Pictured here are most of my ratchets, except for some of my daily drivers (well, not daily so much anymore – boy, it’s sure nice to have cars new enough not to need maintenance every doggoned weekend).
I describe them in the order of the pictures, of which there are two for each group, showing the drive and non-drive sides.
First up, the ¼” ratchets. From the left, a ratchet with a big chunky plastic handle, by the J.O. Mfg. Co., South Gate, CA; this has a ring to change ratcheting directions, like some Millers Falls/Craftsman push screwdrivers. A Snap-On 6M-70-M driver which is, in fact, a daily driver; it looks like this was one of the black-oxide-finished tools that I always think are so cool. A Plomb 4749 ratchet; the “forward” setting on this one doesn’t work, and it’s enjoying a pleasant retirement.
Then, the 3/8” ratchets. From the left, again, a Craftsman BE ratchet; this probably accepted multiple drive sizes, as the ratchet has a 1/4” square hole that accepts drivers; it’s also got a neat “rocker” lever for shifting direction. A Proto 5249; nothing special about this one, except that it makes a really smooth sound when ratcheting. A Snap-On F-70-M ratchet that, again, appears to have left the factory in black oxide dress. A Matco 8R3 stubby ratchet. And finally, a contender for this year’s Oddness Prize, a “Palm-Grip” ratchet by Kipton Industries, Patent Pend.
On to the 1/2" ratchets. From the left (have you noticed a pattern here?), one of the two “daily” drivers, a Snap-On 71-M ratchet; this DID start life as a chromed ratchet, and is still fairly shiny. A Williams 8-52B Superratchet, a gift from my Uncle Charlie; this is a great ratchet, but I’m hesitant to use it because of its gift nature and hard-to-replaceability. A Husky ratchet (not sure if the model number is H3183, which appears on the head, T-S, which appears on the handle, or 5-46, which also appears on the handle) that uses the same female square drive spindle as the Craftsman in the earlier photos, but Husky figured out that you didn’t need a reversing lever when you could just remove the driver and put it on the other side; this permits a slimmer head; the trouble with insertable drivers, of course, is that they can pull out when you remove the socket, but I found a driver with a washer on one end larger than the square to prevent that. The next one was my paternal grandfather’s, a Bog Manufacturing ratchet that appears to use a ramp-and-pin freewheel instead of ratchet gears; Alloy Artifacts, in the company history, asserts that one Ben Pepperdine was the company’s CEO, and that the company was associated with Western Auto, owned by George Pepperdine, so the company name may have been assembled from the first initials of family members (I’d always wondered what ratchets had to do with the manufacturing of bogs and why someone would think making something that occurs naturally would be a good business model). At last, a Plomb 5449 ratchet, in the collection because, well, Plomb made nice tools.
And, at the end, my one 3/4" ratchet and some special tools. From the top (ha! Were you paying attention?), the big 5649 Plomb ratchet, part of my inheritance from my Uncle Charlie, and useful more than once when the half-inch stuff wouldn’t cut it. Next down, a Snap-On TQ150L Torq-Meter torque wrench that was in my dad’s service station (closed down in 1965, when Texaco pulled the lease with a month’s notice because the sales weren’t enough for them); the plan, with this one, is that you set the dial to your desired torque, then pull on the handle until the little flashlight bulb next to the dial goes on; I’d love to be using this still, but Snap-On no longer services them.
And, finally, at the bottom of the special tools photo, a Plomb 6734 tappet adjusting wrench. These accept a 1/2" drive socket of the correct size for the tappet locknut. The spring-loaded screwdriver tip, which rotates in the handle, goes into the slot on the tappet, and you turn it with the knob on top. Once your setting is correct, you then hold the knob firmly in place and use the handle to tighten the locknut. I wish I’d found this back when I had a VW bus, on which you had to set the tappets frequently. The screwdriver/wrench/feeler gauge method requires three hands, and this makes it much easier.
