Torque wrench

[Butch(OH)]

There's the caveat: "Keep them calibrated." Gonna betcha nobody working this forum has ever had a TW calibrated. At work we had a critical schedule of as often as 30 days on some instruments that what it says is accurate!

Agreed, the average person treats them like they are indistructable accurate . My Torqometers went out at least once a year and a couple times when I had a fastener snap or socket break and shock them.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

How about some discussion on the old beam type with the scale and needle pointer.

 

[Ray,IN]

I seldom need a ¼" torque wrench, but needed one for a certain job. i bought a Harbor Freight wrench and on the way home stopped at a friends shop and asked him to test it against his Snap-On. The HF wrenched matched his Snap-On. After a year of occasional use I once again asked my friend to check it against his Snap-On, it still matched

 

[Ray,IN]

How about some discussion on the old beam type with the scale and needle pointer.

Without a lot of space and good light, reading them accurately is a PITA.

 

[NDIHC]

There's the caveat: "Keep them calibrated." Gonna betcha nobody working this forum has ever had a TW calibrated. At work we had a critical schedule of as often as 30 days on some instruments that what it says is accurate!

That's why I check mine on the Snap On truck torque wrench tester.

 

[Ark68SS]

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I use hardware store brand 1/2 inch and a K-D 3/8 I picked up at a flea market. A little awkward to read at times and no ratcheting but for the amount I use them they work. Calibrating involves bending the needle to zero.

 

[Texasmark]

How about some discussion on the old beam type with the scale and needle pointer.

Ok. I posted on here in this column that I have both types and I use the beam type because I can verify where I am on torque. On the snappers, you are in never never land until you hear it snap.......I don't like that especially on light weight fasteners. Also, what is there to change calibration on a beam type???????

 

[PJH]

There's the caveat: "Keep them calibrated." Gonna betcha nobody working this forum has ever had a TW calibrated. At work we had a critical schedule of as often as 30 days on some instruments that what it says is accurate!

I did a lot of torque wrench work - checking the torque on bridge beam splices. We had a device called a Skidmore that we tested the torque wrench with. It clamped to the flange of an I-beam, and it had a dial that had to agree with the torque wrench reading. I used the dial type wrench, and it always tested good. The wrench had to be checked often, but I can't remember now how often. The wrench was 1" drive - 4' handle. The dial was out on the head, over the socket, so it was hard to read. I had to check the torque on 10% of the bolts in every splice. If I found one bolt in a splice that was not torqued properly, then I had to check every bolt in that splice. I was the youngest guy on the crew, so I was the one picked to torque check the splices. The beams would be so hot that I had to throw a pad down to sit on - it would burn you through your britches. I had to lock my legs around the beam flanges to make the pull. I remember lots of 450 ft. pound torques, and I checked one bridge that spec'ed 650 ft. pounds. The wrench that I used on that bridge had a longer handle - maybe 5'? I had a helper to set the socket for me on that one. The outside beam splices were spooky - you had to sit in a bosun's chair hung from a crane. I was not good at testing the outside beam splices - I just couldn't get enough leverage to make the pull. I had to dig my feet into the other bolts in the splice, but that doggoned chair would swing when I pulled on the wrench. I did not like that bosun's chair.

It was a lot of hard pulling - I went home tired every evening.

 

[Texasmark]

I did a lot of torque wrench work - checking the torque on bridge beam splices. We had a device called a Skidmore that we tested the torque wrench with. It clamped to the flange of an I-beam, and it had a dial that had to agree with the torque wrench reading. I used the dial type wrench, and it always tested good. The wrench had to be checked often, but I can't remember now how often. The wrench was 1" drive - 4' handle. The dial was out on the head, over the socket, so it was hard to read. I had to check the torque on 10% of the bolts in every splice. If I found one bolt in a splice that was not torqued properly, then I had to check every bolt in that splice. I was the youngest guy on the crew, so I was the one picked to torque check the splices. The beams would be so hot that I had to throw a pad down to sit on - it would burn you through your britches. I had to lock my legs around the beam flanges to make the pull. I remember lots of 450 ft. pound torques, and I checked one bridge that spec'ed 650 ft. pounds. The wrench that I used on that bridge had a longer handle - maybe 5'? I had a helper to set the socket for me on that one. The outside beam splices were spooky - you had to sit in a bosun's chair hung from a crane. I was not good at testing the outside beam splices - I just couldn't get enough leverage to make the pull. I had to dig my feet into the other bolts in the splice, but that doggoned chair would swing when I pulled on the wrench. I did not like that bosun's chair.

It was a lot of hard pulling - I went home tired every evening.

Wow! What a story. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ray,IN]

Ok. I posted on here in this column that I have both types and I use the beam type because I can verify where I am on torque. On the snappers, you are in never never land until you hear it snap.......I don't like that especially on light weight fasteners. Also, what is there to change calibration on a beam type???????

If not viewing the needle and scale at exactly 90° you can't be sure of the reading. I too have both and much prefer the snap-release type since my eyes are not as good as they once were..

 

[Texasmark]

If not viewing the needle and scale at exactly 90° you can't be sure of the reading. I too have both and much prefer the snap-release type since my eyes are not as good as they once were..

Well sir as I keep inserting the old TV series "Different Strokes for Different Folks"....to each his own. What do you think would happen if everybody had a bowel movement simultaneously..........I'm sorry.....sarcastic comment.....no I'm not....it is just what I felt like saying and today I (I did the work, had the how to fix it idea, had the junk parts, and....."got-R-done as some of you would say) got my old conical fertilizer fixed, loaded It on my old Ford 3000, and now I'm ready to fertilize my summer hay crop next month.....that's a biggie for me!!!!.....if we didn't have "biggies" for our efforts now and then.....what would happen with our quest to get our old junk running to do what needs to be done. Wish you all well...take care and hope you aren't devastated with the normal Spring Weather surprises with which we have to deal!