I have a pretty good mix of Snap-On, Craftsman and a few old S-Ks, but this little Craftsman tends to be the one that I grab 90% of the time, although I admit that I use breaker bars or impacts to break stuff loose. I just love the way that this thing feels.
In reply to ebelements :
Hoping you get a great one and like it as much as I like mine!
Woody said:I have a pretty good mix of Snap-On, Craftsman and a few old S-Ks, but this little Craftsman tends to be the one that I grab 90% of the time, although I admit that I use breaker bars or impacts to break stuff loose. I just love the way that this thing feels.
Oh, great. Something else to put in my wishlist. Thanks Woody.
CAinCA said:
Can you (or someone) enlighten me on the flex extension above? My dad has one of those that was his dad's, and the couple of times I've tried using it, it is completely useless. It just starts coiling itself up. My dad says he's never had it work either.
In reply to NorseDave :
Pretty much all they are good for is installing spark plugs, and then only for the initial threading and running them in not for the final torquing.
I'm pretty sure that this was the first year that this set was offered. I don't think that they made those extensions for very long. It's the only one I've ever seen. The issues you've pointed out are probably the reason why.
Aside from my usual frontline SnapOn ratchets, I have a few pet tools. These are pampered and I mainly just enjoy owning them and don't use them for work anymore.
Everything was found second hand at car swap meets and the like.
I also got this little set for ten bucks at a swap meet awhile back.
So I restored them. They sit on my desk and I enjoy them like some form of lowbrow art.
And this unrestored set sits on my desk too. The ratchet is probably my smoothest ratchet. S-K Wayne.
I tend to take everything too far. Like buying old tool catalogs to research part numbers then stalking eBay for missing sockets to complete a set so it can sit on my desk and be admired. My collection of vintage tool catalogs is quite dear to me.
02Pilot said:Out of curiosity, has anyone tried the new HF Icon ratchets? They certainly look like they're trying to compete with the top-tier stuff, but my local store doesn't carry them.
I got one of he swivel head types (so maybe not directly comparable to the SnapOn Flex head). They don't make the flex head in 3/8, but the swivel is kind of nice because you don't have to swap directions on it, you just flip it. Nice construction... oh... and it's about a QUARTER the price of the SnapOn. The YouTube reviews in general seem pretty good.
bobzilla said:I bought the 18" flex head Kobalt from lowes a few years back. I love that ratchet.
They currently have the 1/4" & 3/8" flex head Kobalt ratchets on sale for 16% off at Lowes. An extra 10% off for active duty military & vets. $22 & $24 without military discount. Plus tax, tags, doc fees, market adjustment, and some other random fees... ;)
Looks like I'm in the minority, but I'm a big fan of the HF Pro Flex Head ratchets. I don't turn turn wrenches as a full time job, but I've use all of the big name units.
Are the HFs ratchets as nice as the tool truck brands? No.
Do I have any issues with getting a hammer out and beating on HF ratchets to break up the Missouri rust? No, but there only ~$20 and feel good in the hand.
At a 1/5 of the price they fill the spot for consumer users. I'd rather buy parts than $100+ dollar ratchets.
Just so you guys know, this thread got me looking at tools which led me to Tekton (because they're out of Grand Rapids near where I grew up) which led me to thinking I needed tools for work which led me to thinking that I really need a 3.5mm allen wrench because the one at work keeps walking away and it's needed for weird German pumps. THAT led me to 3.5mm hex tools of which a ton were orthopedic tools because that's a really common size apparently and that led me to learning about different types of bone screws.
So what do we think of the 90 tooth Tekton ratchets?
As luck would have it, I am looking to get a 3/8 ratchet and this pops up.
You guys really seem to like the bent handle ones and the Dual 80 setup.
In all my years my go to 3/8 oomph ratchet was the swivel head long bar style so I would like that in my collection again. The bent handle is new to me but i can see why it would be an advantage.
Thank you for all the input guys.
Went over to GarageJournal and seems as though they like the TEKTON 3/8 Dual 80 version of the Snap On tool. Only $28 on Amazon.. Hmmm
I own no Tekton but it might be worth noting for midwesterners that Meijer Stores carry a complete line of Tekton.
