Older female square drive ratchets - easy conversion method

[budget76]

Probably nothing new, but don't remember seeing pics of this on here. I picked up a nice 1/4" sized Craftsman ratchet a long while back. Old one, which had a female square drive, not the typical male square drive that we have on ratchets today

it sat in the drawer for a year. Playing in the garage the other day I decided to make it usable.

so I took a spare hex-to-1/4" square drive impact driver adapter I had, ground it down so it fit the female square, cut it down so it barely stuck out the backside, and welded on a washer to retain. 100% reversible but 200% more useful now

Super simple way to wind up with a 3/8" or 1/2" stubby too if you had a need with 5 minutes of fab

 

[DAustin]

Just have them identify and a male square drive.

 

[Grokew]

Could a 1/4 square drive coupler work?

GEDORE 2094 Coupler 1/4" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UYXOBS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[tamaraw]

Could a 1/4 square drive coupler work?

GEDORE 2094 Coupler 1/4" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UYXOBS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Yes, and no need to weld up a 90 year old tool

Quite common for push-through type non-reversing ratchets. (female drive with a sliding male/male square)

 

[Stubby1743]

The OP says that he has welded the adaptor to a washer and NOT to the ratchet.

 

[esben57]

Found this coupler 9/32". Someone has taken great care to reduce it to 13/50s of an inch
Some detritus adding the extra thou or four.




Speaking about butchering old tools, bought a D74 1/4" Britool ratchet online as spares to repair my skip ( dumpster ) find. Turned out to be an M74 9/32" with the square castrated.

 

[budget76]

The OP says that he has welded the adaptor to a washer and NOT to the ratchet.

thank you for reading.

2 minutes with a grinder and its back to original. but now it's not trash, its actually useful. A coupler like shown above would just fall out. I'm sure it'd work, but it'd **** to use

maybe I should actually butcher it and make you guys happy

 

[bonneyman]

Cool!

I did a similar mod to an old Plomb 1/4" ratchet. Drilled out the gear and carefully ground down some flats and then press fit a hex-to-square bit into the ratchet head. Works fine.

 

[budget76]

Cool!

I did a similar mod to an old Plomb 1/4" ratchet. Drilled out the gear and carefully ground down some flats and then press fit a hex-to-square bit into the ratchet head. Works fine.

how dare you drill the gear!

so you press fit the hex into the round hole, or filed down some flats inside the hole first? either way, nice solution too. Breathes life into an old tool

 

[KnurledNut]

Creative thinking here guys.
Necessity is the mother of invention.

 

[bonneyman]

how dare you drill the gear!

so you press fit the hex into the round hole, or filed down some flats inside the hole first? either way, nice solution too. Breathes life into an old tool

Drilled the hole, then took a small triangualr file and ground 6 flats. Didn't have to be perfect - heck, the flats not being spot on made the bit fit tighter!

 

[Themechanicman92]

What do you suggest doing with a 5/8” female square drive?