I don’t know if I’m over thinking how exactly would I do, run the impact and see if the gears strip or what?
Jimbo
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Jimbos1ice wrote:
I don’t know if I’m over thinking how exactly would I do, run the impact and see if the gears strip or what?
Jimbo
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I would expect if it fails it would just slip, essentially re-positioning the selector switch. I don’t think it would be a catastrophic failure on any ratchet other than maybe Blue Hawk.
I don’t think it will do anything to be honest, I’m worried that if it grabs and holds that it might kick back on you.
You could just clamp the anvil of the ratchet in a vise and then turn it until something happens.
You shouldn’t be disappointed with your new Proto ratchets. I own a lot of Proto an Armstrong tools an love them. Their pricy but quality tools.
Don’t knock all Craftsman ratchets. I have some “Made in USA” Craftsman V series fine tooth ratchets 1/2, 3/8 & 1/4 that I have used for over 40 years and even though I have other ratchets (including Proto) I usually grab these Craftsman V’s. They are old friends that have excelled for years. Easy, smooth movement. Did I mention they are fine tooth? When other ratchets have failed due to not enough handle space to engage a new tooth or the bolt is too loose to allow another ratchet to catch. I get my trusty Craftsman V and nine times out of ten it takes over just fine. If the Craftsman V fails me (only twice that I can remember) I have a friction ratchet that has saved the day, but it is not as easy to use as other ratchets. You have to switch the socket from each side of the head to change direction.
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Rachets from thr prime of craftsman, they don’t make things like they used to.
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Jimbo
Never used proto. I’m a little rough on wrenches when things don’t go my way. So I’ll just stick with the ones I can beat and then say here replace it.
redmed wrote:
Don’t knock all Craftsman ratchets. I have some “Made in USA” Craftsman V series fine tooth ratchets 1/2, 3/8 & 1/4 that I have used for over 40 years and even though I have other ratchets (including Proto) I usually grab these Craftsman V’s. They are old friends that have excelled for years. Easy, smooth movement. Did I mention they are fine tooth? When other ratchets have failed due to not enough handle space to engage a new tooth or the bolt is too loose to allow another ratchet to catch. I get my trusty Craftsman V and nine times out of ten it takes over just fine. If the Craftsman V fails me (only twice that I can remember) I have a friction ratchet that has saved the day, but it is not as easy to use as other ratchets. You have to switch the socket from each side of the head to change direction.
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That’s how the black protos are
Jimbo
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Here is a little teaser video of my proto video I’m working on, have to figure out how I want to put them to work in the video but here is them ratcheting, the 45 tooth chrome vs the 72 tooth black
Jimbo
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Always enjoy watching your videos Jimbo! Man those black protos look so cool!
I’d like to get my hands on some of those premium pear heads and compare them to my protos.
I’ll have model numbers on the full video!
Jimbo
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BMack37 wrote:
I like the Pittsburgh ratchets more than Craftsman. Proto is great for USA made but I like Gearwrench 120 XPs, great price and they’re smooth.
I suggest getting some Super Lube for anything that you buy, it will make an ok ratchet, much nicer…it will make a nice ratchet, fantastic. Even my low tooth count Williams ratchets are smooth as Pierre McGuire’s head but a lot less noisy and weird.
Where can a guy find some of this super lube?
Harbor Freight has it, though for the fine tooth rats I would want to use a lighter weight oil. I use Quantum Hot Sauce reel oil in my 60+ tooth ratchets.
Amazon as well
Jimbo
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Edit: they have both the oil and grease
BK13 wrote:
Harbor Freight has it, though for the fine tooth rats I would want to use a lighter weight oil. I use Quantum Hot Sauce reel oil in my 60+ tooth ratchets.
Actually, now that I think about it, despite having at least one tube of Superlube around here, I use the Hot Sauce for everything. I found an old Snap On ratchet (I think 30 tooth, but may be 36) that wasn’t working. I just squirted some Hot Sauce in whatever cracks and openings I could find, not even bothering to open it up and clean it, and worked it around a little bit, and now it’s pretty smooth.
Stercorarius wrote:
Where can a guy find some of this super lube?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XBH9HI
HF does have it but at least locally, it’s more expensive than Amazon. SuperLube is what Snap-On uses in their ratchets out of the box.
Looks like it’s just Teflon lube with maybe some additives. I think my Napa might have it.
Stercorarius wrote:
Looks like it’s just Teflon lube with maybe some additives. I think my Napa might have it.
I’ve seen it at a LOT of different stores. You could probably use a number of different lubes to get the job done but there isn’t a single other lubricant with as many specific recommendations as Superlube for ratchets, not even close.
It was really impressive what it did for my Williams ratchets. I wish I would have done a baseline so I can show before and after, it’s like night and day.
BMack37 wrote:
I’ve seen it at a LOT of different stores. You could probably use a number of different lubes to get the job done but there isn’t a single other lubricant with as many specific recommendations as Superlube for ratchets, not even close.
