Looking for info on Stanley ratchets

[PA Woody]

I know there isn't a lot of love for Stanley ratchets around here but I found these in a pawn shop today. They felt pretty smooth and at $2.00 each, since they were made in Taiwan instead of China, I figured I would give them a try. They are model#s 7-85-715 (3/8" drive) and 7-85-709 (1/4" drive). When I got home and did a google search I came up empty. Even the Stanley website doesn't have any info on these model numbers. Is anyone familiar with these ratchets? Can anyone tell me when they were produced? Were they sold in Walmart?

 

[dwasifar]

I know it's been a long time since you asked this question, but: I have a 7-85-709 as part of a little Stanley socket set I bought for an minor impromptu car repair while traveling. The set still has its outside stickers and was dated 2000, and I probably bought it around 2001. And yes, it came from Walmart.

I never expected to use that set once I got back home to my "real" tools, but it's turned out to be a perfect grab-and-go for small repairs around the house and still gets regular use. The ratchet is actually quite nice, as is everything else in the set except maybe the spinner.

 

[mowkep]

I have a little 40 piece set I bought on clearance for $10 a while back. It seems to be the one I grab the most.

 

[Al Borland]

Walmart's "Stanley" may not be "Stanley" as Walmart licensed the name and sourced the tools themselves. Of course, Stanley got to make sure it met Stanley standards.

 

[Gmonkee]

The Stanley borg has good product development capacity and an amazing base of production. If the kit in question has a good ratchet (like my kit had) the always good sockets make them a solid kit all around.

The Mac line sometimes trickles down into the Stanley stuff much to the irritation of the Mac fanboys but hey, its all the same factory under the same borg.

 

[Coach James]

I know old thread, but for $2, no way I would have left those ratchets at the store.

Coach

 

[dwasifar]

Walmart's "Stanley" may not be "Stanley" as Walmart licensed the name and sourced the tools themselves. Of course, Stanley got to make sure it met Stanley standards.

Well, the sockets do have "Stanley" etched on them. If they're sourced elsewhere, they went to a lot of trouble to conceal it.

One thing that's fun about this little set is that the extension can be chucked into my cordless drill, and voila, instant power nutdriver without having to carry around extra stuff. I assembled an entire garage door with it that way a couple weekends ago; zip zap done.

 

[RandyRanderson]

Someone left one of those behind when they moved out of my old house. After pressing on a worn out screwdriver handle, I find myself using it quite often.

 

[retDAC]

Walmart's "Stanley" may not be "Stanley" as Walmart licensed the name and sourced the tools themselves. Of course, Stanley got to make sure it met Stanley standards.

You are probably thinking about the "Popular Mechanics" brand in the '90s. Walmart licensed the name and most likely Stanley made the tools which seemed quite good for the price.

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

You are probably thinking about the "Popular Mechanics" brand in the '90s. Walmart licensed the name and most likely Stanley made the tools which seemed quite good for the price.

I was going to mention the Popular Mechanics brand but you beat me too it. When I was a kid my parents gifted me a 3/8ths ratchet and socket set when I was 14. It was a popular mechanics set and the ratchets are identical to the original post in this thread.

I still have the set to today and other than one cracked socket they were trouble free while I used the set until I began my never ending tool upgrade campaign.

 

[Al Borland]

They licensed "Stanley" as well. They had to provide samples and such for Q.C. but were not necessarily produced by Stanley and had to be returned for warranty at Wally-World. Usually the tools were "Taiwan" and aren't bad. Better that the "U.S.A." tools that were made in China.

 

[SnapOnAddiction]

I threw the Stanley ratchets I had like that in the garbage they were given to me and didn't want to give them any relastate ,also had the round heads and craftsman evo and some others and a craftsman usa I cleaned old my old little snap on kra53 and restored it and now it's holding I'm European and antique before snap on era tools

 

[dwasifar]

I threw the Stanley ratchets I had like that in the garbage they were given to me and didn't want to give them any relastate ,also had the round heads and craftsman evo and some others and a craftsman usa I cleaned old my old little snap on kra53 and restored it and now it's holding I'm European and antique before snap on era tools

That's too bad. The one I have is pretty decent for what it is. If you didn't want them you could have given them to someone else, or put them in the Goodwill box or something. No sense throwing them away.

If you're European and antique before Snap-On era tools, you must be close to 100.

 

[WittHay]

I know some John Deere tools are made by Stanley in Taiwan. Also Canadian Tire tools were higher quality a few years back, probably made also by Stanley.

I have a JD 3/8 drive ratchet, decent ratchet for the price