1950s socket drive sizes.

[cardiffrob]

Odd one. I've been using some 1955 RAF sockets on a job recently and found that the drive square for them is .275 inch instead of the more common/modern 1/4 inch drive. Any ideas? I could do with finding a couple of replacements, especially for the ratchet handle.

Thanks

 

[MetalMonkey]

Sounds like a 9/32 drive set

More info here:
https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/9-32-drive-sockets.79520/

 

[DanZac]

Knowing the MOD and RAF they were probably specially made at 50x the cost of normal off the shelf ones because some one in purchasing decided it would be better.
Or, just as likely BAE saw it as a great way to make a few £ and the RAF bought into it. "Unfortunatly Sir you can work on your nice new plane without buying our special socket sets".
Or they were specially designed at great cost to stop people nicking then.

 

[Brad93]

Or they were designed that way so no standard tools were taken into the hanger and then unaccounted for after a shift. Foreign object damage was a huge issue and still is. Tools (10mm sockets probably) are a large part of that problem.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Or they were specially designed at great cost to stop people nicking then.

This is the reason I've heard on multiple occasions from various sources. No idea if there is any truth in it, but it seems plausible given it was just after the war.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Or they were designed that way so no standard tools were taken into the hanger and then unaccounted for after a shift. Foreign object damage was a huge issue and still is. Tools (10mm sockets probably) are a large part of that problem.

In theory all tools must be tagged out to combat this, and nobody would be allowed home after a shift until they were accounted for.
That used to be the case anyway, hence the importance of a midday POETS tool check.

 

[winchman]

We have a few, I have been told lots where forsake after the war as military surplus?, often sold with no ratchet?

 

[steveo3002]

plomb made the 9/32 ratchets , can pic them up for ok money now n then

i mistakenly bought one thinking it was 1/4"

VINTAGE PLOMB PLVMB 9/32" DRIVE PLUMB RATCHET #WF-8 Made in USA | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for VINTAGE PLOMB PLVMB 9/32" DRIVE PLUMB RATCHET #WF-8 Made in USA at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Agroshield]

Plomb made the 9/32 ratchets , can pick them up for OK money...

Given that the one shown above is Made in USA, does that perhaps change some of the theories below?

Knowing the MOD and RAF they were probably specially made at 50x the cost of normal off the shelf ones because some one in purchasing decided it would be better.
Or, just as likely BAE saw it as a great way to make a few £ and the RAF bought into it....

And would it not be an astonishing coincidence that both the US and UK decided the exact same non-standard size square drive?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Or they were specially designed at great cost to stop people nicking then.

My father was a storeman in RAF during his national Service. He said that everybody along the delivery chain would help themselves to a bit of whatever was being delivered. Most noticeable was a delivery of sugar where more than half had disappeared by the time it reached the stores !

 

[graffian]

At an autojumble in the 70's someone was flogging snap-on 7/32" breaker bars and ratchets, ex-mil things he had big boxes full of them; it was something like 25p a pair. I filed the squares down to 1/4". Not that I had any idea what a 1/4" racthet was any good for at the time;-) Then I got a complete 7/32" britool socket set, I thought it was something like a service set, no metric sockets but lots of very small sockets. I mostly altered the sockets and only have a few not butchered,

 

[RWD3M]

......7/32" breaker bars and ratchets.......... I filed the squares down to 1/4"

Are you sure about that @graffian ?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Odd one. I've been using some 1955 RAF sockets on a job recently and found that the drive square for them is .275 inch instead of the more common/modern 1/4 inch drive. Any ideas? I could do with finding a couple of replacements, especially for the ratchet handle.

Thanks

Look at MOD tool sales.

They do come up.
The odd size tells me that the kit was part of a Special to type tool system. Early versions of R.A.T'S.

I had a few but sold them for silly money a few years ago.

 

[frank horton]

Try working in a Turbine hall....lol....

 

[graffian]

Are you sure about that @graffian ?

An L or a 9?

 

[Melvyn Best]

Think I still have a breaker bar , all that’s left of a kit I had in the 60s . Use it for tensioning timing belts

 

[Arc Tourist]

Odd one. I've been using some 1955 RAF sockets on a job recently and found that the drive square for them is .275 inch instead of the more common/modern 1/4 inch drive. Any ideas? I could do with finding a couple of replacements, especially for the ratchet handle.

Thanks

Hi Rob, I have a sliding T-bar which measures .279 " across the flats, its yours if you can use it, just send me a PM on where to mail it.
Edit: : On a closer look, there are faint stamping marks on the bar............ " SUPER ATHOI CHROME C4556 /I\ 1953 "

 

[cardiffrob]

These are the ones I use every day. The green one is the 9/32 set and the Britool is 1/4 drive.

 

[cardiffrob]

 

[cardiffrob]

Thanks for the kind offer, Arc Tourist. I've actually got 2 x 9/32 bars already, though. Looks like they are all original bits apart from one socket which I had to replace after it cracked right through.

I made some nice little leather and canvas bags for the sets to travel in. Stops them from opening up in my rucksack and spilling out. And, yes, I know the BA sockets are all out of their correct order!