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Broke my 15 year old Snap-On ratchet last Thursday, got a surprise lesson in return
I was working on a PT6 engine mount bolt at the hangar in Wichita when my old 3/8 drive ratchet finally gave up. The pawl just snapped clean, no warning. My lead mechanic saw me cussing and handed me a backup unit, then showed me his trick of keeping a thin film of 3-in-1 oil on the gear teeth. I had never lubricated that ratchet in 15 years, just used it dry. Anyone else have a tool that lasted forever until you pushed it one too many times?
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max4725d ago
Nah, I see it the other way. Dry tools can last just fine if the metal's good and you're not grinding it. That 15 year run says more about the quality of the steel than the lack of lube. I've got old Craftsman sockets that have never seen a drop of oil and they still click like new. Lubricant can hide wear too, lets grit stick around and grind things down from the inside. That pawl snapping was probably a microscopic crack that started years ago, not a dry gear problem.
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