"E" stamping on Snap-on ratchet

[stevejh82]

Always thought that the E stamping was for emergency, but you can clearly see that the ratchet on the left is date coded, no obvious date coding on the right, but a ratchet from the same era. Is there is a chance that they came from the same owner with the same owner initials? Am I crazy? Opinions please....

 

[Underdog]

I have a F720 ratchet with the E stamp that I received years ago from a SO Truck as a warranty replacement. I always assumed it meant exchange?

 

[snapmom]

these E stampings on some rats are a mystery. they are factory, but I do not know of anyone who has a answer.

Update: These are Exchange ratchets, for a time Snap on sent the broke rats back to the factory to be repaired, and they stamped them with a E.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

I like those old Snap-on ratchets, a real nice design.

Can't shed any light on the the stamping though.

 

[Elroy]

these E stampings on some rats are a mystery. they are factory, but I do not know of anyone who has a answer.

Elroy was under the impression the "E" was stamped into refurbished ratchets that were issued under warranty claims as "exchange"


This subject was previously discussed here:

Here is a shot of the "Exchange" stamping on Elroy's 1/4" drive TM70B. Look close just above the glare spot on the "grip" portion just below the ID band. Only the three horizontal strikes are present, the vertical "leg" is not there. This ratchet was obtained as a warranty "exchange" off a Snappy truck along a dirt road in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky in 1983.

This is the original kit purchase new in 1971 or '72. The flex has been added and the 1/4" to 3/8 adapter and one extension are Craftsman.

 

[stevejh82]

Whew, I thought as I was posting that I was going to roasted over a spit for not knowing, but since you have no good answer, I definitely feel better. I have a SL 710 1/2" drive ratchet with the same marking that I didn't put in the pic. I will try to do some checking around to see what I can find out, maybe we can come up with a viable answer...

 

[caper]

I have a 720 with that E stamp as well.Always thought it was an owners mark.

 

[snapmom]

The Exchange story sounds reasonable.

 

[Hiball]

I have a 720 with that E stamp as well.Always thought it was an owners mark.

Ok now im gonna have to check mine. geez

 

[chadster1]

I cant say this as 100% gospel. At one time Snap-on offered the dealers exchange ratchets instead of having to take the time to rebuild ratchets on the truck. I would imagine the E stamp denoted the exchange ratchet. This all happened before my time as a dealer.

 

[Elroy]

Please consider the fact that all the "E" are stamped in the same spot on the handle. That would be quite a coincident if it was not a coordinated effort. Elroy is stickin by the "exchange" theory mainly because that is what Elroy was issued from the truck when a warranty claim was requested.

 

[snapmom]

here is the answer: I asked a retired so dealer, and this is what he said.

yes i do - S/O started an exchange program where instead of the dealer rebuilding the ratchet on the truck you gave the customer a ratchet that had been rebuilt and re-chromed by the factory in exchange for his broken one. the dealer was charged $5.00 for each one but it was not popular with the dealers and i do not think it was cost effective for S/O either so it was fairly short lived but all those E stamped ratchets are still out there.

 

[Underdog]

here is the answer: I asked a retired so dealer, and this is what he said.

yes i do - S/O started an exchange program where instead of the dealer rebuilding the ratchet on the truck you gave the customer a ratchet that had been rebuilt and re-chromed by the factory in exchange for his broken one. the dealer was charged $5.00 for each one but it was not popular with the dealers and i do not think it was cost effective for S/O either so it was fairly short lived but all those E stamped ratchets are still out there.

Someone should ask SO to bring back that program, Heck I'd pay $5.00 a ratchet.

 

[chadster1]

Someone should ask SO to bring back that program, Heck I'd pay $5.00 a ratchet.

I am sure one of the reasons that it got discontinued was that the program was abused.

 

[billymade]

In this day in age; I cannot see how that would be cost effective with the labor rate per hour! Can you imagine taking all those ratchets apart, cleaning, restoring the surface, prepping for chrome, chroming them and rebuilding them? It sounds like allot of work! One thing that I found interesting searching the web; J.H. Williams a subsidiary of Snap-On has a file on the web; that shows they did away with "field repair" of their ratchets and now just "exchange" them for new! It seems up until recently that Williams actually "stamped" their "rebuilt" ratchets with a "X"!

as per williams warranty statement:

Ratchets:
Warrantable ratchets purchased new will be replaced with new
ratchets. Warrantable exchange ratchets will be replaced with
newly refurbished exchange ratchets. All exchange ratchets
will be stamped with an “X” for identification. (emphases mine) The Williams ratchet exchange warranty policy is limited to the 1/4” drive, 3/8” drive,
and ½” drive ratchets. All broken ratchets (new and exchange)
must be returned to J.H. Williams Tool Group, 6969 Jamesson Rd,
Midland, GA 31820 with a Returned Goods Authorization number
(RGA #), freight pre-paid, in order to receive credit. Field destroyed
ratchets will not be eligible for credit

I found somewhere else on the net; they supposedly changed the policy to replacement! I'm sure cost effectiveness has to play a major role in these policies! I have seen rebuild kits for sale on the net however; I wonder if williams sends out repair kits? Anyone have a Williams ratchet with a "X" stamped on it?

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Lets talk about an "E" edition ratchet from the 1940s... SnapMom and I had previously been discussing an eBay find that I picked up this spring. It was stamped with the reverse "E" for 1944 Emergency issue. This is on a 3/4" drive ratchet with a 3' handle.

Was there a limited production run in this year, hence the designator of "E" for emergency issue in the waning years of the war? Let me know what you think.

Adam

 

[Sgtboz]

This isn't exactly timely but just got an old 11" 3/8 drive extension with an upper case "E" stamped near the logo. Appears to have a natural steel finish. Date code chart lists "E" as emergency (40's era)? So it just doesn't pertain to ratchets.

 

[Walkers]

Probably some guy named Ed who wanted to make his mark on the world. He stamped 18000 ratchets before he got caught and transferred to the hammer department. Now E hammers are coming out.