CollectingSnapOn.com

Hi,
I have a 1931 Snap/on No7 ratchet with captive plug. The casting is marked: "No7 Snap/on", "Patent Applied For", "Milwaukee USA", "On" & "Off", and is date stamped 1931. The ratchet is fitted with a 3/8 Whitworth, single broached, hexagonal socket which resembles a standard, short series socket, circa 1928. The ratchet and Whitworth socket were presumably exported to England during the early 1930's. The socket, while suffering some corrosion, is marked: "WS102". As I haven't found any reference to a 3/8 Whitworth, circa 1928, WS series socket, I would appreciate any information, together with an approximation of the combined value (I guess the ratchet itself is worth about $30).
Many thanks, Neil.

Is it possible to post some pictures of the socket. The first whitworth to show up in the catalogs was 1938.

I will hopefully post some pictures tomorrow (I need to borrow a macro lens to capture the "Snap/on WS102" marking, since there is some corrosion damage). Meanwhile, the socket resembles the "Pre 1929 sockets" as shown in the photo on your 'Collecting Snap/on', '1/2 Early Sockets' page, and the Snap/on logo resembles that shown in the 4th photo (1928) on the same page.

Does it look like this. Has it got "Made in USA" stamped on it?

No, it doesn't resemble the one in your photo. As I mentioned previously: the socket resembles the "Pre 1929 sockets" as shown in the photo on this 'Collecting Snap/on' website, '1/2 Early Sockets' page, and the Snap/on logo resembles that shown in the 3rd photo (1927) and/or 4th photo (1928) on the same page.
The socket is marked (above the knurled band): Snap/on
Ws-102 (upper case W, lower case s)
Hopefully, I''ll post you some photo's tomorrow.

I've attached some pictures of the 3/8 Whitworth socket (the outside of the body measures: 1.0"diameter x 1.5" long). It does appear to resemble those in the photo (from this website) of the pre 1929 sockets.
While there is some corrosion, the socket is marked Snap/on with a straight (not radiused) horizontal tail on the letter 'a'. The letter 'a' is therefore similar to that shown in the 3rd photo, entitled 'early socket labelling', from the 1/2 Early Sockets page on this website, which may suggest that this Whitworh socket dates from 1927?
The socket is also marked: Ws-102. However, on closer examination, while the last number may be a 2, it could also be a 6? This could make sense if the 6 represents 6/16 Whitworth (that is, 3/8Whitworth)?

You pic is not showing. A WS102 would be 3/8 whitworth.

Sorry the pictures were too big for this website. Hopefully they should upload ok this time.

Its the only one I have ever seen. Would date 1928-31. Its hard to put a value on it, as I have not seen one sell before, but if you would like to sell it, let me know. very nice.

I'll let you know once I decide. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge.