Stanley Yankee 131- B Spiral Ratchet Screwdriver Review

Picture the scene you are just about to drive your last dozen screws in for the day & what happens! The battery dies on your cordless screwdriver & you have forgotten to put your spare battery on charge.

I don't think there is not one person in the building trade, who has not been in that situation one time or another. So what are you going to do, wait for your battery to charge?

Its situations like this, where having a Stanley Yankee 131- B spiral ratchet screwdriver in your tool kit is worth its weight in gold. This tool can make light work of screw driving tasks & doesn’t need a battery!

The first thing to say is, this is more than likely going to be your longest screwdriver in your tool box measuring a whopping 690mm when fully extended this is a beast of a screwdriver.

The ratchet works by transferring a forward pressure on the handle into a turning motion of a chuck.

A slide ratchet selector gives you the choice of three settings reverse for winding out screws, forward for driving in & fixed which allows you to turn screws manually like a conventional screwdriver, these modes all work with the spiral ratchet mechanism extended or locked.

The spiral ratchet mechanism is locked by compressing the ratchet spiral in & then turning the lock collar on the shaft to the on position.

To open the ratchet, the lock collar on the shaft is turned to the off position.

Great care should be taken when turning the collar to the off, position as they are spring loaded, the spiral shaft springs out very quickly if not retained by holding the chuck & the handle at the same time.

The Spiral Ratchet Screwdriver should always be pointed away from you or anybody else locked or unlocked. As with all tools the appropriate manufactures instructions should be read before use & the necessary personal protective equipment in place.

This tool gives you a real feel in your hands for how much torque you are putting on a screw & is much faster than using a standard screwdriver. Purpose made slotted & Philips bits are available & there are now various companies producing adaptors that slot in the chuck so the new ¼ hex bits can be used.

Made To Measure Verdict 8/10