Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Accessories). This thread is read-only.
Hello, I am new to this site and forums in general. I have received a Bit holder set, very old. I got it handed down from a long line of family. Holder has labeled S/A on both of them. One tapers off a little shorter than other, and both have a spring mechanism inside the plastic. Any tips or insight is appreciated.
Welcome to the forums. What exactly do you want to know?
Not sure how “very old” a plastic bit holder could actually be. Plastic wasn’t commonly used for things like this until at least the 70’s, but maybe I’m just getting older. My Spider sense tells me this is probably an 80’s item at oldest. Reason being, the sockets appear to have “flank drive” style broaching. This wasn’t even invented until the late 60’s and Snap-On (which these clearly are not) held the patent on it until up in the 70’s and it would be another number of years before such a broaching would appear on unbranded generic items. More info like a brand name and Country of Origin (COO) would help narrow it down. A COO of Japan would lead me to believe it could be from the 70’s or early 80’s, but China or Taiwan would more firmly establish the 80’s at oldest timeline.
Can’t say for sure, but I’d venture a guess that S/A probably stands for Square Adaptor as it’s function is to allow 1/4” hex bits to be used on a 1/4” Square drive ratchet, etc., but again, that’s just a shot in the dark.
I really could not find any type of model number, or any type of identification of the company who made this. My 68 year old uncle, got this handed down from his grandpa, and passed it down to me. We’re from Illinois, USA, and Im really just curious to what I would ever use these 2 ‘adapter’ like accesories for.
It basically allows you to use those insert bits with a ratchet like so:
I would say that would have to be it. I appreciate the help and the swiftness of the answers. Topic can be closed if needed.