S & K 45170 Ratchets

[Alamedasam]

Been looking for an old S & K 3/8' ratchet to replace the one I lost from my very first socket set I got almost 55 years ago! Found two at the local used tool store.
I noticed one had a coarse tooth gear & the other a very fine tooth gear. Both are 45170. Anyone know anything about why one is fine & the other coarse?
Kinda neat to have them both! Got a deal, paid $10.00 for both!
Now I can relax that the set is complete.

 

[oak_park]

They are same number of teeth, but one might have more worn down teeth. I'd disassemble them and take a look them. You could try swapping the internals from one to the other as well. Put some fresh lube and clean out the old grease.

 

[thesilverone]

Disassemble them, clean and relube them.

 

[devoncoolman]

I believe they are both the same. As posted above one probably has worn teeth.

 

[ganymede]

They are same number of teeth, but one might have more worn down teeth. I'd disassemble them and take a look them. You could try swapping the internals from one to the other as well. Put some fresh lube and clean out the old grease.

This.
Swapping parts is a good way to find out exactly what part or parts are worn.
If it's the teeth on the inside of the ratchet body itself then there's not much you can do but it's probably just one of three things...
1 crud/dried lubricant buildup.
2 weak spring
3 worn out pawl .

 

[dpaton]

The 45170 has had the same tooth count since it was first introduced in the 50s.

I'll add to the disassemble, relube, and reassemble advice. It'll make them the same, or it will reveal the heavily worn one.

 

[bonneyman]

The 45170 is the best ratchet ever, IMHO.

As has been said, the 45170 hasn't changed gear assemblies since before Wayne in 1962. I know - I had a Wayne ratchet that needed a kit, and a new one sent to me from S-K dropped right in.

The "smoother" one may have worn teeth in the head. Best to disassemble and check before you buy. A worn gear assy can be replaced - a worn head should be passed up.

 

[mrjaw14]

usually the teeth in the head are a lot harder than the pawl assembly so that the pawl fails first. Haven't heard of many bad heads. I'll tell you though, I found a SK wrench that had been stuck in some goo which hardened on it and the ratchet was completely bound up. I disassembled, cleaned everything, lubed and reassembled and it's one of the best damn ratchets I own. It got really smooth with low back drag after being properly lubed.

 

[dpaton]

^ X2

I've brought a bunch of SK ratchets back from the dead with a combination of freeing stuck cores with disassembly and rebuilds, replacement pawl kits from SK, and replacement core kits from SK. I've never found one with a worn handle, just worn core or pawls.

 

[PowderKeg]

Yep, gotta agree with the rest - AFAIK S-K never offered a true fine tooth version of this particular ratchet design (which dates back to the 1930's). Their fine tooth ratchets were either the Tuff One series or Palm Control ones IIRC made (or licensed by) FACOM.

And $10 for both earns you a YOU ****!! Nice little deal.

 

[dpaton]

I (tooting my own horn a little) did a youtube vid of a teardown and rebuild of a 1/2" SK ratchet that may help you. The only difference for you is that your spring pin should go back in from the top without the gyrations I had to do on mine (the whiffs and then the side insert of the pin), if you tear it down that far.

 

[Alamedasam]

Thanks dpaton for the great video. Both ratchets work really well as is, but one felt like it very definetly was really fine toothed. Although I dident take them apart as far as you did in the video, it looks like they are both ok internally. Cant explain the differance in operation, you guys all agree they should be the same, but they do sure seem to work very different.

I went back today to the used tool shop & dug out some more S & K stuff. I will pick up the extra 1/2' & some deep sockets next week. Dont know why I all of a sudden have an interest beyond putting my first sets back to complete, but I am having a lot of fun. Thanks to all you guys for your input.

 

[dpaton]

Good work! Shoot a few pics and maybe we can help get to the bottom of the fine toothed feel.

If the cores can be swapped, it's a wear feeling, not actually finer tooth count.

Clean up the cores, you don't need to pull the pawls just yet, and play with them a little.

And by all means, keep collecting!