You may not see news like this on Reuters or CNN, but we love reading about the latest tool releases — like these new ratchets from Stanley Proto. In 1/4″, 3/8″, and 1/2″ sizes, these ratchets are narrower than Proto’s previous offerings so you can cram ‘em into tighter spaces. They’re also quick release; just push the button on the back to free the socket.
Stanley Proto makes hardcore, uber-practical gear for the pro user. No exception, this utility cart combines a toolbox and a workstation in a small footprint.
When most shop guys talk about Stanley tools, they’re talking about the kind you find at the local big box — some folks have never heard of the Stanley Proto industrial line of tools. Seeing them in a picture doesn’t do them justice, either. You need to see ‘em up close to fully appreciate their grandeur.
When you grasp rectangular objects with pliers you don’t alway get a good grip since the jaws aren’t parallel. Needle nose pliers compound the problem further with their narrow jaws. The parallel movement of Stanley’s MaxGrip 7″ needle nose pliers increases the otherwise wimpy holding force and the jaw capacity to boot.
It’s so very temping to beat normal wrenches with a hammer when a nut or bolt sticks, but doing so is potentially dangerous and can damage the wrench. A striking wrench is designed to take this kind of abuse. Stanley Proto offers a few different options for striking wrenches, including this twelve point offset striking wrench.
Last month Stanley Proto introduced a new line of electricians’ tools — over 350 different products insulated against up to 1,000 volts. The line is broken down into two “series:” the VE series which Proto says “are designed for Craftsmen who install and maintain standard electrical equipment and wiring, such as that found in buildings” and the VSE series, which “are for use around the highest live voltages, such as those found in electrical power plants.”
If you’re in pretty good shape, you can generate around 150 ft-lbs of torque with a reasonably-short wrench. But what if you need more? Stanley-Proto’s torque multipliers employ a three-stage planetary gear system to turn your measly 150 ft-lbs into a whopping 8,000 ft-lbs. Holy crap, that’s a lot of grunt.
Stanley Proto announced yesterday an update to their “master tool sets for the trades.” By the way: did you know that Proto made master tool sets for electricians, plumbers, and contractors? They do, and now they come with some of Stanley’s recently-upgraded hand tools, like the FatMax AntiVibe hammer, tripod flashlights, and their new wood chisels.
I suppose press releases like this tend to find their way to the bottom of the pile at CNN, but here at Toolmonger, it’s news: In 2007, Stanley Proto will turn 100. They’ve released a commerative logo (above), and they’re planning some themed product launches throughout the year.
If you’re in the aircraft or large machinery business, you’ve most certainly heard of Proto, but if you’re a DIYer, you might have missed them. If so, zip over and check out their website — they make industrial tools, including some very large wrenches as well as very high quality lifetime-warrantied mechanics’ sets and hand tools.
Stanley Proto [Corporate Site]
MattW says: “What makes this so cool is that rotating the handle spins the socket — but it doesn’t matter which way you spin the handle, the socket only spins in the direction the ratchet is set. So, you just spin the handle back and forth and the socket rotates with each movement. This is the most awesome socket for when you have limited wrench movement, need to run a fastener up, and there isn’t sufficient torque to allow the ratchet to back up.”
Stanley Proto’s generated a few interesting new products in this last month or so, and this one particularly caught our eye. Lots of companies are making ratcheting wrenches, but leave it to Proto — famous for their specialized aircraft and industrial tools — to make some of the biggest ones ones around: These single-ended wrenches come in eight sizes ranging from 1-9/16″ to 2-1/8″ and are 15-1/2″ to 19″ long.
Kinda makes my little ratcheting combos look puny.
Stanley Proto released a cool new tool today designed to let you use the now-ubiquitous ratcheting wrenches as extreme-low-profile-head ratchets utilizing standard sockets. They’re specially-cut adapters that lock into the wrenches, adapting them to square-drive.
What makes these adapters such a great idea is that they leverage tools that most professionals — or serious hobbyists — will already find in their toolbox.
If you haven’t run across a spline fastener yet, you haven’t taken an old BMW “airhead” apart. There are a number of them, especially in and around the transmission. Sometimes you can get a socket on them, but a ratcheting wrench works in almost all circumstances.
Enter Stanley Proto’s new ratcheting wrenches complete with spline box ends. And these aren’t just good for spline fasteners: They also do everything that a standard box wrench’ll do and they’re better than standard boxes at turning rounded-off fasteners.
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