Educate me on these ratchet wrenches:)

[340wedge]

I forgot I owned these and I don't think I have ever used them. I usually go to my GearWrench ratchet wrenches when I need one. I forget when I purchased these, I believe the early 1990s. Does anyone know anything about them as far as when they were produced and by whom. The look similar to Wright wrenches that I have seen online. Does anyone use these anymore and was anything wrong with them or are they just an old design?

 

[lardy1]

I have a set of Craftsman I never use taking up drawer space.

 

[unslow1]

I have some that I never use also. I think they are Cornwell.

I was curious enough to check. I have a 3pc metric Cornwell and 4pc SAE Snapon.

They function but I like the Gearwrench ones much better.

 

[M6erfan]

Man, I had a set of those for so long. Never used them. I think I ended up donating them when I moved many years ago.

 

[Lesserstore]

I have one like those, except that on the craftsman side it is laser etched. Mine also has a strange code on the other side. Anybody else have one like this?

 

[mslim]

Same here. I have a couple of Craftsmen that looked useful but I never found them to fit right on anything when I needed them.

 

[Wyoming09]

I also have a set still in the original pouch. Never been used.

 

[OneDollarSaab]

All I can do is echo the chorus, in addition to being chunky, they are not sealed and relatively fragile.

 

[ecotec]

In 1994, those dog bones were awesome. Every electrician wanted a set.

Now, they are outdated. Just... outdated.

 

[toolmutt]

I have one like those, except that on the craftsman side it is laser etched. Mine also has a strange code on the other side. Anybody else have one like this?

That is a SnapOn date (year) code. Kastar made most of these for a lot of brand names including BluePoint which required the code. Presumably out of convenience, Kastar simply left the code on all of them. Here's a link to the chart. Your wrench appears to be a 1998.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14884

 

[Lesserstore]

That is a SnapOn date (year) code. Kastar made most of these for a lot of brand names including BluePoint which required the code. Presumably out of convenience, Kastar simply left the code on all of them. Here's a link to the chart. Your wrench appears to be a 1998.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14884

Thanks!

 

[retDAC]

Power line workers still use them. Two years ago? I had to call the local power company to check for loose neutral. Lost my sound system to a surge. That wasn't the problem, but the transformer had to be replaced. Fellow was using a Proto branded one and he said that's what was issued to them.


Member Strouty is/was a tower worker. Few years back he said he still preferred them.

 

[metalhead212121]

They don't work very well, clumsy to use and big. But, sell well on ebay.

x2 on that.......

I had a bunch of them Standard/Metric collecting dust... I figured I MIGHT get a bid or two on ebay for them. Last week I set the auction up for 10 days and within a couple days I had 15+ watchers... I got WAY more money than I expected.

 

[lbpd716]

The snap on variety has been around since at least the 70s. Metric ones were handy on VW transaxle bolts due to the lack of offset.

 

[340wedge]

Thank you for all the responses. It is pretty much as I expected, their time has passed and are mostly just taking up space but I am going to keep them and maybe one day I'll dig them out for fun.

 

[4xdog]

I have an earlier set -- clunkier than the op's if that's possible. Thick, with ********* plastic fillers between the chrome side plates. Gawd, I've hated them since whenever I got them -- probably early 1980s. I can't remember, but I sure hope I didn't buy them myself. They might have been a Christmas gift.