More Sears deals

[Stuey]

BYW, the thin-profile ratchets are the only ratchets that most stores carry with metal gear switch levers. Not that it makes a huge difference, but there is no reason that ratchets costing $20-$30 or more shouldn't have all-metal construction.

 

[Chris Adams]

BYW, the thin-profile ratchets are the only ratchets that most stores carry with metal gear switch levers. Not that it makes a huge difference, but there is no reason that ratchets costing $20-$30 or more shouldn't have all-metal construction.

However, even the thin-profile has a plastic ejector button.
I like my thin profile ratchets but frankly, the HF 6.99 sale ratchet is better built, if not as pretty.

 

[Stuey]

However, even the thin-profile has a plastic ejector button.
I like my thin profile ratchets but frankly, the HF 6.99 sale ratchet is better built, if not as pretty.

Dang, I completely forgot about the ejector button.

 

[MAD]

However, even the thin-profile has a plastic ejector button.
I like my thin profile ratchets but frankly, the HF 6.99 sale ratchet is better built, if not as pretty.

Damn, I actually liked those Craftsman thin profile ratchets until you mentioned the plastic ejector button. Now I will be awake all night worrying about my possible premature ejector failure problems. Wait a minute; my Snap-on ratchets have a big plastic dust cap in the same place. The caps are still good after twenty years but the gears and paws have been replaced numerous times. Do you think the plastic dust caps could be the problem? I always thought it might be that I beat the snot out of them but then again I never called any experts in about it.

Seriously though, the new Craftsmans seem very nice to me so far. The 1/2" ratchet feels a bit bulky in my stubby mitts but other than that they seem top notch. The 3/8" and 1/4" feel great in my hands and the action is super smooth. Its hard to say if I will end up picking them up before my old SKs though. It is hard to argue with muscle memory.

 

[Chris Adams]

Damn, I actually liked those Craftsman thin profile ratchets until you mentioned the plastic ejector button. Now I will be awake all night worrying about my possible premature ejector failure problems. Wait a minute; my Snap-on ratchets have a big plastic dust cap in the same place. The caps are still good after twenty years but the gears and paws have been replaced numerous times. Do you think the plastic dust caps could be the problem? I always thought it might be that I beat the snot out of them but then again I never called any experts in about it.

Seriously though, the new Craftsmans seem very nice to me so far. The 1/2" ratchet feels a bit bulky in my stubby mitts but other than that they seem top notch. The 3/8" and 1/4" feel great in my hands and the action is super smooth. Its hard to say if I will end up picking them up before my old SKs though. It is hard to argue with muscle memory.

Where is the plastic on the Snap-On ratchets? The dust caps on the ones I rebuilt are metal. Different model?

Oh, and push in on the plastic button on the thin-profile ratchets. Push on all three of them. My first set the 3/8 'crunched' on pressing. I bought a regular thin profile and swapped the guts, then returned the regular thin profile. About 50% make the crunching sound. Since they are sealed you can't oil/repair them except by swapping the guts.

 

[johnny1290]

Man I even went to the Sears in the hood here in Los Angeles and not much of any 80th anniversary stuff left. just thermometers and those tin boxes and that plastic tool box. Good thing I ordered that stuff online and that larger plier set! I still got a 3 pc pryber set on sale for $19 and a 3/8" beam type torque wrench for $20, so it wasn't a complete waste.

 

[MAD]

Where is the plastic on the Snap-On ratchets? The dust caps on the ones I rebuilt are metal. Different model?

Actually the only Snap-on ratchet I still own that has a plastic dust cap is a f731 that I bought in the mid 1980s. I had another one bought around the same time with a plastic dust cap but I got rid of that one. I guess plastic was considered "high tech" in the 80s. I never had any problems with the plastic dust caps and in fact it never crossed my mind until your post.

About 50% make the crunching sound.

Now you really have me worried about my ejector.

Since they are sealed you can't oil/repair them except by swapping the guts.

I wish someone had told me that before I took one apart and re-assembled it. I thought it just had o-rings to keep the dirt out. do you think I messed it up? I have not listened to the ejector noise since I put it back together.

















Just messin' with ya
Please- have the last word

 

[Chris Adams]

Actually the only Snap-on ratchet I still own that has a plastic dust cap is a f731 that I bought in the mid 1980s. I had another one bought around the same time with a plastic dust cap but I got rid of that one. I guess plastic was considered "high tech" in the 80s. I never had any problems with the plastic dust caps and in fact it never crossed my mind until your post.

Now you really have me worried about my ejector.

I wish someone had told me that before I took one apart and re-assembled it. I thought it just had o-rings to keep the dirt out. do you think I messed it up? I have not listened to the ejector noise since I put it back together.



