100 Year Old vs Modern Socket Wrenches Tested

We're testing socket wrenches. 100 year old vs 50 year old vs brand new Craftsman wrenches. Is it true that they don't make em like they used to? Let's find out.

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[benthego-fastkid]

I used to work at Sears selling Craftsman tools. Part of my job was to rebuild those “50-year-old” ratchets, along with many of the following generation, so we could give a customer back a ratchet identical to the one they broke, rather than always having to give them a brand new one off the shelf. We still offered the brand new one as an option (free/under warranty), but 95% of our customers just wanted the same tool they had before to work again. For our most sentimental clientele, I would take the very ratchet they brought in and give it all new parts and fresh lube while they waited, so they could keep turning nuts and bolts with the same tool that they had trusted to use on countless jobs before.

[aaronsovey]

I think toughness and durability should have been measured by how many times it can be used as a hammer and how many times you can hammer on the handle to loosen a bolt.

[creeg]

I used to work at a mostly empty Sears where I would repair old Craftsman ratchets and breaker bars. I would routinely see ratchets with huge cheater bars welded onto them, ratchets whose owner was the grandson of the original buyer, and ratchets that had been used as shop hammers. Most of the time, I could get the ratchets back to working order with some grease and/or a repair kit. When the store finally closed down I made out like a bandit with dozens of repair kits for all kinds of years and models, along with other archeological items I found in the long-abandoned backrooms.

[jamespn]

In 1947, my dad bought his Craftsman tool set from Sears to work in a Hudson car dealership in Detroit, the tool kit included 1/2 and 3/8 ratchets, sockets, breaker bars and extensions in a metal box all for $14.95. In 1975 most of the worn out sockets were replaced free of charge by Sears. My brother still has that tool set after my dad passed away in 2020.

[chad]

The main issue is the move away from user repairability.
Newer tools, like everything else these days, are often designed to prevent users from fixing them
If that new craftsman needs to be lubricated you need to stop what you’re doing and get it serviced or replaced; which means potentially losing the tool while it’s repaired or replaced.
The older sockets could be fixed and maintained right there in the shop

[CUSTARDPDLETK]

Considering the old ones have 50-100 years of did very well.

[TrulyZer]

Getting Jeremiah and Zach together on a show was the best thing donut could've done.








Edit: didn't think this would blow up like that. Plus a like from Donut. Guess I've achieved my final form, I'm gonna stop trying now.

[phillipcuster]

When it comes to the tooth count talking about the old tools not working in tight spaces. They didn’t need to back then. 26 teeth was more than enough with the space engine bays used to have

Donut’s sound design team is so amazing. Keep it up guys!

[matthewkuru]

My dad had one of the 100 year old 1/2 ratchets. I still use it to this day. It's my no more playing around ratchet. It's outlasted some of my brand new ratchets. I even busted an almost brand new ratchet with an extremely rusted bolt. I grabbed my old craftsman and it had no issues

[isaacelone]

Only Donut can make me watch a comparison between socket wrenches and be entertained by it

[siddhantmehendale]

was hoping they'd dunk the tools in some sand and dirt to see how the non serviceable one stacks up against the other two. 10/10 episode nevertheless

[jerrywithaj]

The fact that the new one is not serviceable tells me that it is not built to last. And surely you can change the teeth on the older ones since they are serviceable. Really enjoy this series. Can't wait for more.

[edim]

For me the 50 and 100 yo ones win with one feature: You can take them apart.
Even if they break, you can fix them. You don't need to get a new one, and if you have a spare repair kit for them, you can fix them up right there in the shop and continue working.
The ideal would be to have the new one but with the ability to take it apart and fix on the spot.

[scottb]

The one problem and criteria that you did not take into account. The wear that the 50 and 100 year old tools have already endured.. If the new tool had undergone that much use, would it still have won?

[dominicrichardson]

These guys are just brilliant together I love em

[GregGolightly]

Huge props to stating something that is absolutely true but few seem to understand:

Good things can be made anywhere, bad things can be made anywhere.

[JazzKazoo]

You've also got to factor in the endurance. The new one performed the best, but the other two performed only slightly worse after decades and even a full century of use. I don't know how long the new one would last, but the 100 year old one looks like it could do another century no sweat

[jasont]

The middle set "50 year old", I got the entire set when was going out of design in the 90's right at perfect timing. Three sizes of wrenches and about every socket you can dream of, on clearance. No issues with them 30 years later except my spark plug socket the rubber insert died 2 months ago (was soo mad, but little chunk of rubber lasted lol). I've had different brand wrenches and sockets since then randomly added, but have many many of those sockets split with usage while not a single one of my Craftman sockets have died yet. My favorite tool purchase ever and was my first big purchase (heck was half off and still over hundred, back in the 90's). I'm sure they will go on to my son.

[jackarnoldy]

I know that having a high engagement ratchet is nice. But, when you're talking about 1/2 models, they do need to have high precision, as Aaron Sovey says, "toughness and durability should be measured by how many times it can be used as a hammer."