The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Anybody tried this impact ratchet?

Anybody tried this impact ratchet?
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http://www.mytoolstore.com/ke/kw1175.html

I had wondered why no one had made one of these, and just found this one by accident. It appears to work more like an impact wrench than a conventional ratchet. It has a higher max torque rating than most ratchets and, as they say in the description, it should have less of a tendancy to slam your fingers into surrounding hard, metal parts. My regular ratchet would have less of a tendancy to do that if it didn't have such a "hair trigger". Has anyone replaced the spring on the actuating lever with a heavier one?

Brady

Have not tried it, and for the price tag on it I will never be trying it either. I don't see the need (for me) for a 3/8 drive impact air ratchet. I'll stick with my 3/8 air ratchet for under $50.00 and a can of Blaster or Gibbs to get a bolt started if its frozen up.I have an 18 inch 3/8 breaker bar for those nasty bolts. If I was back in the body shop working I might think about it for the sake of saving time, but around the house/shop I don't think so.

Oh, By the way, Welcome Brady.

WVBrady,

Welcome to the Stovebolt. It's interesting you should mention the trigger/spring setup on the 3/8" drive air ratchet. I just repaired one the other day. In my case, it wasn't the spring tension that gave it the 'all or nothing' actuation, it was the design of the valve that throttles the air to make the tool function.

I used the same spring, but replaced the shaped plastic valve with a hardened steel ball. It seals perfectly and is much more controllable...no more hair trigger.

Stuart

Thanks for the replies and the welcome.

"I have an 18 inch 3/8 breaker bar for those nasty bolts."

I would be more interested in one because of the reduced reaction torque than for the increased max torque. I can usually break a bolt loose by depressing the lever and just using the wrench as a normal wrench. Then when it comes loose, the ratchet spins it off. What I don't like is when it cracks my knuckles into something hard, when I do not have it well braced (or when the hair trigger catches me by surprise).

"replaced the shaped plastic valve with a hardened steel ball"

That sounds like the same one I have. I think it is a Sunex (it's up at my Mom's right now) that I bought from M-Wards about 25 years ago. I also put a steel ball in mine, but I had no idea what the plastic piece looked like. It had degenerated into a formless blob, and the ratchet wouldn't turn off. I didn't notice any improvement in control, but I didn't have a collection to different size ball bearings to experiment with. I bought a box of 100 (anyone need 99 ball bearings? Better make that 98; I might need to replace it some day) .

That's not really anything new to the market. I've got an Ingersoll Rand air ratchet that I got about 13 years ago that's works the exact same way, and cost much less, too. Snap-On has one out, too. Don't know the cost, though.
Personal opinion, if you need more than 50-75 ft/lbs to break it loose, you might as well break out the conventional impact gun.

Pricey little devil.

Now don't cha cringe at this, it's definatly not for the pro but as a conversation piece, thats gonna lay in the tool box out in the garage it's certainly worth the thirty bucks. I do have one, hardly ever use it but when I do it works just fine, so far that is.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47214
Denny G

That looks like a fine piece of equip.I purchased one about 8 years ago for around $45.Like some of the others around here I dont use it that often,but when I do it has worked so far.If your gonna use it a lot its probably worth the $200.

that looks like a pretty cool air ratchet, I'll be asking snap-on and matco if they make one like it. I'm more likely to buy one through them just because of the warranty and convenience. 200 bucks doesn't seem to pricey, considering I recently spent over $100.00 on a 1/4 inch fine tooth locking flex ratchet (not air powered) from matco.