Garage Gazette
TOOLS AND THE SHOP => MECHANIC HAND TOOLS WE USE => Topic started by: coolmercury on June 06, 2021, 03:11:09 PM
-
I bought these at auction for little money. They are metric with numbers from 42640 to 42646 and sizes of 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 18 mm. I have been told they are relatively uncommon, so should I use them? The ratcheting box ends are not reversable, so they must be flipped. Can they be dated?
-
As I recall those were the Heavy Duty style of ratcheting box. They have a release feature in the ratchet mechanism so you can quickly ratchet without taking the box end off of the fastener. But it kinda takes practice of the wrist movement to get it to work smoothly. I think I have one in 5/16" for stubborn panel screws in tight areas.
-
My buddy Pete, who some of you met years ago invented that style ratcheting wrench. I would guess somewhere between 2000 and 2010
There are 3 parts to the wrench. The wrench body, which has teeth forged into the inner circle of the box end, the center of the box end with teeth around the circumference, and a small piece of spring steel that pushes the center onto the teeth in the body. No pawl. The beauty of the design is if you pull the wrench against the spring steel piece, it will not engage and you can move the wrench after getting it wedged into a position where it is stuck. Pete was changing a starter I believe and got his gearwrench wedged and had a tough time getting it out. this was his solution. The Armstrong version is much more refined though you don't see many of either version in the wild.
Haven't use enough of them to comment on quality but go ahead and use them, no extra value for rarity IMO
-
Much thanks, will check them out when in the shop tomorrow.
-
I think they showed up early to mid 2000's. I recall looking at them at Sears during that time frame.
Man I really miss Sears USA made Cman tools. And I really miss getting my Cman tool catalogs annually.