Three ratchets

[Clipper]

Three square drive ratchets from one of my father's tool boxes.

• ½" Snap-on No 71 N
• ⅜" Snap-on Ferret F70N
• 9/32" ↓Plumb↑ WF-8

All three made in the US.

[Northwoods]

Can't read it clearly on my monitor.  If that little Plvmb is a WF 8, it is 9/32".  Only the WF 8 S model is actually 1/4".
Strange, what.

[Clipper]

Northwoods, I expect you are right. I'll get the micrometer out and check.

Can't do it right now. Weather is hot & dry here - a good sleeping bag laundry day - three to do. I'm about to go "grape treading" in the bath tub.

[bonneyman]

Nice little group!

Snap-On probably has the rebuild kits for the two S-O rats if they need them. Good thing about Snappy is they keep rebuild kits available for all the ratchets they made.

[Clipper]

Snap-On probably has the rebuild kits for the two S-O rats if they need them. Good thing about Snappy is they keep rebuild kits available for all the ratchets they made.

Bonneyman, I don't think either of the Snap-ons needs a rebuild at this time but who knows what the future might hold ...

[Clipper]

Can't read it clearly on my monitor.  If that little Plvmb is a WF 8, it is 9/32".  Only the WF 8 S model is actually 1/4".
Strange, what.

Northwoods, the Plvmb is a WF-8 and micrometer reads about 7.2mm, which confirms your 9/32", thank you. Edited above.

[d42jeep]

It looks to me like your 1/2” drive ratchet was made in 1945 and your Ferret was made in 1940. I found a 1/2” drive one made in 1944 at a garage sale yesterday.
-Don

[Clipper]

It looks to me like your 1/2” drive ratchet was made in 1945 and your Ferret was made in 1940.

Thanks for the dates d42jeep. I didn't realise it was possible to date these things.

Dad would have been 17 in 1940 so I rather expect he acquired these ratchets (and a number of sockets) some time later, probably second-hand.   

[d42jeep]

On your Snap-on ratchets the date codes are between the On and Off under the selector levers. The G code is 1945 and the Circle with the line through it is 1940. On the Wright Field ratchet Plomb didn’t use date codes but they were likely made from 1941 to 1945.
-Don

[Clipper]

On your Snap-on ratchets the date codes are between the On and Off under the selector levers. The G code is 1945 and the Circle with the line through it is 1940. On the Wright Field ratchet Plomb didn’t use date codes but they were likely made from 1941 to 1945.
-Don

Thanks Don. This is the reason I love this forum .... so much knowledge.

You did well to discern the symbols from my low res pics. Just checked the hardware, and you are correct - "G" and "Ø" (well as near as I can type).

[d42jeep]

Since I focus on collecting wartime tools, being able to spot date codes is important. Here is my wartime Ferret set. The u-joint was made in 1942
-Don

[Clipper]

There's quite a few more Snap-on/Ferret stuff in Dad's box.

Also wrenches marked Bonney, Lectrolite, Vlchek, Tip.Co, Britool, Duro-chrome ..... and others.

I'll see if I can grab some photos ...

... try this OneDrive link ... https://1drv.ms/f/s!Am2tm7QQ0aTtgrJRbcn9G03hdjxLsA

That's everything including the three ratchets above.