Plomb / Blackwell Unusual sized ratchets?

[tlowery04]

I have an older plomb 1/4" ratchet that is slightly larger than 1/4" and a blackwell 6" breaker with a 3/8" that's slightly larger than 3/8"

one thought is that these might be ex-military issue? My dad and uncle told me that in order to keep service personnel from sending ratchet sets home and ordering a new one, for awhile at least, they made unusual sizes with matching sockets. Sounds probable but I have never heard this from anyone else.

 

[930dreamer]

How about 9/32"?

 

[SweetD]

Plomb certainly made the 9/32" ratchet size for just the reason you state above that your Uncle mentioned. Sometimes you find them machined down to 1/4".

Often the Plomb 9/32" is the "WF" model, which is Wright's Field, a wartime aviation model.

Dave

 

[boro_boy70]

Blackhawk made 7/16 drive, not sure if any other company made 7/16 drive or not.

Proto and others made a 5/8 drive also.

 

[tlowery04]

thanks for your reply, I've never heard of any of those ratchet sizes


now the obvious question.... how hard are they to find sockets for?

 

[Gort the giant robot]

Plomb tools marked with a WF with the part number are WWII contrat tools for the military. 9/32 was a size used by the military to keep the tools from going home in someones duffel bag. Wright Field was a distbuition point for military supplies. Nowadays called Wright Patterson. Other tool companys also supplied tools for the war effort. I have a P&C socket marked with the WF mark. Most Plomb tools for the military had a cadiuum finish rather than chrome. Some civilian tools by Plomb during WWII are marked WAR FINISH and are plain steel finished and may be a cheaper grade of steel. P&C and Snap-On also suppiled tools to stop the Nazis and Tojo.

Gort