It was really impressive what it did for my Williams ratchets. I wish I would have done a baseline so I can show before and after, it’s like night and day.
You use the grease or oil?
Jimbo
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Jimbos1ice wrote:
You use the grease or oil?
Jimbo
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Grease. The fine tooth ratchet you may want to try oil. My fine tooth ratchets are Gearwrench which are dual-pawled so I was able to get away with grease, since it’s essentially two 60-tooth ratchets offset in one casing.
Jimbo: You made excellent choices on your ratchets. We’ve already covered the “palm Control” rats, but the premium pearheads (aka XL Series) are very underrated. They’re tough as nails. Very hefty, for better or for worse. The 1/2″ are great, but the long 3/8″ (J5250XL) is probably my favorite of the series. The design was further refined to create the new 90 tooth Mac Axis Series ratchets that are IMO, the nicest ratchets money can buy and superior to the Snap-On Dual 80 in every way.
RedMed: That RHFT Craftsman ratchet you have is without question my favorite Craftsman ratchet. The V Series was the pinnacle of Craftsman tools. That rat was produced by Moore Drop Forge and as a bit of trivia, those ratchets were not sold individually. The were available only as part of the tool sets.
Get yourself a tube of Superlube or a bottle of Permatex engine assembly lube for ratchet lubrication. Use either sparingly (especially the Permatex).
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Lube-21030-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B000XBH9HI
The Superlube is available at Harbor Freight and probaly better overall, but some rats just prefer the Permatex.
Never use grease. Light machine oil will work, but won’t last long. It’s about like using alcohol in your radiator. It does the job, just not for long and there are better options.
Somewhere here I have a walk through on rebuilding Craftsman ratchets……somewhere.
Your the man conductor! Got me curious about these 90 tooth ratchets
You sound like an expensive guy to know. Mmmmmmmm ratchets…Conductor562 wrote:
Jimbo: You made excellent choices on your ratchets. We’ve already covered the “palm Control” rats, but the premium pearheads (aka XL Series) are very underrated. They’re tough as nails. Very hefty, for better or for worse. The 1/2″ are great, but the long 3/8″ (J5250XL) is probably my favorite of the series. The design was further refined to create the new 90 tooth Mac Axis Series ratchets that are IMO, the nicest ratchets money can buy and superior to the Snap-On Dual 80 in every way.
RedMed: That RHFT Craftsman ratchet you have is without question my favorite Craftsman ratchet. The V Series was the pinnacle of Craftsman tools. That rat was produced by Moore Drop Forge and as a bit of trivia, those ratchets were not sold individually. The were available only as part of the tool sets.
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What about moly lube that you use on cam lobes?Conductor562 wrote:
Get yourself a tube of Superlube or a bottle of Permatex engine assembly lube for ratchet lubrication. Use either sparingly (especially the Permatex).
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Lube-21030-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B000XBH9HI
The Superlube is available at Harbor Freight and probaly better overall, but some rats just prefer the Permatex.
Never use grease. Light machine oil will work, but won’t last long. It’s about like using alcohol in your radiator. It does the job, just not for long and there are better options.
Somewhere here I have a walk through on rebuilding Craftsman ratchets……somewhere.
Stercorarius wrote:
On February 25, 2016 at 0:54 PM, Stercorarius said:You sound like an expensive guy to know. Mmmmmmmm ratchets…
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What about moly lube that you use on cam lobes?
I’ve never used the Moly Lube personally, so I can’t critiq it, but I have heard of people using it with satisfaction.
Jimbo: The 90 tooth Axis Ratchets from Mac are hands down the nicest on the market. Check them out:
http://professional-power-tool-guide.com/2015/10/mac-axis-series-ratchets-hands-on-review/
Those look sweet
just got some superlube as well!
JimboS1ice wrote:
49 minutes ago, JimboS1ice said:Those look sweet
just got some superlube as well!
You won’t be disappointed. It’s very versitle. I’ve never had a ratchet it didn’t perform well with and I’ve torn apart at least a couple hundred ratchets.
redmed wrote:
On 2/7/2016 at 7:19 AM, redmed said:Don’t knock all Craftsman ratchets. I have some “Made in USA” Craftsman V series fine tooth ratchets 1/2, 3/8 & 1/4 that I have used for over 40 years and even though I have other ratchets (including Proto) I usually grab these Craftsman V’s. They are old friends that have excelled for years. Easy, smooth movement. Did I mention they are fine tooth? When other ratchets have failed due to not enough handle space to engage a new tooth or the bolt is too loose to allow another ratchet to catch. I get my trusty Craftsman V and nine times out of ten it takes over just fine. If the Craftsman V fails me (only twice that I can remember) I have a friction ratchet that has saved the day, but it is not as easy to use as other ratchets. You have to switch the socket from each side of the head to change direction.
