Good deal on Britool 3/4" ratchet and T-bar

[Christopher Tidy]

Hi folks,

I just bought a new Britool 3/4" drive ratchet and T-bar on eBay for
what I thought was a very good price, so I thought I'd pass this on:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250112429250

Even with postage that's less than a third of the normal retail price,
and it looks like the seller has more left. I know a few people here
have mentioned problems with Britool plating, and I myself have had a
problem with flaky plating on their open-ended spanners, but the
plating on this set looks fine and altogether they seem to be of a
good quality. Delivery was quick too.

I have no connection with the seller apart from being a satisfied
customer.

As the ratchet can be opened by removing a couple of screws, I'm
tempted to put some grease inside before I use it. Is there any reason
why I shouldn't do this?

Best wishes,

Chris

[John]

I've had a Britool 1/2" ratchet for a few decades and opened it
recently. The only wear was on the spindle where it rotated within the
housing. I would certainly grease it. If it clogs or doesn't work,
it's easy to clean it out again. ISTR that mine had grease in it from
new.

On the subject of tools, I heard some years ago that aerospace sockets
weren't the usual 1/4" square drive but an odd size. This irtem seems
to support that:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRITOOL-SOCKET-SET-9-16_W0QQitemZ120115893122QQihZ002QQcategoryZ30917QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Can anyone confirm this? If it's true, it could easily catch someone
out at boot sales etc.

John

[mark]

Post by John
I've had a Britool 1/2" ratchet for a few decades and opened it
recently. The only wear was on the spindle where it rotated within the
housing. I would certainly grease it. If it clogs or doesn't work,
it's easy to clean it out again. ISTR that mine had grease in it from
new.
On the subject of tools, I heard some years ago that aerospace sockets
weren't the usual 1/4" square drive but an odd size. This irtem seems
to support that:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRITOOL-SOCKET-SET-9-16_W0QQitemZ120115893122QQ...
Can anyone confirm this? If it's true, it could easily catch someone
out at boot sales etc.
John

it's the early type before they standardised the drives ...they are
actually hex drive in my set ...

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all the best..mark

[Mike.H.]

"John" <***@freenetname.co.uk> wrote in message>

Clipped

Post by John
On the subject of tools, I heard some years ago that aerospace sockets
weren't the usual 1/4" square drive but an odd size. This irtem seems
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRITOOL-SOCKET-SET-9-16_W0QQitemZ120115893122QQihZ002QQcategoryZ30917QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Can anyone confirm this? If it's true, it could easily catch someone
out at boot sales etc.
John

==============================
3/8" drive, common size ,readily available and not peculiar to aerospace
industry
Mike.H.

[Tom]

Post by John
I've had a Britool 1/2" ratchet for a few decades and opened it
recently. The only wear was on the spindle where it rotated within the
housing. I would certainly grease it. If it clogs or doesn't work,
it's easy to clean it out again. ISTR that mine had grease in it from
new.
On the subject of tools, I heard some years ago that aerospace sockets
weren't the usual 1/4" square drive but an odd size. This irtem seems
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRITOOL-SOCKET-SET-9-16_W0QQitemZ120115893122QQihZ002QQcategoryZ30917QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Can anyone confirm this? If it's true, it could easily catch someone
out at boot sales etc.
John

9/32" square drive. Britool listed sets in either 1/4" or 9/32" without
any discrimination so possibly it gave assemblers the chance to purchase
tools that were not the norm outside industry and therefore cutdown on
the tranfer of same to suburbia?

Tom

[Christopher Tidy]

Well, I discovered tonight that it is actually possible to put too
much grease inside a ratchet! Obviously if there's no air space the
grease finds it difficult to flow quickly enough, and so the pawl
jams. But with a modest amount of grease inside the ratchet feels and
sounds very different. It's almost silent now, whereas before (with
some minimal lubrication, probably from an aerosol) it was pretty
loud. I wonder if this is why Britool don't pack them with grease.
Perhaps they just don't feel manly enough when greased? Nevertheless,
I'm sure the mechanism will be happier.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Richard Smith]

I forged from ordinary steel a 3/4inch bar
http://weldsmith.co.uk/tech/tech_misc/201222_spanner_bbar/201222_spanner_bbar.html
Proved useful at least for what I needed it for - lot of torque on
16mm dia. bolts, easily done.