Random 1/2" ratchets

[Bill_Houghton]

For absolutely no good reason, I thought I'd post pics of a few of the interesting 1/2" drive ratchets in my herd.

The Bog Mfg. No. 643 ratchet here was in my paternal grandfather's garage, from which it moved to Dad's, and ultimately to me when we cleared out the house after Dad's death/Mom's move to a care home:


As best I can tell, it's a ramp-and-pin freewheel, rather than a ratchet. For those not familiar with this technology:



I inherited this J.H. Williams superratchet from my revered Uncle Charlie, as part of a full set of sockets in a flat box. I've replaced it in the box with a Snap-On ratchet, being a bit nervous about breaking it:



This Husky ratchet



reverses by pushing the square insert out of the receiver in the head and inserting it from the other side:



It's got by far the thinnest head of all my 1/2" ratchets, although I have yet to need the particular feature.

 

[m6z]

 

[Provincial]

The Williams is actually quite rugged. They have a really smooth action, with little back-drag. This makes people think they may be dainty, but they are not.

Nice collection. Your family has good taste!

 

[Habitat]

That last ratchet is neat,Is this one sought after for you ratchets collectors

 

[Private Lugnutz]

This Husky ratchet

These non-reversibles were made by New Britain and they were branded/sold as NONE BETTER S-40, Husky 3183, and Craftsman (H). And if you were wondering, that "6-46" forged-in marking is a date code. I conducted a survey back in 2015 of a few dozen ratchets. The earliest reported is a "2-43" and the latest a "10-46". The date coding appears to have been a wartime practice (appears on some of the reversible versions as well) that was continued for awhile after the war, then dropped.

 

[3baygarage]

Those Bogs are neat. Does your Bog have small print or larger? I just found out about that little variation.

 

[Bill_Houghton]

The Bog Mfg. ratchet print seems pretty small, but I don't know what large print on these looks like.

As to the Husky ratchet, the date stamp is 5-46, so it's older than I am.

 

[bonneyman]

The Williams is actually quite rugged. They have a really smooth action, with little back-drag. This makes people think they may be dainty, but they are not.

I agree. Those Williams have a dual pawl system, and are quite rugged.

The new S-K DT kits are also a dual pawl setup, a very smart move by SK as it splits the wear on the pawls in half while effectively doubling the tooth count. A true masterstroke. Williams started it, and I believe the Triangle era Bonney rats also used it.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The dual offset pawl started with duro mid 40s

 

[bonneyman]

The dual offset pawl started with duro mid 40s

This one? https://patents.google.com/patent/US2395681
Looks like a split sliding pawl design. Betcha that mechanism likes to shoot springs into unknown dimension upon disassembly!

Here's the Williams patent, 1956. Has a pair of what I call see-saw pawls.

US Patent: 2,772,763 - Ratchet Wrench

US patent 2,772,763 Ratchet Wrench was issued to Walter J. Johnson of Buffalo, NY. It was granted on 12/04/1956. Fraser, Myers & Manley - patent attorneys {br}Reversible ratchet with internal pawls. The specifications have extensive discussion of the operation a

www.datamp.org

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Sealed head on duro version.

 

[bonneyman]

Looks like a stout tool.