Mystery ratchet

[Flatintoone]

Picked this up in my haul this weekend. It's unmarked. It kind of looks like old Blackhawk to me, but I'm not sure. The most interesting part is that the handle appears to be welded to the head. Any ideas?

 

[jayrush13]

Do you have an overall picture of handle and all and what drive size is it ? The welded on handle is interesting for sure

 

[Jbullfrog]

It looks like the had was lathe cut and then the handle attached. It isn't drop forged like a current ratchet.

 

[cmandp]

I'm going to throw it out there and say it is some kind of machinist school/apprenticeship project.

 

[kc-steve]

Yup, it's interesting for sure. But thinking this through logically, it seems more like a prototype or homemade ratchet. The reason I say that is the weld appears to be a high quality weld. It is doubtful you would see such a weld back in the 1920s or 30s. Maybe later with improved arc welders and TIG. Most ratchets are forged as a single piece. Adding the process of welding would be costly.

Steve

 

[Flatintoone]

I wondered if it might be homemade. I'll get more photos of the handle and the mechanism this afternoon.

 

[bahcoswed]

EDIT: I remember wrong, i just take a look on the ratchet and its not welded..sorry! Its a good welder anyway if that is homemade! I have old ratchets that is welded like that so i dont think its a "diy" ratchet!

 

[KamiCrit]

Do you have an overall picture of handle and all and what drive size is it ? The welded on handle is interesting for sure

Yah, lets see a full pic of this thing!

 

[Flatintoone]

Here are some more details. It's 1/2" drive. There are photos of the mechanism and the whole ratchet. No markings whatsoever. I started looking through the ratchet patents at Alloy Artifacts, but haven't found anything similar yet:

 

[rusty65]

The handle looks like blackhawk to me. I found a old blackhawk ratchet a while ago. And no one had ever seen a similar one so it would not surprise me if it was some sort of prototype made by blackhawk. Interesting what it turns out to be.


Sent From Snap On Head Quarters deep in China.

 

[nine4gmc]

The rough machining marks and weld yell DIY or prototype. Good find

 

[zkling]

I know very little about ratchets so take this with a grain of salt.

My vote is either military, low budget contract or an apprenticeship project. I doubt if a home person made that. Internally broaching, cutting or straight forging the teeth on the ratchet would require quite a bit of machinery and knowledge to make. So unless a well equipped and knowledgeable home machinist made it. Probable either production or an apprenticeship project. Or a machinist at work got bored, which my fall under the apprenticeship project category.

 

[Flatintoone]

I showed the ratchet to a couple of co-workers, both who weld and machine. They both told me it was TIG welded and isn't terribly old (15-20 years). They both thought it looked like a tool that would be supplied as part of a kit with a new machine. Their experience was that special tools are usually supplied and aren't branded.

 

[woody 73]

I vote for prototype; but whatever it is you have one cool looking ratchet!

 

[Plombob]

That's an unusual ratcheting mechanism! Cool old rat!

 

[SCscoutguy]

This looks to be the exact same type ratchet in this ebay auction.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-S-K...943?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3af4f76f

 

[zkling]

That is all well and dandy, but hardly any proof.

We were told that this was a factory prototype for the TCI tool company

 

[SCscoutguy]

That is all well and dandy, but hardly any proof.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I was reading that. I think this auction proves that this wasn't just someones one off project that they made though.

 

[ganymede]

The inner workings are kind of Snap On -ish.
Not saying it is, just reminds me of their old round heads .

 

[4xdog]

Both the op's ratchet and the eBay ratchet look like they might have once been plated -- clear cadmium or something similar. If that's the case, it's hard to imagine they're DIY-made. It argues for a real shop somehow, especially with two of 'em.

The patent office stopped requiring a working model of inventions in 1880. That possible explanation doesn't fly...

 

[zkling]

I was thinking the exact same thing when I was reading that. I think this auction proves that this wasn't just someones one off project that they made though.

Maybe they went to school together.

If Flatintoone really wanted to know, I'd start by taking a few pics and sending an email to each of the main stream ratchet makers. Hopefully you will get a hold of someone that has been around a while and will say... "O yea....."

 

[Flatintoone]

SCscoutguy,
Wow! Thanks for sharing that!

I think I'll send that lister a message and ask him some questions. Can't hurt, right?

 

[daparrothead]

If I had to bet, I would say it was a tool supplied with a piece of overseas equipment.

 

[airdale]

That my friend, is the most interesting ratchet in the world.

 

[Flatintoone]

Here is the response I got from the seller:

"Hello! This ratchet is on consignment. I just spoke with the owner who infgormed me that he bought this item from the family whos father was an engineer with SK tools. They informed him of the provenance of this tool. Kind regards,"

...So, the guy he's selling it for bought it from the family of a guy who was an engineer at SK. I don't want to insult the guy, but that's a lot of degrees of separation!

As I think about it, there are several possibilities:

1. Prototype. Ok, but my first question would be, is this how prototype ratchets are made?

2. DIY or shop project. I think someone mentioned that the one on Ebay appears to be plated, which would make it unlikely that someone made this in his shop.

3. Part of a tool kit for a piece of equipment. The thing that really bugs me about this idea is that there are numerous tool companies that we all know and love that could provide a machine maker with a 1/2" drive ratchet for a fraction of the cost of the man-hours to make this thing.
I recall, though, hearing that some overseas companies (particularly Japanese, according to the anecdotes), have a very strong Not Invented Here philosophy. To the point that Honda designed its own limited-slip differential when a perfectly good Torsen was available off the shelf and that Isuzu specified unique cases for T-5 transmissions without the Borg-Warner logo on the casting.
My point is, perhaps these ratchets were produced for use with a particular machine by an overseas company that was unable or unwilling to buy an off-the-shelf 1/2" drive ratchet to throw in a tool kit.

That's my guess at the moment. Any other ideas?

 

[Jason280]

I've torn through a lot of ratchets, and have never seen anything remotely close to that internally. I doubt its DIY, but can't tell you much more than that...