Tool care: ratchets

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Over the years, I can't tell you how many tools I've picked up in the street while riding the bicycle, just walking down the road, or even in the car when I encounter one of those "Hey, what was that?" moments and it's safe to stop. Among them are several ratchets, all but one Craftsman brand. One of them was just added this evening, making the count five if I haven't given away one or two more over the years...

Every one of them was dry and gritty, as if they'd never ever had a drop of oil (including today's find, which is probably the most worn specimen, too.) All of them benefited greatly from moderately generous applications of oil where it could run into the mechanism. Now I'm not a professional wrench spinner, so the argument of whether one brand lasts longer than another doesn't really affect my life. However, my tools do get a fair amount of "shade tree" use, and in a moment of curiosity I did take apart my oldest and probably most used ratchet last summer to clean, lube and just learn how it worked. It's a Craftsman, Christmas present in 1970, which has been kept clean and oiled since new, as instructed by a former neighbor and professional mechanic whose tools always looked almost surgically clean when not in use. There was virtually no wear inside, and once put back together, it was as tight or tighter than any of the newer ones, and a whole bunch smoother. I think it will still be going strong far longer than I am.

So just for giggles, my question is this: how many of you...

a) give your ratchets no care whatsoever, just grab and use them; or

b) wipe them down and give them a spot of oil in the mechanism once in a while (my practice); or

c) actually take them apart and give them a super clean and relube on occasion, and maybe even go so far as to rebuild those you can get parts kits for?

Rick C

 

[SamV]

I assume you are talking about socket wrenches. While I try to take good care of my tools, I don't really use them often enough to warrant a tear down and rebuild. I vaguely recall maybe putting a drop of oil in them over the decades. I did rebuild one after it came apart from a high fall and impact.

 

[arfmel]

B

 

[314Chevy]

I am a type B guy. About once a year I clean and oil my sockets. I use Craftsman and have had to replace 3 of the ratchets over a 30 year period.

 

[Kevin]

I suppose I would be the first type. I don’t give them much thought at all and have not considered taking one apart and fixing it. Can you really buy a parts kit for a ratchet?

 

[coach]

I wipe the grease and dirt off. I never thought to oil them. They always seem to work fine. Maybe I’ll give them a drop of oil next time I have them out. I have cleaned and oiled my ratchet screwdriver from time to time.

 

[gramps]

I wipe the grease and dirt off. I never thought to oil them. They always seem to work fine. Maybe I’ll give them a drop of oil next time I have them out. I have cleaned and oiled my ratchet screwdriver from time to time.

Yep, this is what has worked for me the last 50 years. I find crescent wrenches, box wrenches imbedded in the tar, out in the woods on trails, but no deer antlers! What gives?
gramps, who hasn’t found a morel x 3 years

 

[GRAMPS 51]

Hi I will go with B I received a Craftsman complete set for Christmas in 1962 they are still used daily I have only broken 2 in all those years both times my fault putting a short piece of pipe on them for more leverage they do not get taken apart or lubed unless I drop them in water or the ratchets feel grungy

Gramps

 

[Mobuck]

Considering the use and type of equipment I work on, my "ratchets" get all the lubrication needed from the run-off. When I have to hose them with "brake kleen" just to hold onto them later in the project, I doubt any of my tools require additional lubrication.
I did on a couple of occasions, melt some plastic parts of cheap ratchets while trying to remove nuts that I'd heated with the torch. The heat transfer from nut to socket to ratchet head was too much for them. When taken in for warranty, the counter person asked what happened and I said " They got too hot, guess I left them out in the sun too long". Worked both times.

 

[Cholo]

A for me, though I do wipe all my tools down so they're clean for the next use. I never thought to oil the ratchets. Hmmm...

I have 3 of the older ratchets and three of the newer ones all in 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2". I never use the newer ones. Sears put less teeth in them and cheapened them as well.

