Strange Proto Ratchet?

[theVirginian]

Picked this up the other day at flea for .49 cents. It's a bit of a strange creature, looks like a pass through ratchet almost. Has anyone seen this particular one? A search for Proto 4749 yields a completely different ratchet. Besides the logo and model, there are no other specifications. Thanks!

 

[JDon99]

That looks like a regular old proto that has the sides cut off and has been welded up to stay together. Notice the welds. My guess is the drive has been drilled and broached. Old school hand made ratcheting wrench.

 

[Plombob]

That looks like a regular old proto that has the sides cut off and has been welded up to stay together. Notice the welds. My guess is the drive has been drilled and broached. Old school hand made ratcheting wrench.

Bingo! You can see where the screws used to fit.

 

[G_P]

Someone hacked up a ratchet and mad that. You can see where it has been welded and the remains of the countersunk screw holes from the screws that used to hold it together.

A home made tool made for a specific job.

 

[ADSR]

That's a backyard purpose built for sure!

 

[RedneckWelder]

Something like that might have been made for to be a tool for a machine in a factory setting...something that was a pain in the ***, frequently adjusted, and it was easiest/quickest to use a ratchet action but a socket and ratchet would not fit and ratcheting wrenches were still a good bit down the road.

 

[3baygarage]

What an odd hack job. What's crazy is the 4749 is supposed to be a little 1/4 ratchet. Things are much easier with long ratcheting wrenches available nowadays.

 

[zcbauer89]

Homemade fur sure. But I think they did a pretty good job on it. I'd say for .49 cents that's a heck of a score!! I like odd things like that.

 

[sonvolt]

It cost them more than .49 to modify it lol !

 

[Packard V8]

Could be some millwright was doing the same setup many times a day and figured he could save several seconds per setup with a ratcheting box wrench. That, plus he got bragging rights for his invention when the other millwrights liked it and had to have one.

Then a visiting delegation of Taiwanese manufacturers were walking through the plant, one of them saw it and that's how Gearwrench came to be.

jack vines

 

[rockinacummins]

That thing is cool! I like the fact that it's homemade. I bet it has a cool story behind it. I would have given at least .50 for it! haha

 

[monomach]

Yep, homemade hackjob ratcheting wrench.

 

[91bronc300]

Doesn't look like it could exactly handle much torque. Probably for an adjuster.

Do you really think the gear inside has been drilled and broached to create that 12 point or have teeth been attached to a ground down socket? I can't really figure out how that part was made.

 

[theVirginian]

Thanks for the responses, TGJ must not like my email because it never let me know I received replies. When I saw the welds and the leftover half screws the thought did cross my mind. The odd part it how long the handle is, I've got several Proto ratchets, including one marked 4749 and it looks nothing like that.

But hey! I wouldn't pass up Proto anything. Just picked up a sweet little Plomb half moon box end wrench for a buck just the other day.