning ratchets - I pour about an inch or so of mineral spirits in it and let the heads and guts soak overnight - cleans all the gick out of them. Have an S-K 42470 soaking right now - innards were all gummed up with black goo.

 

[pwinters]

Thanks, I’ve wanted to be cautious about how to approach cleaning up the ratchet. Do we think the anvil and the plates holding the gear mechanism together are also cad plated?

 

[RTM]

You can "clean" it up with just Simple Green. Just don't put it on a wire wheel or take steel wool or a wire brush to it.

Will soaking in SG take affect the CAD finish? I know it plays hell with the black coatings.

 

[d42jeep]

The safe approach is to treat all of the pieces as if they are cad plated. I’ve had good luck using evaporust on cad plated tools. Your ratchet is missing the selector mechanism and lever and the anvil is reversed.
-Don
Not my ratchet

 

[four.cycle]

^ I had no issues using Simple Green on stuff other than it removing the paint, which is exactly what I wanted.

 

[pwinters]

The safe approach is to treat all of the pieces as if they are cad plated. I’ve had good luck using evaporust on cad plated tools. Your ratchet is missing the selector mechanism and lever and the anvil is reversed.
-Don
Not my ratchet

Thanks for the hi-res pics. I agree it is probably safer to assume it is all cad and be safe.