I’m a fan of ratcheting wrenches, and especially different designs that solve problems. For instance, I am quite fond of my Facom 440 combination wrenches, and also my Facom angled socket wrenches. Facom’s 40R fast action combination wrenches are interesting, but I could take them or leave them.
And so you could imagine, I was quite intrigued when I came across Stahlwille’s FastRatch 240 ratcheting-action wrenches, which look more like a kitchen gadget than serious tool.
Stahlwille FastRatch 240 wrenches are designed for use on hex nuts and union nuts. They look a lot simpler and more compact than ratcheting line wrenches that I’ve used before.
These wrenches have a spring mechanism in the pivot, which is what provides the ratcheting action. Torque is applied when the wrench is rotated in the direction indicated near the jaws. Rotate a Stahlwille FastRatch wrench in the opposite direction, and the jaws will spread a little until the wrench settles in a new position.
Since the jaws open and close around fasteners, it makes sense that each wrench actually pulls double duty and covers both inch and metric sizes.
Stahlwille makes these from stainless steel, which makes them corrosion resistant and also suitable for use in industries where contamination is a huge concern.
The wrenches have grooves on the outside handles, for a more secure grip, and “thumb release” cutouts for spreading the jaws.
Price: ~$44to $100, each, depending on size
Buy Now(via Amazon)
More Info(PDF via Stahlwille)
Wow are these expensive.
