New Britain NB-42

[jc4635]

Does anyone have a picture of the inside of a New Britain NB-42 ratchet or even a NS-42 ratchet?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have not taken mine apart. Is yours not working?

 

[jc4635]

I have not taken mine apart. Is yours not working?

No. Mine doesn’t work. I have it kind of working with a small ball bearing inside. I’m not sure what’s missing, but something is missing. It is clean and the spring work fine.

 

[jc4635]

Another guy with a larger version of the same style ratchet told me his had a small ball bearing inside.

Mine only had one pin and 2 screws under the selector.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I'll look at mine

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Well no luck. That screw does not want to come out. The 1/2" and the 1/4" don't even have removable screws.

 

[3baygarage]

I've never seen one apart. Did you remove those two screws?

 

[jc4635]

I've never seen one apart. Did you remove those two screws?

Yes. I took it completely apart. It’s not real complicated under those 2 screws. There are 4 L-shaped teeth with a hole partially drilled in each one with a spring connecting them together. They are just setting in a slot cutout in the head.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I tried looking for a patent with no luck

 

[jc4635]

I bought a 3/4” drive NH42 with this same design and it works! I think I can repair my 3/8” drive one now. I’ll take pictures of the insides before and after. This was probably one of the few New Britain designs that wasn’t great. The flaw seems to be a metal plate attached to the underside of the selector which is critical to make everything work correctly.

 

[jc4635]

Got it working and put a little of my own touch on the handle!

 

[jc4635]

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice! So what was issue?

 

[jc4635]

I was missing a spring and a ball bearing and the underside of the selector was missing a corner that I repaired by fabricating and gluing back. I ordered a pack of tiny compression springs from Amazon and used part of one spring to replace the missing one and I had a ball bearing already.

 

[jc4635]

I had to add material in the black shaded area in this picture.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nicely done!

 

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