Ratchet Question -- Craftsman and Snapon

[bomber]

All -- I straightened up the roll cab the other day, and realized I have no clue what these things may be --

First is a Craftman 3/8 ratchet --

Marked, oddly enough, "Craftsman" on one side

And "Forged in the U. S. A." on the other

ON the same side, there is what appears to be a capital "U" enloced in a circle to the left of the "Forged" legend . . . . .

The old gent wasn't working very well, but popping open the works, a good cleaning and some lube has it right as rain! Dates -- any guesses?

Second, and perhaps a bit more important, to me, is this Snapon 1/2 ratchet . . . . .

I was using it to threaten the 31 Ford last weekend, and went to select "OFF," when I noticed something wrong . . . . . .

Damn! I have very few SNapon tools, and this one is from a late friend -- I was, er, distraught -- proving, once again, that I am the luckiest of men, ten minutes with my magnet on a stick produced

It slid home nicely, but shows no sign of how it should be retained in the mechanism (I did take iut apart and clean.lube it, but I saw nothing that seemed interested in fastening to the lever).

The ratchet is marked withe the logo, "USA," "PAT3713356." (Pat sure gets around, doesn't he?). There is also what I assume to be a part number, "S713A."

Two questions -- how do I make certain the lever doesn't jump ship again (I am not counting on my luck running quite that good again), and when was this gent produced?

Thanks for any assistance you may be able to provide!

Lastly, have a great Holiday!

 

[pl_silverado]

First of all, i think someone rebuilt that snap-on ratchet and put it together the wrong way.

Second, put the selector lever back in, place it against something flat and solid and peen the other end.

 

[bomber]

LOL -- I'll have to speak firmly with my tool room manager ;-}

Thanks for the tip, sir!

 

[v8garage]

The Craftsman ratchet pictured was made by Plomb in the early 40's and uses the same mechanism as the war era Plombs pictured in the attached photo.

 

[B.O.V. Norway]

Snap-On date codes can be found here
Looks like a '78.

Have a nice day.

 

[krusty the clown]

i think the craftsman was made by duro/indestro. i don't think proto ever suppplied sears but i could be wrong.

 

[bomber]

thanks, all -- you'll be happy to know the Snapon is now properly assembled (brain fade on my part after the struggle to get the little ball into the sletor mechanism).

 

[v8garage]

i think the craftsman was made by duro/indestro. i don't think proto ever suppplied sears but i could be wrong.

See post # 4 please. Let me reiterate that it is an established fact that the Craftsman in question was made by Plomb. I have a Craftsman ratchet exactly like that which belonged to my father. The lever was broken off of it and I used the guts out of a WF Plomb to rebuild it. The cover plate off the Craftsman even had a Plomb part # on the back side when I took it off.

 

[krusty the clown]

See post # 4 please. Let me reiterate that it is an established fact that the Craftsman in question was made by Plomb. I have a Craftsman ratchet exactly like that which belonged to my father. The lever was broken off of it and I used the guts out of a WF Plomb to rebuild it. The cover plate off the Craftsman even had a Plomb part # on the back side when I took it off.

well....i used the words "i think" and "IIRC" for a reason


while i have never owned a proto ratchet or seen one like that, i based my judgement from seeing duro/indestro with identical reverse levers. like this one on alloy-artifacts............

perhaps proto contracted the WF series from duro OR duro contracted their ratchets from proto since that has been common over the years. we will probably never know. i did look at lauvers thread and sears DID contract some production from proto (46-48?) and i was unaware of that since it was way before my time

 

[Merkava_4]

I've seen some profoundly disturbing things on this site, but that takes the cake.

 

[pfbz]

Posted before, but worthy of a repeat! Agree, 1978 on the SO. And backwards.

 

[kartracer55]

The ratchet is definitely interesting. Can you grab a picture of the other side of the head for us?

Traditionally, the drive end comes out of the other side of the ratchet, through the removable cover plate. Then, on the side where it says "on-off", there is a little sheet metal cover that fits tightly in there.

You can buy a complete rebuild kit that will come with new guts and a new sheet metal cover for you to press in to the top of the ratchet. Also included will be a new reversing lever. As was stated, the reversing levers are peened in place. so you stick the reversing lever all the way in, flip the ratchet upside down and essentially mushroom the stem side of the reversing lever to hold it in.

Jim

 

[wrenchr]

I've seen some profoundly disturbing things on this site, but that takes the cake.

Yah most of them are from you!!!!

 

[bomber]

Kart -- it's only interesting in that I assembled the poor thing backwards (for which I blame my attendance of the New RIders of the Purple Sage concert in 1969!) . . . .

I did pein the lever in place, and all is well with the wrench -- thanks, all, for the information!

PFBZ -- I can (sorta) read the SO date codes, but I'm confused -- where on the ratchet would one find the code?

thanks, again, all!

 

[Uncle Buck]

I found one of these in primo condition 1/2" drive size about a month back for something like 6-7 $, Yea it hiched a ride home in my pocket for that price!

 

[MOPARHOUND!]

PFBZ -- I can (sorta) read the SO date codes, but I'm confused -- where on the ratchet would one find the code?

thanks, again, all!

The date code on this ratchet is the number 8 stamped between "ON" and "OFF"

Match the Script/Font style of the 8 to the decoding charts, and it decodes as a 1978 model.

 

[bomber]

Thank you sir!