Well said. I started in the late 80s and 36 tooth ratchets were still the norm. You learned how to manipulate your ratchet in order to deal with situations. I was able to get to the next click when in a tight spot with a little wiggling and finagling. I affixed a Sears flat metal spinner disc to my 36 tooth Mac 3/8 flex head ratchet to overcome the back drag issue. If the bolt was unthreading while ratcheting I would spin the bolt in with the thumbwheel until there was enough resistance to start ratcheting. Fine tooth ratchets were available in the dark ages when a lot of us older guys got our start. The New Britain Machine Co round head Kilness patent ratchets, sold under various names, came in both 45 and 60 tooth configurations. The 60 tooth mechanisms felt like a Swiss watch and had a surprisingly low back drag by todays standards. My Dad has a 60 tooth Husky 1/2" ratchet that was never disassembled and lubed and it still feels smooth with marginal back drag after 60 years.
Well said. I started in the late 80s and 36 tooth ratchets were still the norm. You learned how to manipulate your ratchet in order to deal with situations. I was able to get to the next click when in a tight spot with a little wiggling and finagling. I affixed a Sears flat metal spinner disc to my 36 tooth Mac 3/8 flex head ratchet to overcome the back drag issue. If the bolt was unthreading while ratcheting I would spin the bolt in with the thumbwheel until there was enough resistance to start ratcheting.
Fine tooth ratchets were available in the dark ages when a lot of us older guys got our start. The New Britain Machine Co round head Kilness patent ratchets, sold under various names, came in both 45 and 60 tooth configurations. The 60 tooth mechanisms felt like a Swiss watch and had a surprisingly low back drag by todays standards. My Dad has a 60 tooth Husky 1/2" ratchet that was never disassembled and lubed and it still feels smooth with marginal back drag after 60 years.
I agree 💯 percent!!!!!!!!