islingtonaudi

I honestly don't think it's very well made, I tried some practice runs on some non-car fasteners and it simply won't click off at low settings like 8-10 ft.lbs. Perhaps I have to go the Sears route, advice?

95ninety

get a snap on and forget about it =)

VAP

calibrated tools are too important to scrimp on. But it's been shown time and time again that "most" non-click torque wrenches with a deflecting pointer are FAR more accurate than a similar "click-type" torque wrench in the same price range. Mecahically it's easy to understand why that is as there are no "moving" parts but rather only a deflecting pointer which even if bent can be re-bent back to zero with EXACTLY the same results as it came with when new.

I too am a Snap-On fan and do use their click-type wrenches except for my small inlb wrench wich is the Snap-On "torq-o-meter" series but I have access to a Snap-On Calibration tool and can re-calibrate my Snap-On tools at any time. However only my large wrench has ever required a re-calibration and even then it was only off by 2lbs at 80ftlbs after sliding off the decklid of my car onto concrete.

I wouldn't consider HF when shopping torque wrenches under ANY circumstance. Sears "non-click/mechanical pointer" TW's would be my preference if on a limited budget. I have personally found them dramatically more accurate years down the road than even their "professional series" click-type and/or electronic units, especially after 2-3 years use. You may not be the most gee wiz/hi-tech kid on the block but you'll enjoy damn accurate/consistent torque settings for YEARS!

Then someday when you can afford it, flag down a Snap-On truck!

Lago Blue

...your understanding, use and care of one is all worth more.

A cheap torque wrench may be just fine. However unless you had it calibrated recently, you just don't know. No different than a more expensive one.

Wrench calibration is something that is done more regularly where the application is more critical, you decide. For instance, the single fastener which holds the rotor assembly onto the mast of a helicopter is called "the Jesus nut". You can imagine why.

My torque wrenches are probably my most carefully cared for tools. You can compare against other wrenches, which I also do too, but calibration is cheap compared to the consequences of just even one broken fastener.

When you get yours tested or see it done, you will see where it is and is not, most accurate.

Fancy "click" style vernier adj. (your style?) torque wrenches are especially well known to go out of calibration due to mis-use, improper storage, or sometimes just normal use. Drop damage is typical. Therefore treat as glass.

Simple "beam" style wrenches are IMHO more rugged, reliable, and cheaper. Even though you must carefully watch the scale, you can see and feel your approach to target.

Everything else being equal, the correct wrench for the job is the one where the target torque sought, is comfortably within its' upper mid-range (as opposed to its' capacity). I say this as someone whose job it once was to test torque wrenches.

I often see "click" style vernier sdjustable wrenches being used with a great deal and show of unnecessary speed and vigor. This may result in inaccuracy and damage as the user will over-travel the mechanism. Again, MHO, the proper use of a "click" style torque wrench reminds me of firing a rifle in that I'm concentrating on properly supporting the entire weapon, and that when it finally "clicks" is always a little surprise.

There are a whole bunch of rules that should learned about the care and use of your type of wrench. I will mention only a few.

Even if torquing a single fatener, I like to get there in steps. This warms up the wrench too. For instance: 75, 90 and 100% of target.

I always dial up the vernier to target, never down.

I never use it to break a fastener free.

After I'm done I unwind it to about 20% of range (slight tension still on) and <i>put it away</i>.

In your particular case, when using that wrench at that low relative setting (correct?); consider that its' detent and "click" release mechanism has to also resist and yet fully release when it is being used closer to the upper end of the scale. In order to function near the top end, the mechanism's necessary robustness may cause the wrench's accuracy to suffer at the bottom end. This is one reason why you see a lot of overlap of ranges between different sizes (lengths) of wrenches.

DaveInSaltLake

nice explanation. I need to get my ancient beam type calibrated!

islingtonaudi

I took back the H.F. wrench, will buy a better and non-click type.

Lago Blue

...if it hasn't been mistreated, that its not so bad. Some of these old tools where the best ever made, and well worth hanging on to.

Perhaps you can get the tester to give you a chart of its' performance so you can know exactly where it is "plus" or "minus".

