tool oil for old school ratchets

[R-Savage]

I'm going to ask this question again as I think I cancelled the post or whatever. I have a few old proto and craftsman ratchets they have a ball-bearing on top to add tool oil. What is the best tool oil for these old craftsman USA ratchets and proto ratchets? Yes I am subscribing to the thread. No one seems to know the answer.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Oil is oil, you adjust to operating conditions and maintenance costs.
NASA probably has the best stuff.

 

[R-Savage]

So if you were to clean a ratchet and take it apart what would you personally use?

 

[ganymede]

I think the oil port bearings are just an afterthought. It was necessary to drill a hole there for the pawl spring and ball at the back of the ratchet head. Most oils are so thick that it would take too long to get a working amount into those tiny ports.
Ratchets came from the factory with white lithium grease or dark brown grease anyway and that's better for the Craftsmans. For Proto oil is better and I just throw in watever is on hand 3 in 1 to 10w40.

 

[R-Savage]

I think the oil port bearings are just an afterthought. It was necessary to drill a hole there for the pawl spring and ball at the back of the ratchet head. Most oils are so thick that it would take too long to get a working amount into those tiny ports.
Ratchets came from the factory with white lithium grease or dark brown grease anyway and that's better for the Craftsmans. For Proto oil is better and I just throw in watever is on hand 3 in 1 to 10w40.

Great thank you. This is the answer I wanted to verify. You know salespeople.

 

[R-Savage]

I just don't want an old school 3/4 drive craftsman USA to get messed up because of the wrong oil, because a salesman said so. Or my proto etc. I have a few old school ratchets with the add tool oil ball-bearing. I want to clean them out and re oil them.

 

[ganymede]

Anytime. The sales folks only know about the new stuff. For 50 + yr old ratchets you need to ask old geezer mechanics, machinists or maintenance folks.

 

[ganymede]

For the Craftsman use light grease unless the spring is tired. If thats the case and you can't replace the spring then use oil.
Protos always have light springs so I always use oil.

 

[R-Savage]

Great thanks bud is there za brand you recommend?

 

[ganymede]

Nah, I'm cheap.
For light grease I use Lubriplate and for heavier stuff plumbers grease just because I found nearly full containers at the flea for 50 cts each.
For oil 3 in 1.

 

[woody 73]

Nah, I'm cheap.
For light grease I use Lubriplate and for heavier stuff plumbers grease just because I found nearly full containers at the flea for 50 cts each.
For oil 3 in 1.

Ha you think you are cheap my Father lived through the great depression and he used too change his oil and drop the ratchet in the dirty used oil (mind you he never opened up the ratchet) he never needed a rebuild in all those years.

Dad don't be rolling in your grave but I hate too tell you no more made in America Craftsman tools. Wait I think I hear thunder just now!

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I cleaned up my buddies SK, and he chose coconut oil....Seems to work great.

Last one of mine was a bit more coarse and low tech, I used brown chainsaw grease from my Lubrigun. It damped the thunk of the action on the ol Walden a perfect amount, and covers the ~1/4" oil hole in the front.

 

[four.cycle]

ahhh... another "what oil in my ratchet" thread!

I use Marvel Mystery Oil and maybe a tiny dab of white lithium grease (i.e., "Lubriplate" or something similar.)

Somewhere on this site is an anecdote about a bunch of old-school wrench-turners who all worked in the same shop, and each night at the end of their shift dropped their ratchets into a bucket of oil. The next morning they'd wipe them down before starting work.

When I asked Guy Wheaton, the Indestro factory representative, what to use he told me "Just plain old oil" (That would have been in the mid-1970's.)

Some guys here swear by heavy wheel-bearing grease. Might be okay for an old 1661 Penens with a 24-tooth mechanism, but it's probably way too thick for the newer super-fine-tooth models of the current day.

 

[thehorse13]

Whatever motor oil on hand is what I use. I've done this for decades and I've never ever had a problem.

 

[RRmech]

Light machine oil

 

[Gear Wolf]

There are plenty of light oils that have low enough viscosity to flow through the oil port now and then.

The greases used internally back then had a tendency to dry out and turn into a yellow/orange cake over time. A little light oil buys the user a little more time before having to do a tear down.

 

[four.cycle]

^ yes. I pulled an old Walden Worcester apart several months ago and the heavy grease it was packed with had hardened like wax. I had to take a pick tool and a small screwdriver to dig it out.
put a tiny dab of white lithium grease on the gear and a bit of MMO and it's smooth as butter now.

 

[Know Wosad]

I use the stuff that comes with a kit or that super-lube in a tube that Snap-On supposedly uses too. The tube is a few bucks and you don't need to smash it full ala Youtube. You'd think the ratchet was spining 6000 rpm the way some go at it.
When we did hot rod engines a lot the lube that came with cams worked for that and angle grinder heads too. Angle grinders actually whip along and get warm.The **** ones get downright hot.
John Reed used to send that in baby food looking jars when they ground all the cams we used.Some kind of Moly-lube.Anyone remember Reed ? Charlie Sierra ?

 

[four.cycle]

^ we always sold a tube of black molybdenum grease with a cam and a set of lifters. worked for Uncle Harold on the track in California.
probably too heavy for a ratchet, though.

 

[gdocktor3]

I would use 3 in 1 if I were the op. Then again, I've also been known to use vaseline in my newer ratchets. I'm a pollack...

In all seriousness though I thought "ultra slick engine assembly lube" or atf worked the best?

 

[four.cycle]

"ultra slick engine assembly lube"

^ I've seen it mentioned in other threads here on this subject, but it sounds to me like the kind of stuff Kool-Aid is made of.

 

[Al Borland]

3-in-1. if you don't have an oil port, drip it in the ratchet cover/case at the point where where the square stud turns and rotate the ratchet until it goes in.

 

[bobcatdan]

I use fluid film. Little thick and seems to tighten and smooth the action. Also last a long time. I have ratchets I lubed years ago that are still smooth.

 

[CutterFarms]

I used fluid film last time I took some skipping ratchets apart, the last ratchet I cleaned I used super lube only because I have read about it on GJ and my dad left a can on my bench. Both seem to work good so far and neither product keeps running out of the ratchets.

 

[Plombob]

I used to use white lithium grease, but that tends to dry up and get hard. I am using Mobil 1 synthetic. Haven't seen it dry up, but need a few more years to complete the study. If the rat doesn't come apart, I've used various oils such as Marvel, Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster. Haven't found one that's better than the others.

 

[twertsy]

Said it many times............done and done

 

[pendragon1998]

I like superlube, mineral oil, and breakfree CLP.