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I have these same Craftsman ratchets,all over 20 years old,In fact they were the first ratchets ive ever purchased.I also have a few Gearwrench ratchets I really like After reading yalls posts I think this is amost awesome thread as I really love ratchets.. Went thru all mine this evening and gave them some lube love haha. Here’s what I use : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KUA2FI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
We have some of that SuperLube stuff at the shop,its really good stuff.
Fazzman wrote:
I have these same Craftsman ratchets,all over 20 years old,In fact they were the first ratchets ive ever purchased.I also have a few Gearwrench ratchets I really like After reading yalls posts I think this is amost awesome thread as I really love ratchets.. Went thru all mine this evening and gave them some lube love haha. Here’s what I use : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KUA2FI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
We have some of that SuperLube stuff at the shop,its really good stuff.
Yea this thread really exploded into something awesome, helped me get my protos!
Jimbo
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JimboS1ice wrote:
5 hours ago, JimboS1ice said:Those look sweet
just got some superlube as well!
Don’t forget to lube the Craftsman, you’ll probably see the most drastic change on that ratchet. It will make it a suitable spare ratchet, the sound of it was the first thing I noticed in your video.
BMack37 wrote:
43 minutes ago, BMack37 said:Don’t forget to lube the Craftsman, you’ll probably see the most drastic change on that ratchet. It will make it a suitable spare ratchet, the sound of it was the first thing I noticed in your video.
Yeah,I went through all of my ratchets today. I have a Proto 3/4″ drive. I bought a female Proto on amazon for dirt cheap,and with Conductors help got a male kit. Works awesome.
I just had sears replace my 1/4 and 3/8. I’ve used a abused them too though. And my dad had them before me. I’m just glad they still replace them no questions asked.
Millerz
BMack37 wrote:
Don’t forget to lube the Craftsman, you’ll probably see the most drastic change on that ratchet. It will make it a suitable spare ratchet, the sound of it was the first thing I noticed in your video.
I might either throw them in my trunk box or sell them… Give my an excuse to by more ratchets or something lol I have a stanly case in my car…
Jimbo
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Keep for when you have kids one day brother 🙂
Fazzman wrote:
Keep for when you have kids one day brother [emoji4]
Good point!
Jimbo
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I’ve always said everyone should have at least a dozen rats in each drive size.
I have certain ratchets I prefer for certain tasks, some I like really well in one drive size or configuration, but not so much in another. There’s no science behind it, just personal preference I suppose.
Gotta up my game in the 1/2 and 3/4″ sizes…
I really have no need for a 3/4″ even though it would be cool to get
Jimbo
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BK13 wrote:
4 hours ago, BK13 said:Gotta up my game in the 1/2 and 3/4″ sizes…
I was just thinking that recently. In fact, I bought a Kobalt Williams 1/2″ ratchet last week, should be here soon. I don’t really have much use for 3/4″ but I certainly am under equipped in 1/2″…only have a 1/2″ breaker bar, 3/8″ to 1/2″ adapter and some(but not a complete set of) 1/2″ sockets. Need to pick up a 1/2″ torque wrench too. I let a shop install my wheels after getting new tires and after having a flat I realized they really over-torqued my wheels.
BMack37 wrote:
On 2/27/2016 at 11:09 PM, BMack37 said:Don’t forget to lube the Craftsman, you’ll probably see the most drastic change on that ratchet. It will make it a suitable spare ratchet, the sound of it was the first thing I noticed in your video.
Another thing to lube. Never thought of lubing my ratchets but it does make sense.
Reminds me of something my father told me “The more you own .. The more you have to take care of”
redmed wrote:
On February 29, 2016 at 9:30 PM, redmed said:Another thing to lube. Never thought of lubing my ratchets but it does make sense.
Reminds me of something my father told me “The more you own .. The more you have to take care of”
Isn’t that the truth. I take 2 solid days each spring and fall just cleaning and lubing tools on top of regular maintainance. When you have tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment, it’s a lot of work to keep it all in good shape.
As for 3/4″ drive stuff. I don’t use it a lot. I have up to 1-1/2″ in 1/2″ drive and for years I thought that was the most I’d ever need. Then I ran into a situation where I needed a 1-7/16″ that I didn’t have, but I brushed that off as a fluke. Then I had to assemble a weight distribution hitch and needed a 1-7/8″ that of course I didn’t have. Now there was a need, or at the very least, a good enough excuse.
I watched out for the right deal and after a couple months I ended up scoring a mint Proto set from a dealer who’d used it as a salesman’s sample for like $150. I added 3 or 4 sizes up to 2″. I should be good to go now. I can’t see ever needing anything over 2″.
I go thru all my stuff fairly often maintenance wise. I do similar to Conductor where a few times a year I really go through it all well. in the end its totally worth it to have all your stuff work like its supposed too.
Conductor562 wrote:
On 3/4/2016 at 10:04 AM, Conductor562 said:or at the very least, a good enough excuse.
Words to live by…