For instance, a small spreadsheet. Down the LH side, "Percent Range" say every 20%. Across the top, the "Number of the Pull", kind of like successive dyno runs. Hopefully at least three.

What your looking for is of course accuracy, but also as important is consistency across the chart, again just like dyno runs that people post here. With your beam type, your bound to get that consistency.

VAP

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/711/lorangetq.jpg"></center><p>
when I purchased my Snap-On "ultra precison" series torqueometer 1-75 inlb wrench they were sold as 3 disticnctly different models. The "standard" series was guaranteed accurate to within 1% full scale. The "precision" series was guaranteed accurate to .5% accurate and the "ultra-precision" series was guaranteed accurate within .05% accuracy over 100% of scale travel and came with it's own test block for measuring. It was advertised in the Snap-On catalog at the time as "pound for pound the most expensive and elegant item we make for torque measurement." I paid $1,595 for this tool in 1983/4. The "standard" series today lists for $329.95 in the Snap-On catalog. Today snap-on only makes this tool in 2 forms, ie; "standard" and "precision" and the former is guaranteed to 2% accuracy while the precision is guaranteed to 1% accuracy and neither come with a test block for confirming/calibrating accuracy. The torqueometer above is only 6" long, weighs under 9ozs and works exactly the same way a standard "beam" torque wrench does. Only difference is it moves a needle via gears instead of moving the needle across a calibrated/indexed scale. Internally it resembles a very sturdily made precision Swiss pocket watch. But ultimately it's nothing more than a VERY precise "beam-type" torque wrench. In the quarter century I have owned this tool it has never, even once seen more than 48inlbs on the dial and it is cared for and stored as if it were a museum piece. This tool is in EXACTLY the condition it was when I bought it new. Doesn't have a single mark, scratch etc that wasn't on it the day I first pulled it out of the box. Even the bezel is perfect/mint in EVERY way.

I used these for calibrating the air regulators and trigger "pull" and "let-off" functions in 2-stage match triggers for the Olympic and World Field Target custom air rifles I was building at the time. And I keep it around only for that purpose for the rifles I kept from that era. It's one of my "most-prized" tools and you would NOT believe how much groveling, fawning and doting I had to do for the wife to let me have "that" kind of money in the early 80's.

But in contrast this tool is a "bag-of-hammers" compared to the torque wrenches I've seen at Martin-Marietta and Boeing. Those bad boys start at about $40k and go well past $200k but at least they do come with their own test/calibration equipment.

Lago Blue

...there's got to be more than a few masters out there who are retiring; and perhaps selling off their tools.

With that particular brand Mance, can one easily see on the wrench itself which particular series it is? Or perhaps this can only be uncovered by knowing what its' part number signifies?

VAP

engraved/stamped on the wrench body I think it's designation was all contained on a small adhesive tag that was maybe 1/4" tall x 1" wide and adhered to the back-side of the tool just below it's internal inspection/calibration port that sits under a knurled/threaded **** with a small o-ring seal. That tag is long-since gone due to constant light machine oil wipe-downs to remove fingerprints etc after each use and before going back into it's wooden storage case with velour-covered foam cut-out relief pocket. Nor do I have any recollection whatsoever as to the info that was printed on it. No "specific" instructions ever came with the tool but only a broad-spectrum torqometer instruction sheet that covered all models and a mail-in warranty registration card. All my larger and later model Snap-On torque wrenches utilize a simple form-fitted plastic red storage case with no padding and one piece rear straps that break over time or when case is opened if very cold. On those I just use 1" thick black closed cell foam that I've traced around those wrenches and cut a relief into and they sit "on" 1" foam and "inside" 1" foam thats glued to the lower foam and are "covered by" 1" foam in a 3" height drawer of my tool box. It's the most secure I could make them.

Only way I would know for sure if I came across another "ultra-precision" model would be if it had the calibration block included as it is stamped "0-75 in. lb. x .05"

Only other "torqueometer" snap-on wrench I've ever seen was 25 or so years old and that was 20+ years ago. It was 4-5 feet long, had a 1.5" square drive and measured thousands of ft.lbs. and it was heavily trashed/abused tho the owner said it worked perfectly. Probably weighed 35-45lbs. It was in a John Deere tractor sales/service facility in Mankato MN.