Champion Flex Head Ratchet For a Dollar

[thehorse13]

For fun I wandered around the local flea market and found a guy selling loose hand tools. I dug this Champion flex head ratchet out from the bottom of one of his boxes and asked him how much he wanted for it. He asked me if it was a Craftsman and I said no, it's a Champion. He gave me an odd look and told me that I can take it away for a buck.

It's made in the U.S.A. and I figured for a dollar it needed to come with me. I guess that no one loved it because it's not a Craftsman. It will be happy with all the other ratchets here at its forever home.

 

[chopper1]

*.........

 

[LXCam]

Great, a tool sales guy that doesn't know **** about tools. I used to have a couple of those but honestly don't remember if I ever had an issue with it but probably not as I always seem to recall **** tools.

Congrats on the score!

 

[thehorse13]

I figured that for a dollar, who could turn down a U.S.A. made flex head ratchet. I wonder who made this one and when. Do you know?

 

[ganymede]

I figured that for a dollar, who could turn down a U.S.A. made flex head ratchet. I wonder who made this one and when. Do you know?

I think they were made by New Britain .

 

[twertsy]

I think they were made by New Britain .

I don't know about NB.......here's left to right Champion, NB, Herbrand, Powerkraft and Action (Thorsen)

 

[ganymede]

Hmm..
maybe Challenger ? ?

 

[woody 73]

Ok let me be the first too say you **** fantastic deal for one dollar.

 

[Super Mech]

****! I would kill for one of those! I had my fathers Champion plug master for years. He taught me how to work on cars using that ratchet and that was in the early to mid 70s and beyond. Some son of a ***** who worked for me stole it about 5-6 years ago. I wish I still had my original as it it had great sentimental value. Still have some of my fathers tools that I use on a daily basis. They don't make them like that anymore.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have one, it works fine for me. No problems.

 

[twertsy]

****! I would kill for one of those! I had my fathers Champion plug master for years. He taught me how to work on cars using that ratchet and that was in the early to mid 70s and beyond. Some son of a ***** who worked for me stole it about 5-6 years ago. I wish I still had my original as it it had great sentimental value. Still have some of my fathers tools that I use on a daily basis. They don't make them like that anymore.

I have a spare, but the handle is slightly bent......you're welcome to it for shipping.

 

[Beerman]

For fun I wandered around the local flea market and found a guy selling loose hand tools. I dug this Champion flex head ratchet out from the bottom of one of his boxes and asked him how much he wanted for it. He asked me if it was a Craftsman and I said no, it's a Champion. He gave me an odd look and told me that I can take it away for a buck.

It's made in the U.S.A. and I figured for a dollar it needed to come with me. I guess that no one loved it because it's not a Craftsman. It will be happy with all the other ratchets here at its forever home.

The funny thing is, that might be a better quality ratchet than a C'man of the same era. It CRACKS ME UP to see the people at the local flea market who THINK they know tools.

A few years ago, there was a woman who set up and put out a whole box of stuff. Everything was a buck to two-except the C'man. So she wanted $5-6 for a C'man 3/8 tear drop ratchet-not a bad deal. But she had a Cornwell 3/8 long handled ratchet. Since is was no-name (unlike C'man), I got it for $2.

Is this a great country or what????

 

[thehorse13]

The funny thing is, that might be a better quality ratchet than a C'man of the same era. It CRACKS ME UP to see the people at the local flea market who THINK they know tools.

A few years ago, there was a woman who set up and put out a whole box of stuff. Everything was a buck to two-except the C'man. So she wanted $5-6 for a C'man 3/8 tear drop ratchet-not a bad deal. But she had a Cornwell 3/8 long handled ratchet. Since is was no-name (unlike C'man), I got it for $2.

Is this a great country or what????

Yea, I was in shock. I thought for sure that he was going to give me the standard inflated Ebay price or the American Pickers, "I saw what it's worth on TV" mark up. This guy had plenty of overpriced items on the table, most of which was new production Chinese junk. The boxes off to the side looked promising only because I spotted some American made Craftsman stuff on top.

