Good News From The Proto Dealer In Town

[dimwittedmoose51]

One of my Proto 5249 3/8" rats was missing the direction selector and locked up tight.  Got it apart and the funky shaped cam was intact, but dislogded.  Innards were in excellent condition(outside chrome was only so-so), so the repair was not out of the question yet.  Stopped by the local Proto dealer in Waterloo  Iowa(Campbells Supply or something like that, it's on E 11th St.).  I asked the counter guy if they had or could still get parts for the older Proto rats and he said yes.  Only wanting the lever, he informed me that the only way to get the lever was to"buy the entire rebuild kit".  The last "rebuild kit" I priced for a ratchet was in the $30-35 range so I was bracing myself.  He looked up the price and it was a whopping $12...for everything;  springs, pawls, drive gear screws and selector(not sure about getting the top and bottom plates).    Had to order it so I prepaid in case he changed his mind later on.  Will be here in a week or two.  If I'm not mistaken, if this rebuild kit fits the older Proto, then it should fit the older Plombs too  ......right?   Maybe there is hope for rebuilding my old 3/4" drive pebble handle rat after all, but I'll bet its rebuild kit will be a tad more than than $12.

On a side note  according to him, Blackhawk is now owned by Proto which is a division of Stanley  and maybe has been for some time.  News travels slow around my zip code folks.  Blackhawk is their"price point" line of tools. 

Photos when the stuff arrives....

DM&FS

[Bill Houghton]

Interesting news; thanks.  Not sure who my local Proto dealer is...oh, look, the Proto (Stanley) website has a distributor locator...Graingers and Ferguson, both with outlets not too far away...

Kind of sad to hear that Blackhawk is now a "price point" brand.

[dimwittedmoose51]

Yeah, but does make the old Blackhawk stuff more valuable....to those that know the difference......


DM&FS