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Very Rare AntiqueTool,JJ Richardson Ratchet Wrench 1862
Under U.S. Patent 38,914 in June 16,1863, this one is made the prior year with no patent
The first U.S.A. patented ratchet wrench
Made in U.S.A. in Woodstock VT
the condition is excellent, teeth are in fine condition, does not look like it had much use, mahogany? handle has no cracks, it measures13&7/8\" long, head is 1&1/4\" thick. solid wrench, weighs 2 pounds and 9 ouncesupon research I learned that JJ Richardson offered patent rights for sale in 1864, I also learned that it is designed to receive interchangeable socket heads, the main square drive is 1\" I have never seen another for sale on all of the internet....In the middle of the 19th century, Scientific American ran a patent agency to encourage the development of new inventions. The best were then published in their magazines. Although socket wrenches have been used for centuries, the modern wrench has ratcheting mechanism with it. An American inventor named JJ Richardson patented the first ratcheting socket wrench with changeable sockets in 1863. His invention was quite simple: instead of needing different wrenches to accommodate different sizes, you could have one wrench that used different sockets. When you needed a different size, you’d just change the socket.