Meijer also a Grand Rapids based company
I have never touched a Tekton ratchet but I know from experience they have the best warranty system out there. Simply send them a photo of the broken tool via the form on their website and a new one shows up in the mail within a day or two. That is faster than my snap-on guy can address issues.
Now the fact that I have had to use their warranty 4 times is another thing. Make of that what you will.
mazdeuce - Seth said:...and that led me to learning about different types of bone screws.
I used to design for an ad agency that primarily did work for the medical field, including Stryker. If you want to talk about an extreme case of conflicting feelings, e.g. being wildly interested while feeling like you might never eat again, that's the textbook definition. Also, it's kind of wild how close the hardware used to reconstruct your ankle looks to something sold at Lowe's, but costs 100000x as much.
As far as that Tekton flex head ratchet is concerned, can anyone explain to me the benefit of that wacky bent handle? Seems counterproductive to me.
The 3/8 head in a quarter inch flex body is awesome.
This is something that a lot of manufacturer's dont offer, but is still possible by buying two tools and swapping the guts. For example you can't always get a tiny ratchet with a 3/8" drive, but you can often buy a brand's 3/8 drive thumbwheel ratchet and swap those guts directly into their 1/4" ratchet handle.
Although, my absolute smallest ratchets are when i put a square drive adapter in the end of one of my ratcheting wrenches. Like this very small 3/8" ratchet:
Or this case with a hex bit adapter in a 10mm wrench: Example
The Tekton ratchets are absolutely awesome. I bought a 90 tooth last year to replace yet another craftsman that died way too early. Love using this wrench. I do like that some of their products are made in the USA.
I also bought Gearwrench ratcheting wrenches. They are also quite good.
My Craftsman USA 44995 is on it's last legs. Starting to skip, etc. This one replaced an even better round head micro turn or whatever it's called 3/8" that I bought in the mid 70's, their best at the time. That one died about 15 years ago and I took it to Sears which tried to swap it out with the cheapest POS 3/8" they had. After some fit throwing, they gave me the 44995, which was their best at the time. Looks like if I tried to warranty it (does that even work with Craftsman anymore?) I'd get some Chinese wrench, maybe. So using the chart posted here, I just bought a 43438 wrench repair kit for $12 on ebay. It was either that or get a new top of the line HF ratchet at triple that price.
What should I pack the head with? Synthetic wheel bearing grease? Neverseize? I have the white food grade kind and the copper kind.
Wait, we're supposed to do maintenance on ratchets? Any info on how to do this?
I use wheel bearing grease in all of mine. Seems to work OK.
In reply to mtn :
Toss it in a tub of ATF every now and then.
I've never bothered to dismantle any ratchet that wasn't a truck brand, just soak in ATF.
You guys are a terrible (great) influence. Aside from the vintage Indestro, I just picked up a couple of Tektons—a highly rated low profile 1/2" and one of the wacky bendy 3/8" because if I have it, the rules of wrenching dictate I'll probably never need it.
For the record, I've only really ever used the Craftsman ratches my Dad bought me when I was in my early teens. Never really thought about having more than one of each but with how often I misplace them, having some extras isn't the worst idea.
mtn said:Wait, we're supposed to do maintenance on ratchets? Any info on how to do this?
I'm trying to figure that out too. The most I've ever done is drop them in a buck of LPS 2 by accident. My ratchets are just a set of Channellock branded ones my Dad bought me when I was 16 so I'd stop using his SK set. I used them in a professional environment for a decade.
I will admit I'm tempted to go find one of those Snap-on flex heads now or finally pull the trigger on the GearWrench one sitting on my Amazon wishlist for the last 3 years.
In reply to mtn :
I have opened all of mine up, cleaned out all of the old grease/lube and added new stuff. That has made my 30 year old Craftsman ones much better.
One of those intangible benefits of greasing your ratchets is that they sometimes... sound better? The old craftsman raised panels i still have sound and feel a heck of a lot fancier after adding some grease!
I have a drawer full of grease packets that have come with various parts over the years. For whatever reason i ended up using grease that came with poly suspension bushings in most of my ratchets. I guess it was because I wasn't sure what else to use it on, so i started putting it in ratchets and everything's been great. 
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