Laser's new spin on ratchets

When you’re working in a tight space, it’s often difficult to swing the handle of a conventional wrench to loosen a nut. But help is at hand with the new Laser thumbwheel ratchet.

The well placed wheel lets you operate the tool with your fingertips without moving the main shaft. Just remember that you need to free off any partic­ularly tight fixings first, as the wheel will slip on the belt under extreme use.

We found that the tool operated well, though, and it proved handy when working deep in our test gearbox. The 72-tooth action was smooth, and especially useful when there was little room to swing the handle. The ratchet itself is tough enough to deal with most jobs, and showed no signs of slipping in our hands. Made of satin-finish chrome vanadium, it looks and feels good and is certainly no lightweight.

However, the handle doesn’t feature rubber grips, and couldn’t prevent our ratchet becoming slippery when wet or oily. While the metal proved durable, the black plastic cover over the belt linkage marked easily and was not a tight fit. This allowed oil and dirt in, spoiling the belt system’s smooth action.

All in all, though, it’s a quality product, available in quarter, 3/8th and half-inch drives.