The Ratcheting Socket Wrench
Personal Selection (Why I Chose It)
I chose to take a look at the ratcheting socket wrench. Right now, I’m using a one of these tools for a series of drawings in order to better understand its form, so I was in a good position to learn more about it. I also chose it because I found its design interesting.
History
While wrenches have existed for centuries, the ratcheting socket wrench is a more recent invention. In 1863, the American J.J. Richardson patented the first design for a ratcheting wrench with different-sized sockets that could be swapped out for each other. Originally, these wrenches had square-shaped sockets, as they were easier to make. However, modern methods have allowed for hexagon-shaped sockets to become more common, as the growing use of machines have made it easier to produce them. The hexagon-shaped sockets allowed for fasteners to be tightened with less required force. Now, ratcheting socket wrenches are common tools in both the household and the workplace.
Function/Purpose
Like any other wrench, the ratcheting socket wrench’s main purpose is to help connect parts by tightening a fastener such as a bolt. “Ratcheting” means that you can move the wrench back into its starting position without taking it off and putting it back on or undoing your progress, allowing you to tighten a fastener with less energy than you would need with a non-ratcheting wrench, and in the same amount of time.
User
It can be necessary to fasten bolts in both home projects and professional work. As a result, a ratcheting socket wrench needs to be usable by anyone, from a specialized worker to an everyday person doing repairs around the house. Originally, a User would keep a set of different sized wrenches to use for each size of fastener, but the creation of interchangeable sockets allowed Users to use a single wrench with multiple sockets, taking up less space in addition to its main purpose in decreasing the amount of work needed to finish a job.
Materials + Production
Ratcheting socket wrenches are usually made from types of steel, often combined with other metals so that they’re stronger and more durable, and thus more useful. This also makes it easier for them to direct force to turn fasteners without breaking or warping. The steel form of the socket wrenches are then covered in chrome plating, protecting it from corrosion.
Ratcheting socket wrenches are created by first cutting lengths of coiled steel, and then heating those lengths so they can be shaped into the right form. Then, they are cleaned, stamped, and polished before being coated in chrome plate.
Affordance
An affordance is a quality of a tool that allows it to complete a task. The mechanism within the spherical head of a ratcheted socket wrench allows for a socket to hold firm as the User turns it in one direction while it smoothly clicks into place if turned in the other, allowing a User to easily reposition the wrench without undoing their progress or having to take it off and put it back on again. At the same time, the presence of exchangeable sockets allows for the wrench to become a much more useful and versatile tool that can interact with a large amount of fasteners of different sizes.
A signifier helps alert a User to what a tool is supposed to do. A ratcheting socket wrench’s form focuses on both its long handle, intended to be gripped, and emphasizes the circular mechanism on the end, which where different sockets can be attached and highlights the tool’s main affordance.
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