Wright 1/2" drive ratchet

[Gerald O]

I've had this in my toolbox for about 40 years or so. Given to me by my dad way back when.
Anyone have an idea about when these were made?

 

[jabberwoki]

There will be a two digit number on there that will be your year. I have 3/4 drive like that and it`s 1948.

Looks like 1962.

 

[d.mcfarland]

N-62 is what I'm seeing also. Is that bolt right below it original?

 

[twertsy]

What do the pawls look like on that rat?? Are they like this?

 

[ganymede]

N-62 is the model #.
45+ is the date code.
Those are nice smooth single pawl ratchets.

 

[Gerald O]

N-62 is what I'm seeing also. Is that bolt right below it original?

It has always had that bolt since I've had it.

What do the pawls look like on that rat?? Are they like this?

Never had it apart but I think it must be a little different with the bolt running through there. The pawl is probably large-toothed like that though because there's quite an angle of turn between clicks.

N-62 is the model #.
45+ is the date code.
Those are nice smooth single pawl ratchets.

Ah, thanks! I thought it looked older than 62.

 

[ganymede]

Here's the inside of a 3/8 version.
Without the large shoulder screw in place the idle side of the pawl will not disengage completely and will scrape against the gear.

 

[misterbill]

Just curious, anybody know the meaning of the -/+ prefix/suffix or the "AC" stamping on this era of Wright tools?

Bill

 

[bonneyman]

Here's the inside of a 3/8 version.
Without the large shoulder screw in place the idle side of the pawl will not disengage completely and will scrape against the gear.

Hmmm. That is one odd-looking pawl. The non-engaging tip seems to just barely slip by the gear teeth.
As thick as that pawl is I'm betting the things a brute.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just curious, anybody know the meaning of the -/+ prefix/suffix or the "AC" stamping on this era of Wright tools?Bill

Bill,

I have no explanation for the + or - , but I believe it's a strong probability that the "AC" may be a reference to Air Corps. In the Civilian Production Administration (formerly War Production Board) War Supply Contracts books, "AC" is the code for "Air Corps" in the index up front. Wright Tool and Forge Company had three contracts with the Air Corps during the war:

$206,000 awarded November 1941
$1,044,000 awarded February 1942
$419,000 awarded October 1942

The last two contracts ran until late 1943 and early 1944 respectively.

Please let me know the date codes on the WRIGHT tools you have or have seen with an "AC." I have a U-11 1/2-inch drive universal joint with a "43 +" date code and an "AC" mark. Alloy Artifacts has a 1/2-inch drive N-60 ratchet, with a "- 42" date code and an "AC" mark. As you can see, the date codes and the Air Corps contracts seem to align.

EDIT: Don't be dissuaded by not finding this correlation on AA; they are Mfgr focused and organized and rely almost exclusively on catalogs and ads for their marking and vintage conclusions. Plomb was not the only Mfgr selling tools to the USAAF, and apparently, not the only Mfgr that was asked to mark them distinctively.

 

[ganymede]

Hmmm. That is one odd-looking pawl. The non-engaging tip seems to just barely slip by the gear teeth.
As thick as that pawl is I'm betting the things a brute.

It's a unique arrangement . The idle side of the pawl passes in between the gear teeth as they move. Sort of like how the machine guns on ww1 bi planes looked like they could blow the propeller blades off but were synced to fire between them.
As for strength I really want to give it a test and see what the innards look like under load but if I break it I'll feel awefull because I haven't seen a lot of these.

 

[misterbill]

Please let me know the date codes on the WRIGHT tools you have or have seen with an "AC."

Lug,

Here are a couple sockets I've acquired that fit with "AC" corresponding to the contracts. I have the same universal you mentioned but it is "U.S." stamped as well as a couple 5" extensions stamped in the same way - with no date codes.

Bill

 

[misterbill]

They must have been making tools for the Air Corps. What type of engine other than on an aircraft would use this size?

Bill

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks for confirming, Bill!

 

[r_olson_06]

Shared it before but thought I would share it again. Found this in the wild at an estate sale in a small town in Iowa. Set was scattered between a couple boxes so I had to buy them all to get it complete but only cost $10 can't complain. I love the design of the ratchet.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

 

[northwoods]

Shared it before but thought I would share it again. Found this in the wild at an estate sale in a small town in Iowa. Set was scattered between a couple boxes so I had to buy them all to get it complete but only cost $10 can't complain. I love the design of the ratchet.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

That set is beautiful, Olson. That is why I go to sales like the one you found.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A GJ member, Mr. X, doing a search for information on his old Wright ratchets ran into my post above talking about the “AC” (Air Corps) and date code markings on Wright ratchets.

He contacted me and told me there is a book out there called "Remembering the Boys: A Collection of Letters, a Gathering of Memories", all written by alumni from Western Reserve Academy (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio, during WWII, to each other and to their former headmaster. Here is a link to the book on Amazon.

He said that some of the letters refer to the school's machine shop being used by the students during the war to make tools under subcontract to Wright Tool & Forge!

So I did a search on Google Books, searched inside the book on "Wright Tool," and look what turned up!

View media item 74466
We all know about Mfgrs subcontracting production out to other Mfgrs due to insufficient capacity to keep up with production schedules, and with the help of the Defense Plant Corporation, a quasi-private quasi-government agency set up to convert other plants into defense production plants, we know that many factories and mills making civilian goods before the war were transformed into defense production plants during the war, but this is the first time I have ever heard of a school being used by a tool maker to make tools. An amazing story.