Just messin' with ya
Please- have the last word

Yah, you betcha.
The thin profiles come apart rather easy, but the ejector can't be repaired. At the local Sears they have been taking them back and giving you new ratchets when the eject button sticks down. Some kind of debris is in the sealed plastic over the spring. So the ones with no 'crunch' are fine as no new debris can get in. The ones with the crunch sound may stick down.
Ask your Sears guy about the returns.

It's an easy repair, if you don't mind going through all the thin-profiles in stock till you find good ones, then swap them. Sears won't do that. They just give you the next one on the hook, crunchy or not.
The thin profile has a nice feel and is a nice looking ratchet, but making it so you can't oil or clean the ejector spring is sorta lame.
The plastic is a consideration if you use the ratchets around brake fluid, carb cleaner or brake cleaner.
All of which can do nasty things to plastics.
Will they fail from chemicals getting on them? Who knows? one of the defective ones at the local Sears had the button partially eaten away, but what did it, the tool manager didn't know. Or care. He swapped it out, no problem. But I would rather keep my tools working than be swapping them out for the next downgraded model.
Or why I still have my 1985 Stainless steel Craftsman ratchet.
There. Last word.

 

[TxDoc]

I stopped in Sears today and they had a bunch of the 80th anaversary tools on clearance for 60 - 75% off.

The best deal was this 3 piece ratchet set for $24.95:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00946315000P?keyword=80th+anaversary

here are a few others that are available online:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?keyword=80th+anaversary&viewItems=20&pageNum=2

The $24 ratchet set was down to $17.00, today. Two sets lefts. The store employee took one of them for himself. Computer at the store said invalid item when they checked to see if they could get more. Must be deleted from the system?

 

[kythri]

It's an easy repair, if you don't mind going through all the thin-profiles in stock till you find good ones, then swap them. Sears won't do that. They just give you the next one on the hook, crunchy or not.

Speak for your own Sears, not mine. Every Sears in a 50 mile radius of 97321 (including the Hometown Dealer stores) has allowed/preferred the customer to go grab the replacement item off of the shelf themselves.

Does your Sears let you choose what items you buy, or do they decide for you?

The plastic is a consideration if you use the ratchets around brake fluid, carb cleaner or brake cleaner.
All of which can do nasty things to plastics.
Will they fail from chemicals getting on them? Who knows?

Hasn't happened to mine, and all that nasty stuff has been around/on them.

 

[eschoendorff]

What does everyone have against plastic? Honestly,has anyone ever broken a plastic selector lever? It just seems like people spend WAY too much time worrying about things made out of metal...

 

[NOMAD]

The same people are still lamenting the loss of steel beverage cans and glass soda bottles for these cheap aluminum and plastic bottles.

 

[billymade]

Lets put it this way; we have had customers buy a BRAND NEW Craftsman ratchet (standard type with plastic lever) and sheared it off the first time they used it! The next day they brought it back for a replacement! We have quite a few come back for a rebuild with the selector gone. They used to made of copper and worked fine; I'm assuming some bean counter figured they are saving money with plastic! I think the head in all the craftsman ratchets **** (the design is as far as i can tell the same), aside from the old school fine tooth 70's design (catalog only) and the new think profile ratchet. The amount of come backs that we see for rebuilds tells the story; these newer designs are just made of softer steel then the older ones....one word, Danaher!

 

[kythri]

They must send all of the defective (but not yet broken) tools to be sold out of one or two stores nationwide, because out of nearly a dozen Craftsman ratchets with plastic selector levers, I've yet to have an issue...

I'd say the amount of returns you see tells a story, sure - not that the design is flawed, but that more and more people are buying Craftsman products, and thusly, you have a larger number of returns directly proportional to the increased sales.

Danaher's production of the stuff isn't any worse than previous production. Danaher wouldn't be in business if they built **** products, and Sears wouldn't continue to do business with Danaher if they didn't meet Sears specifications.

 

[wilbilt]

Sears wouldn't continue to do business with Danaher if they didn't meet Sears specifications.

I'm sure Danaher meets Sears specs.
The question is...what are those specs compared with what they were 10 years ago?

 

[a390st]

The problem with the plastic lever is when you have the ratchet in a really tight spot and the ratchet mechanism slips and the selector hits the sharp edge on a metal panel, it breaks. Your hand comes out with less skin than it went in with and your can't finish the job until you drive thirty minutes back to the shop to get another ratchet. This, of course, happens rain is coming and you desperately need to be finishing whatever work you were doing.

 

[Stanger]

Old thread man.

 

[eschoendorff]

The problem with the plastic lever is when you have the ratchet in a really tight spot and the ratchet mechanism slips and the selector hits the sharp edge on a metal panel, it breaks. Your hand comes out with less skin than it went in with and your can't finish the job until you drive thirty minutes back to the shop to get another ratchet. This, of course, happens rain is coming and you desperately need to be finishing whatever work you were doing.

