Embarrassing tool question

[Monty]

Dug my old toolbox out of storage to see what was still in it after many shared projects and a couple moves over the years and was pleased to see that all the essentials were still there, as well as this no-name 1/2" drive socket wrench. 

Couldn't help but notice that there was a socket still on it, but there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to take it off.  Most wrenches like this have a release button on the back, but this just has the selector lever, which doesn't push in.

Apparently I couldn't figure out how to remove it last time I used it either.

Note to self: buy a better quality wrench.  

[Tim W. SoCal]

I have a old 3/8" drive ratchet with no release button for the detent ball. The detent spring is so stiff that even after more than 50 years, you have to pry the socket off of the square drive with a flat blade screwdriver.

[peteski]

Yes, I agree with Tim.

[Ace-Garageguy]

29 minutes ago, Tim W. SoCal said:

I have a old 3/8" drive ratchet with no release button for the detent ball. The detent spring is so stiff that even after more than 50 years, you have to pry the socket off of the square drive with a flat blade screwdriver.

Exactly. 

It's not at all unusual to see older ratchets, even high-end pieces like SnapOn, that have no release button on top.

You just pull the socket off...or as Tim says, pry it off with a flat-blade screwdriver if it's particularly tight.

And I have a few larger drives where one has to be careful to only use sockets with holes drilled in the retainer pin location, as the square-shouldered detent pin can not be depressed any other way than by using a small round rod.

[iamsuperdan]

Yup, I have a 1/2" socket wrench that is so tight, I have to use a pair of pliers to yank the sockets off. But it's also the smoothest action socket wrench I have. I just feels better than my others.

[sidcharles]

prior, maybe set it on its back and put a dropertwo of oil inside the socket and around the square drive. sounds like your ball bearing/ spring has frozed up.

[slusher]

I’m glad my tools are the old sears craftman tools of years back and my table top box. I have a few no name tool in my van tool box and they are quite good..

[Ace-Garageguy]

13 hours ago, slusher said:

I’m glad my tools are the old sears craftman tools of years back and my table top box. I have a few no name tool in my van tool box and they are quite good..

Old Craftsman tools are excellent.

When I first got in the business I became a tool snob, and anything I bought new was either Snap On or Mac.

Everything was stolen in 1977, and I replaced it all with lower line tools...all of which do the job just fine.

Tools, contrary to some opinions, do not define the mechanic...HOWEVER...really bottom-of-the-barrel cheap "offshore" tools are only worth their value as scrap.

EDIT: Special features that made high-line tools worth the money...like Snap On's "flank drive" (which kept corners of fasteners from getting rounded off), can be found on many reasonably priced tools today, as the patents have all run out.

Edited July 10 by Ace-Garageguy

[mk11]

31 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

When I first got in the business I became a tool snob, and anything I bought new was either Snap On or Mac.

[Ace-Garageguy]

^^^ That's pretty funny.

I was in fact still paying off my big beautiful Snap On toolboxes when I got hit, and kept going for quite some time.

Though I have a couple of nice rollaround boxes now, I bought them used for cash...and some of my boxes are pretty much rusty junk.  

[stavanzer]

I have this MAC Gatornationals Toolbox as a souvenir from wrenching professionally from 1988-1996. Still full of tools too. Mostly Snap-On, Matco, & Craftsman oddly enough.

Edited July 10 by stavanzer
added context

[johnyrotten]

4 hours ago, stavanzer said:

I have this MAC Gatornationals Toolbox as a souvenir from wrenching professionally from 1988-1996

Great toolbox, you've kept that in nice shape. Considering the cost, and the fact it's an investment in your career, I hate to see them beat to trash. 

Edited July 10 by johnyrotten
Spelling

[stavanzer]

Oh, mine has hidden in my garage since 2000. 25 years later it still looks new.

[Tim W. SoCal]

19 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

When I first got in the business I became a tool snob, and anything I bought new was either Snap On or Mac.

 I used to desert race motorcycles here in Southern California. After a race one particular Sunday evening, as a group of my racing buddies and I exited the restaurant we frequented after races, we encountered three young dudes rifling through the beds of our pickup trucks and open trailers in the restaurant's parking lot. Being the tool snob I was, I had a carry box full of my Snap-On work tools that I took from the shop to the races on the weekends. I realized that I had about $5,000.00 worth of tools in the bed of my truck that I needed for work Monday morning. Father's Day was soon approaching when Sears had their Craftsman tool kits on sale at really good prices. I picked up one of their 300 plus piece tool kits for, IIRC, less than $175.00, picked out the SAE stuff that I didn't need for my Kawasaki and Honda race bikes and left my work tools at work. At my present job, my employer supplies a rudimentary, very basic (and cheap, low quality) tool set. To make my job easier and my work time more efficient, I have added quite a few Harbor Freight tools to my work kit. BTW, many moons ago, my, then, Snap-On dealer thanked me for spending enough with him to help him buy his restored '67 Plymouth GTX.

[johnyrotten]

I've never been much of a "tool snob", anything that's going to see everyday use is bought quality. I've broken too many junk ratchets, and knuckles, to deal with that. I'm fortunate to have a TON of my fathers tools, mostly snap-on and sk-wayne, proto. Some are probably 60-odd years old now and still going. The only casualty is his flex head snap-on long 3/8 ratchet. That thing was skipping in the 90's and needs a rebuild. And I won't leave it with the tool truck, sentimental value and all that.

[NOBLNG]

On 7/9/2025 at 10:58 PM, mk11 said:

Now that would make a cool model!😎

[johnyrotten]

9 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Now that would make a cool model!😎

I agree,It would be a cool model,but the branding would make it a 200 dollar kit.😭

Edited July 11 by johnyrotten

[Ace-Garageguy]

56 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

I agree,It would be a cool model,but the branding would make it a 200 dollar kit.😭

More like $2000...

Just the decals would be $200.

Edited July 11 by Ace-Garageguy

[LDO]

When I read the thread title, I thought it said “Embossing”. No, wait. That can’t be right. “Embarrassing”. There we go… but what kind of tool is made for embarrassing someone?? Sometimes my mind is just off somewhere else. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

56 minutes ago, LDO said:

When I read the thread title, I thought it said “Embossing”. No, wait. That can’t be right. “Embarrassing”. There we go… but what kind of tool is made for embarrassing someone?? Sometimes my mind is just off somewhere else. 

I could answer that, but I'd be banned for life.

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, LDO said:

When I read the thread title, I thought it said “Embossing”. No, wait. That can’t be right. “Embarrassing”. There we go… but what kind of tool is made for embarrassing someone?? Sometimes my mind is just off somewhere else. 

by themselves or by someone else? its 2 different answers but one answer is a mirror and the other would make the auto censor spit out its dummy