Electron2002
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2012
- Messages
- 77
Hello All, long time lurker, first time poster.
To add to my collection, I recently picked up an addition pebble finish Plomb 5449 ratchet that has seen much better days. The body of the ratchet was pretty well pitted especially around the head and the drive plug was tweaked and the check ball was missing from the plug. The gear would jam when you tried to rotate it. All in all, the ratchet was a mess, but for the price I paid it was worth seeing if I could breath life back into it.
I already had an extra rebuilt kit for a 5449 Proto, so I when forward with disassembly to see if it was salvageable. When I took the cover plate off, I found that the two dogs were both in contact with the gear at all times and that the selector cam had tons of movement in it which prevented it from holding the inactive dog away from the gear. I went ahead and removed the original cam and selector and inspected things further. Basically what I found was that the hole that the cam rides in was wallowed out and that there was simply too much room around it. I went ahead and pressed the new cam and selector onto the ratchet, which did improve things a little bit, but not enough. Basically, without doing something to rebuild the worn out bore, I couldn’t do anything to fix the ratchet.
So, I have a classic piece that can’t be reasonably be restored. I’m NOT going to just throw it out. But what could I do with it? Turn it into a bottle opener!
The entire process was as simple as taking a stainless steel flat bar bottle opener and machining to match the shape of the original cover plate (the opener was even the same thickness as the original plate). I drilled and tapped it for the original mounting screw locations and presto. I also went ahead and reinstalled the dogs and springs, so that there would be some pressure against the cam and to fill in the two extra holes by the cam, otherwise the cam just flops around in the body.
In the photos I used the screws the originally came in it, but I will replace the incorrect round head screw when I find a proper flat head one of suitable patina when I come across it.
It isn’t a permanent modification, so changing it back to its original design is as simple as reinstalling the original plate.
Let me know what you think
To add to my collection, I recently picked up an addition pebble finish Plomb 5449 ratchet that has seen much better days. The body of the ratchet was pretty well pitted especially around the head and the drive plug was tweaked and the check ball was missing from the plug. The gear would jam when you tried to rotate it. All in all, the ratchet was a mess, but for the price I paid it was worth seeing if I could breath life back into it.
I already had an extra rebuilt kit for a 5449 Proto, so I when forward with disassembly to see if it was salvageable. When I took the cover plate off, I found that the two dogs were both in contact with the gear at all times and that the selector cam had tons of movement in it which prevented it from holding the inactive dog away from the gear. I went ahead and removed the original cam and selector and inspected things further. Basically what I found was that the hole that the cam rides in was wallowed out and that there was simply too much room around it. I went ahead and pressed the new cam and selector onto the ratchet, which did improve things a little bit, but not enough. Basically, without doing something to rebuild the worn out bore, I couldn’t do anything to fix the ratchet.
So, I have a classic piece that can’t be reasonably be restored. I’m NOT going to just throw it out. But what could I do with it? Turn it into a bottle opener!
The entire process was as simple as taking a stainless steel flat bar bottle opener and machining to match the shape of the original cover plate (the opener was even the same thickness as the original plate). I drilled and tapped it for the original mounting screw locations and presto. I also went ahead and reinstalled the dogs and springs, so that there would be some pressure against the cam and to fill in the two extra holes by the cam, otherwise the cam just flops around in the body.
In the photos I used the screws the originally came in it, but I will replace the incorrect round head screw when I find a proper flat head one of suitable patina when I come across it.
It isn’t a permanent modification, so changing it back to its original design is as simple as reinstalling the original plate.
Let me know what you think
)