Same thing happens with a cheap metal selector lever.

 

[a390st]

I can read dates man. It came up because a 1/4" Snap On T72, which many of us are dreaming of, had the metal selector break off.

I personally have never had a metal selector snap off. I had them get broken where it wouldn't switch, but never snapped off. The Snap On selectors are pretty vulnerable because they stick out so far, but I haven't had one break off yet. The Craftsman ones don't stick out so far but one still broke on me.

 

[le6920]

The problem with the plastic lever is when you have the ratchet in a really tight spot and the ratchet mechanism slips and the selector hits the sharp edge on a metal panel, it breaks. Your hand comes out with less skin than it went in with and your can't finish the job until you drive thirty minutes back to the shop to get another ratchet. This, of course, happens rain is coming and you desperately need to be finishing whatever work you were doing.

No one has just one ratchet do they?

 

[a390st]

When you're in a tractor over a mile from the nearest paved road and have to walk back to your truck so you can drive back to your shop to get one of the other twenty some ratchets you have there... The Craftsman just happened to be the one in the tractor.

 

[kythri]

The problem with the plastic lever is when you have the ratchet in a really tight spot and the ratchet mechanism slips and the selector hits the sharp edge on a metal panel, it breaks. Your hand comes out with less skin than it went in with and your can't finish the job until you drive thirty minutes back to the shop to get another ratchet. This, of course, happens rain is coming and you desperately need to be finishing whatever work you were doing.

Hey, if the professional types buy a duplicate of their most heavily used truck-brand ratchets, at the prices you pay for a Craftsman ratchet that has the plastic selector, why don't you own a couple of them?

 

[a390st]

A. The Craftsman ratchet belonged to the shop, it wasn't mine. I don't buy raised panel
Craftsman tools for myself. I do have some Craftsman Pro wrenches, the old round
head ratchets (that I don't count as "raised panel"), some sockets, some
screwdrivers, and a few raised panel wrenches that came in boxes at sales that I
don't use.
B. Other people work in the equipment too (eg Mexican labor), so I don't leave my good
tools in there. Surprisingly, if you bury a tool, it doesn't sprout. I also haven't
figured out how to do an Amber Alert for tools that disappear.
C. I have two Snap On 1/2" ratchets of my own, and the 710 (I think - it's older) even
had to be rebuilt. They are all I use for 1/2" ratchets, though I might try this Mac
Big Dawg that came in a sale box one of these days. The Snap Ons are strong!
D. I don't know what you mean by professional types. I am a professional at what I
do, and that involves mechanics and hand tools.
E. I am not a Craftsman basher. I am a basher of cheaply made tools. I love the old
round head Craftsman ratchets. There is absolutely no sense in making a metal
ratchet and slapping a cheap plastic selector on it that is just asking to get broken.
Oh, and the dang things slip, too.

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

E. I am not a Craftsman basher. I am a basher of cheaply made tools. I love the old
round head Craftsman ratchets. There is absolutely no sense in making a metal
ratchet and slapping a cheap plastic selector on it that is just asking to get broken.
Oh, and the dang things slip, too.

I have an older (presealed head), Snap~on, in a 1/2" drive, that is the quick release type. My Brothers brother in law, used to wrench and has ONLY Snap~on's, that are presealed. He gets a LOT more use out of his then I do (buys/sells/rebuilds tractors for fun) and I have seen him pull his apart on a fairly regular basis, to reoil them. They have a little lip that the cover plate sits on. While not the O-ring of the newer sealed heads, they are MUCH better at preventing gunk from getting into the ratchets, drying things out or jamming things.
The generic "homeowner" (I don't call them raised panel, because the round heads have that too), ratchets, have NO lip, the cover is held on by that snap ring, that holds all the dirt/gunk to and under it. All that (censored) gets in there, and causes pressure that the plastic lever is then the failure point.
I only have a few of those ratchets, and I leave them for stuff like putting together a basketball goal for the nieces, or being able to loan them one (so they could do it).
The Round heads, have that spinner, that even the newer Dahaner produced ones, prevent gunk from being built up in them. You don't have to disassemble and clean/regrease them after every use.
I have them, my Craftsman thin pro's and my Snap~on's as my regular users. I have some old SK's, a couple of misc other (inexpensive but better then the "homeowner" line) and my grandfathers old 1/2" square drive Husky (from the 20's that looks similar to Chads old Snap~ons) if need be.

The Craftsman "homeowner" line, are good enough for taking back UNDER THE SATISFACTION GUARENTEE and asking for a gift card in that amount. Then get either a full set of breaker bars, or order the round heads online.

To me, it isn't really about the plastic lever, if they had a better cover plate, the lever wouldn't have as many issues (from my experience).