Does anyone remember why Sears changed from the older good ones to the newer cheaper one? It was because they screwed, like Sears had a history of doing, the inventor of the original push button device. This is the short story of what happened. I did recall the story correctly, maybe because it was a local story.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-09-17-8901260271-story.html

 

[Busterswoodshop]

I wipe mine down after every use.
I figure they get enough oil and grease on them just by being used.

 

[Johnnu2]

Used to be a weekend mechanic until I got rid of my 45 year old project car back in 2007. Have had my Craftsman set since around 1962. Never did anything to any of the ratchets except to wipe them off after every use.... They still work (when I do) flawlessly.....
J

 

[Fox Mike]

Ratchet wrenches of mine occasionally get a gob of 'white grease' when they have a certain sound to them; never oil. ALL my tools, and I have lot of them, are wiped clean after each use. Much like a gun, take care of them and they will take care of you.

 

[gunzo]

I've usually oiled them when they start acting up. I have rebuilt a few as well. All my tools get wiped down before they are put up. I started borrowing my dads tools when I was about 10. His rules; put them back each & every time & make sure they were clean. If he couldn't find one when he needed it or picked up a dirty one, I lost use of them for a week, second offense, a month, third, forever. He saw too it that I learned to care for tools.

A few years back when I worked as a rigger & machinery mover I found a Proto inch pound ratcheting torque wrench in the tool truck. I ask the boss about & he said it was broken. I told him I could rebuild it it, & he said somebody would just use it as a ratchet again & it wouldn't last a minute, did I want it?
Did I want it! I fool with precision rifles w/tactical rings, etc. that love to be consistently tightened but didn't have a tool of this quality as they are about a $170.
I rebuilt it for $22. Knowing about tools & such paid off big time on this.

 

[eveled]

Ratchets are like locks. They tell you not to oil them because it attracts dust and dirt. Reality is they won’t last if you don’t oil them occasionally. If they feel crunchy and gritty Flush them out and oil them.

 

[graygun]

A to B

 

[Jimbo357mag]

If tools could talk I would love to hear some of their stories.
I keep tools clean and fairly well organized but not perfect by any means.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Well I have a Proto 3/8 ratchet that was issued to me in the USAF 1960. I have never done a thing to it and it still ratchets away It has turned quite a few sockets over the years and yea it has had a cheater bar or two on it big enough to crack a Craftsman socket :wink:

If I get oil on the tools they get a wipe down. Most of the stuff I work on is clean

 

[sfhogman]

My oldest ratchet is a Craftsman, about 50 years old. It gets wiped down and returned to the rollaway every time I use it, but that's about it.
Jeff

 

[Chief 101]

I have many ratchets in 1/4" 1/2" and 3/8". Any of them that get hard use(not many these days) get taken apart, cleaned and lubed. It makes them work so much easier. I sometimes tweak the springs(wish Wolf made springs for some of them) to make them more functional.

 

[EVILDOCTOR235]

Plomb and Proto pear head ratchets are my favorite. Plomb became Proto in 1948 due to a lawsuit over the name. I have them in sizes 1/4, 9/32, 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 inch drive sizes. 9/32 drive was used mostly by the military during WWII. I always oil my ratchets. I found out using grease in them does not work well in cold weather. When it's cold, the grease gets thick and does not allow the pawls / dogs to properly mesh with the geared wheel and causes wear and breakage of the internal parts. I have rebuild kits for some of my ratchets, some brands I don't. I collect tools just because. I am retired now, so I only work on little old gas engines dating back to the 1930's up to the mid 1970's. My oldest ratchet is a 100 year old Starrett that still works, but looks 100 years old.
Go to the ALLOY ARTIFACTS website if you like old tools. Over 4,000 pictures of old hand tools.


EvilDr235

 

[caryc]

I am a type B guy. About once a year I clean and oil my sockets. I use Craftsman and have had to replace 3 of the ratchets over a 30 year period.

