Making your own stubby ratchet

[nieuport17]

I made my own stubby ratchet today by cutting a cheap old rachet in half.
It took more time than I realized. 2 hours of cutting using recipricating saw with Milwaukee metal cutting blades. I went through 4 blades.
It was a lot tougher than I had imagined...
I think its eaiser just to buy one from HF...
Any one tried to make their own? Any advice ?

 

[firworks]

I made my own stubby ratchet today by cutting a cheap old rachet in half.
It took more time than I realized. 2 hours of cutting using recipricating saw with Milwaukee metal cutting blades. I went through 4 blades.
It was a lot tougher than I had imagined...
I think its eaiser just to buy one from HF...
Any one tried to make their own? Any advice ?

Sounds like something fun to try with the new M12 band saw... What did the end you cut look like when you were finished? Pot metal?

 

[sicnarf247]

Never made my own but sounds like you used the wrong tool, but hey you got the job done. I never did it myself but it sounds interesting. I would've tried my circular saw first..

 

[nieuport17]

Sounds like something fun to try with the new M12 band saw... What did the end you cut look like when you were finished? Pot metal?

Surprisingly the cross section looks pretty good. I seriously thought I could cut this in no time.
It is a no name brand but mad in Taiwan.

 

[Farmall450]

Grinder?

 

[d.mcfarland]

2 hours sounds like a lot of time. 4 blades sounds even crazier!

 

[ssdave]

I would have used a damascus cutoff wheel and a dremel tool. About 5 or 6 wheels and $.50 later you would have it cut. Probably take 5 or 10 minutes tops. Then, grind it down and polish it, another half hour.

I use this method to cut down hex keys to replace broken ones in my hex sockets all the time. They're about as tough of steel as you can get, and the damascus wheels go through them effortlessly.

 

[exmaxima1]

Grinder?

Absolutely a grinder---a cutting disc to be exact. Would have taken less than a minute.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I was trying to make a curved handle one time and had a ratchet in a press when the handle broke, Didn't take long at all...lol

 

[OutsideMachinist]

Chopsaw or bandsaw would have been better. Not sure what was going on that it took that long with a sawzall. Make stuff like that all the time. Next time you make one get one with a thinner/low profile head.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Lubricant/coolant (and most likely a slower speed) would have made the blades last longer and cut faster.

 

[firworks]

Gave the M12 bandsaw a shot and it went right through it like a metal band saw through a ratchet. Face of the cut was bright and shiny but there were a couple of nasty burs on the edge that I knocked down on the belt sander. I doubt I'll ever use it but I'm looking for excused to play with it.

 

[nieuport17]

Grinder?

I don't have a grinder. But, I now have an excuse to get one : )

I got another old Husky ratchet I like to make it into a stubby.
Will try that next time.

I don't know why my reciprocating saw would take this long. I demolished my BBQ grill last week with the same saw (and same type of blade) in no time.
The steel from the ratchet just dull them.
Certainly the wrong tool for this job.

Thanks for all the good advise.

 

[juiced10]

Years ago I wanted a finger ratchet for work. Was driving around and saw a Snap-on truck at the local muffler place. First time on one. Asked about one and the driver said something like $80. Last time on a truck like that. Went home and cut handle off an existing ratchet. Still have it 20 years later.

 

[The Cobbler]

an angle grinder with a cut off blade would have worked, see, always need new tools!

 

[firworks]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k2QClu3iwMQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[DeliveryGuy]

The chromium (chrome) on the handle will dull a recip blade quickly. Not to mention, the ratchet isn't made from cold rolled steel. It's a forged item. A recip saw will focus too much of the cut on too few teeth, way too quickly, to cut thru reliably.

 

[KnurledNut]

Here is one i did.
Its pretty comfortable for a homemade job.

 

[martin666]

Cut down a F726 to have a fixed head closer in length to my FK735, used a bad saw, no problem at all

 

[77Mini]

2 hours sounds like a lot of time. 4 blades sounds even crazier!

Could have bought a cheap stubby ratchet for $10. Instead spent 2 hours and $20+ in blades.

Zip disc on a grinder would have taken 2 minutes.

 

[77Mini]

Here is one i did.
Its pretty comfortable for a homemade job.

That one looks really sharp. Nice job.

What brand was that one?

 

[KnurledNut]

That one looks really sharp. Nice job.

What brand was that one?

Thanks man.
Its a Duralast.
The old taiwan ones were actually pretty good ratchets.
Theres a couple old threads on here about them.

 

[redwrench60]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170138&showall=1

Here's my one dollar 3/8 drive Wright stubby thread. Pics are within.

 

[KnurledNut]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170138&showall=1

Here's my one dollar 3/8 drive Wright stubby thread. Pics are within.

That turned out nice! Seems we used similar finishing technique.

 

[redwrench60]

That turned out nice! Seems we used similar finishing technique.

Thanks

Yours looks like it came that way. Only the trained eye know different. I have one of those duralast ratchets around here somewhere......

 

[espyking83]

Stubbys arent one of the things I ever thought would be a good idea to customize. with wrenches you can just heat/bend/grind. FFS just buy a Koken Zeal before you get your *** fired for wasting time.

 

[AnEv942]

I made my own stubby ratchet today by cutting a cheap old rachet in half.
It took more time than I realized. 2 hours of cutting using recipricating saw with Milwaukee metal cutting blades. I went through 4 blades.
It was a lot tougher than I had imagined...
I think its eaiser just to buy one from HF...
Any one tried to make their own? Any advice ?

Thanks!
Nothing better to do and an old 3/8" ratchet that I have no idea where it came from. Having never cut a ratchet was curious..

Used 3" air cut off-maybe 2 minuets. And thats because I re-positioned couple of times as handle was clamped in vise, head was hitting cut off body. Couple of minuets on the grinder, a little file and emery. I didnt get serious with cleaning it, but have a nice 3/8" stubby to hang back on the wall.

Ive spent more time trying to figure out what I could make with the rest of the knurled handle.

 

[BigLeagueSmoes]

I looked through this discussion to get some ideas on a cut off stubby ratchet as I didn't have one in the tool box. I had an extra Armstrong 3/8" drive ratchet laying around that seemed like it would be great for trying this out. Based on what people said worked the best I started out with a simple cut off wheel which took maybe one minute. I followed with a bench grinder to shape the end. Then I hit it with a fine grit flap wheel to smooth out some of the deeper marks left from the bench grinder. Then I hand sanded it with 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit. The wet sanding with the 2000 really helped get a decent shine on it. I did not do any buffing wheels or buffing compound. The handle length is the perfect size for my hand, my four fingers fit snuggly between the bottom of the teardrop head and the balled end. Overall length is about 5 1/4". Honestly it turned out better than I anticipated being that I am not a fabricator by trade or a metal worker and I have never done this before. All in, it took me about 30 minutes, and I had fun doing it. Now I have a stubby 3/8" ratchet! I'm going to try to do another and give it to a friend of mine. Here are a few before and after pictures.

 

[KnurledNut]

@BigLeagueSmoes
That looks great. I love how the model number remains on the stubby handle.

 

[BigLeagueSmoes]

@BigLeagueSmoes
That looks great. I love how the model number remains on the stubby handle.

Thanks! While I did obviously have to remove the Armstrong name from the original handle I thought it would be cool/good to keep the model number on it. It also worked out that right after the model number was a good spot to make the cut and have the nub/ball end appropriately sized, almost like it was meant to be!