Cornwell SR701

[Davethorik]

I bought a lot of tools off Craigslist for $30 to get this. 15" long industrial finish 1/2 rat.
Also included a steel box of misc. Chinese hex keys and a 14 pc. Husky sae/metric T-handle hex key set in carry case.

Guy had a bunch of stuff for sale but mostly beat to death looking contractor type tools, so when I saw the Darth Vader ratchet in one of his lots, my jaw dropped.

He said it was in a storage unit for a long time. It has a couple rust spots, mostly on the end of the drive and one spot on the handle. But is unused and functions great although I should probably peek inside "just in case".

The industrial finish on this is a deep, rich black gloss hence the Darth Vader comment. I've never seen a Corny industrial finish rat in person before, impressive. It *is* hard to photograph, sorry about the photos.

[goodfellow]

Beautiful -- they have a great appeal in that finish. Congrats!!

[Davethorik]

What I thought was interesting, I also have a Proto 5450XLBL 15" long black oxide rat. That ratchet has a textured surface all over. It isn't polished at all. The chrome models of that rat are polished. I'm guessing Cornwell polishes the bare steel forgings then has them black oxided.

[bmwrd0]

I have one of the standard 3/8 Cornwell rats in black oxide, and it has a textured finish. It also had a drive pin and not a ball detent, but I swapped that out to put it in my daily box.

[hofferwood]

SWEET Dave!!! 

These are my well used guys.

[Davethorik]

Very nice! I'm not absolutely sure if I'll be using it very much, might take me a while to catch up to your patina level. 

This is my 3rd long 1/2 rat. Proto I mentioned and a Wright.
This is my 7th Cornwell the rest are chrome. I think if it would have been about any other brand, I would have passed. But it matches! (sort of)

[bonneyman]

Why do you call it the "Darth Vader" ratchet? Because of the black finish?

[Davethorik]

Yes lol