I have a little Craftsman 1/4" drive socket set that comes in real handy when tackling some small job. I've had that one for a whole lot of years. One day the ratchet just gave out and quit working. I took the ratchet into the Sears store and showed the guy at the tool check out counter and he just reached under the counter and handed me a new ratchet. It was even the better kind with the push button release and the little toggle switch for forward and reverse. It wasn't in any kind of package, just a loose ratchet. He just pulled that out from under that counter like he does that every day.

 

[RoninPA]

I clean (wipe down) my tools after each use to remove the grime/oil/whatever and about every couple years take my ratchet wrenches apart, clean well, relube (with a bit of grease not oil) and put back together. I also have ratcheting box end wrenches that get plopped into the ultrasonic cleaner every couple years and the a bit of grease applied to the mechanisms via a syringe with grease in it (makes it easier to get it where I want it).

 

[CGDustDevil]

For me it's option "C".

I have always taken my ratchets apart, cleaned and oiled them with a light dose of Marvel Mystery Oil. When I was using them every day, I serviced them semi-annually. These days they spend most of their time in the tool box, but I service 'em every couple years. Most of my ratchets are over 40 years old, well used, and look like the Wreck of the Hesperus. But they still work like new!

I also have a rare Snap On ratchet (F-713) from the 1960s with a push-button release. Snap On apparently got sued by Craftsman for stealing their idea shortly after I purchased the set, and the Snap On guy tried to give me a new movement for mine. I said "Nope... I'm keepin' this puppy!". He laughed and said "I don't blame you! I wouldn't sell it OR use it. Might be worth some money one day!". Well I did use it a LOT throughout my working years and still do today. But Bob, the Snap On guy who sold me the set told me that if I cleaned and oiled my ratchets, they will last my lifetime and longer.

So far ~50 odd years later, he seems to have been right! It too still works, is still in service, and is in excellent operating condition. Here it is in fact!

Regards, Pete

 

[375supermag]

Hi...
Quite honestly, all I ever do is wipe them off and put them back in the tool box.
I used to do assembly work on HVAC equipment and then on printing presses for a few years. Never broke or had a tool fail.
Most of my tools are Craftsman with the exception if an odd tool here and there. Served me well when I was doing assembly work for a living in the late '90s up to about 2001.

Thankfully I was able to return to my preferred line of work(managing receiving docks) and never had to earn a living turning wrenches again.
Retired now so most of my tools lie dormant except for occasional use in my garage.

 

[Heliman]

From my aviation maintenance days I have always owned Snap-on ratchets. Partially because of reliability and initial quality. The warranty was great also. Some of those ratchets are 30 years old and were used daily on the job. I do have some Craftsman ratchets that are okay as well. The craftsman ratchets are easy to break down for cleaning and service. I have done this several times over the years. Usually disassemble, clean and use white lithium grease to lubricate. Tool maintenance and regular lubrication make for trouble free years of operation.

Dave

 

[caryc]

I have three or four different socket sets but the one I like the most is this Metrinch set. The sockets work off of the flats on the bolts or nuts not on the corners. You don't have to worry about SAE or Metric, just pick the socket that looks the closest and it'll work. This set was extremely worth the price.

 

[Scout943]

My tools are always cleaned after use and oiled when needed .

 

[WAYNO]

Mine was a different scenario with my tools.

One day, my ratchets might get saturated with oil. The next day, they could be saturated with solvents. The next day, they could be saturated with effuent headed to the sewer.

So one day, solvent washes out all the lubrication. The next day the ratchet gets filled with sand, pulp, chemicals, whatever. You might not notice with light or occasional use, but the insides of a ratchet get filled with rust and other debris, and actually impede the full engagement of the dogs into the splines. Again, if your ratchet slips with light use, maybe you'll only get skinned knuckles. But in heavy industry, we could be standing on a ratchet handle with our full weight trying to loosen a fastener. When the ratchet fails, you could be inviting serious injury.

So yes, I opened up my ratchets periodically, cleaned them out, and repacked them with grease.

 

[Jeepnik]

I learned from dad you can tell the quality of the workman by the condition of his tools. I still have a lot of dad's tools. Dad passed in 1988. Some of the tools are older than I am.