Vintage Stahlwille ratchet set

[Blown V2]

Hey all,

Recently my boss found this old Stahlwille ratchet and socket set in his dad's shed, possibly his grandfathers though. I was wondering if any of your keen eyes were able to give me an idea of how old this is!

It's a cool old ratchet, no reverse lever so you push the 1/2" drive through the other side to change direction.







Cheers,
Adam

 

[bonneyman]

I don't know for sure, but it looks like a standard "water wheel" type of ratcheting system. Like this older Bonney refer wrench:

Simple, easy-to-fix rod and spring set-up. The gear is much harder steel than the rod, so, the rod wears. As it wears, you can tighten the screw/spring to maintain gear tension. When it finally gets too short to work, any old steel rod stock can be used to make a new one. Need a new spring? The compression coil type springs are easy to come by.
I'd say it's a solid ratchet.

 

[Flash21]

Awesome find there, good stuff!!

 

[wrenchr]

No clue to it's age but it sure is cool!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[humber2]

That style of power bar handle with 4 grooves dates pre 60's

When I'm back home I'll check my 1955 catalog.

 

[Monte]

very nice !

 

[ADSR]

That's damn cool!

 

[Canadian Charlie]

Looks nice

 

[TheMonge23]

Brilliant design. Utterly brilliant. I love the keep it simple engineering. Cool find.

 

[Blown V2]

Cheers everyone, it's nice to have a little piece of tool history in the workshop.

That style of power bar handle with 4 grooves dates pre 60's

When I'm back home I'll check my 1955 catalog.

That would be excellent, thanks.

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

What I want to know is when tools were marked "made in germany", "made in west germany", etc. Judging by looks I would say 40's - 50's, but would think it would say "west germany" if younger than WW2. Someone educate me

 

[Blöckw@rt]

The socket set could be from the 1950s…….maybe.

Before WWII (>1939) it was always "Made in Germany" or simply "Germany"

From 1945 to 1949, before the "Federal Republic of Germany" was established, mostly no identification was used, but occasionally, merely depending on the availability of components, also "Made in Germany" is found.

From 1949 (until today) "Made in Germay" was used again, but from ca. 1952/55 "Made in Western-Germany" or "Made in West-Germany" was preferred to distinguish from GDR (East-Germany). But this was not compulsory and rather used at whim.

"West-Germany" became obsolete in 1991.

 

[humber2]

That style of power bar handle with 4 grooves dates pre 60's

When I'm back home I'll check my 1955 catalog.

Definately 1955 era, sorry I cannot do an image.

explaining the set # 50a/9/3

50 = 1/2" Drive
No letter indicates metric
a for American, or inch A/F
e for English, or Whitworth/BS

/9/ is the number of sockets

/3 is the number of drive handles and extensions.

When new the A/F sockets would have had green dye in the knurled band.

 

[Canoe50]

Nice. I picked up a vintage Williams ratchet at a flea market recently that works the same way & is in very nice condition. The handle is shaped a little differently. Still haven't learned how to post pictures or else I would. One side of the handle has raised letters...J.H. WILLIAMS & CO. BUFFALO N.Y. & S-50 to the left of that. Other side has....DROP FORGED IN U.S.A.

 

[Dieselbutterfly]

love the spring on the universal joint,i will be steeling that idea

 

[KEH]

As a small boy, I was given a toy wind up motorcycle that said something to the effect that it was made in the occupied zone of western Germany. I've passed it on to D and SIL for the grandchildren.

KEH

 

[Clamback]

Old Stahlwilles are cool. I dig the 437.

 

[Peeb]

Many thanks!

 

[Kev442]

Since it's from the 50's, I'll go with: Neat-O!

 

[2oolhound]

Very nice! I like the box and how compact the set is. I have Hazet and Gedore ratchets that style.

 

[Pumpman1968]

I don't know for sure, but it looks like a standard "water wheel" type of ratcheting system. Like this older Bonney refer wrench:

Simple, easy-to-fix rod and spring set-up. The gear is much harder steel than the rod, so, the rod wears. As it wears, you can tighten the screw/spring to maintain gear tension. When it finally gets too short to work, any old steel rod stock can be used to make a new one. Need a new spring? The compression coil type springs are easy to come by.
I'd say it's a solid ratchet.

I have never seen a ratchet like that.......except for a Ridgid pipe threader