As I dug through the boxes, I noticed that the Craftsman stuff looked like it went through a war. None of it was older than the mid 1990s and it was common stuff like sockets and box wrenches. I think this guy must have known Bob Vila personally given that he had tons of those gimmick wrenches that he used to sell on TV. Robo-grip, all in one sockets, ratcheting box wrenches, and all of the cringeworthy junk that came out as the Craftsman brand hit the wall.

I was almost ready to give up and move on when I saw the Champion flex head tucked in the corner at the bottom of the last box. Five minutes of digging yielded a diamond from the sand pile.

The Champion ratchet has already been broken down, cleaned, oiled, polished and reassembled. It works beautifully.

 

[dutchgray]

The best stuff is always buried in the bottom of a box of dirty rusty worn out ****, very few can be bothered to sift through the lot to find it.

 

[PowderKeg]

I think they were made by New Britain .

I don't know about NB.......here's left to right Champion, NB, Herbrand, Powerkraft and Action (Thorsen)

gany is correct - that's the early selector switch for New Britain's Kilness round head ratchets.

FYI, Duro-Indestro also made ratchets for Champion. I want to say there was a third manufacturer, but I'm having a massive brain fart on who it would've been...

 

[fufu83]

Champion Ratchet Were bought from your Champion spark plug Dist. Look at the old catalogs. I worked at one station and they had a deal if you sold 30 tune up in one month you got the ratchet and one or two spark plug sockets. Did sell 30 but did sell some and got Two Champion spark plug sockets 13/16 and 3/4 in.

 

[oak_park]

Indestro/Duro also made a Plug Master for Champion too.

 

[four.cycle]

Coincidentally, I grabbed this last night right after it was posted. The "Action" model posted above by twertsy was Thorsen's "price point" line.
Here's the US-made Thorsen 88JNR, which does bear some resemblance, although the curve where the shaft meets the knurled handle doesn't really match up to the Champion, and it lacks the tapered shaft.
I would rule out Duro Chrome or Indestro as having been the manufacturer - that Champion looks nothing like a #2736 Indestro or the Duro Chrome equivalent.

 

[joel63]

You stole it!

Way to go, you have a good one.

 

[bonneyman]

Coincidentally, I grabbed this last night right after it was posted. The "Action" model posted above by twertsy was Thorsen's "price point" line.
Here's the US-made Thorsen 88JNR, which does bear some resemblance, although the curve where the shaft meets the knurled handle doesn't really match up to the Champion, and it lacks the tapered shaft.
I would rule out Duro Chrome or Indestro as having been the manufacturer - that Champion looks nothing like a #2736 Indestro or the Duro Chrome equivalent.

Oh man, that is nice! I didn't know Thorsen made the AK-47 in a flex version.

Great score!

 

[G_P]

The best stuff is always buried in the bottom of a box of dirty rusty worn out ****, very few can be bothered to sift through the lot to find it.

Exactly! I see people pass over boxes/buckets of rusty tools because they dont want to get dirty. I'll dig through them and usually find several good tools to make the effort worthwhile.
I just carry some baby wipes and paper towels in the car to get all the rust and dirt off my hands.

 

[four.cycle]

bonneyman, I think that Thorsen has the same head on it as my later 77JC - doesn't look like theopen-gear type with the dust cover. I think I just got a couple of the earlier ones a week or so ago.... that flex-head is in transit.
I'll shoot a couple pics of it when it gets here and post them up... gotta be a "Thorsen" thread around here somewhere, right?

 

[bonneyman]

bonneyman, I think that Thorsen has the same head on it as my later 77JC - doesn't look like theopen-gear type with the dust cover. I think I just got a couple of the earlier ones a week or so ago.... that flex-head is in transit.
I'll shoot a couple pics of it when it gets here and post them up... gotta be a "Thorsen" thread around here somewhere, right?

I don't know if I've seen a Thorsen thread. I can start one.

 

[bubinga]

The best stuff is always buried in the bottom of a box of dirty rusty worn out ****, very few can be bothered to sift through the lot to find it.

true, but I hate when They Say,
"Take the whole Box for $X.**, meanwhile most of it is a bunch of junk.
I have gotten to where I tell them ahead of time,
"Now I don't want the whole box"