Tool porn

i love your hammer

Have you ever got the torque calibration wrenches checked?

Nobar used to be good, no idea about the current stuff as I've not bought these stuff. Norbar used to make Halfords branded torque wrenches but no idea if they still do, as Halfords sold off all the older design ones.

Often wondered if Halfords would replace a torque wrench out of calibration under lifetime warranty.

EDIT the Halfords 1/4 inch bike torque wrench is a far east model that is available from many sources that are identical.

No, I haven't.
The small torque wrench has a calibration cert.
The Norbar does not.
I figured that I'm assembling bikes as opposed to assembling Rolls Royce Olympus engines - and my use of the wrenches is not on a commercial scale.

Just wondered.

Had access to a table torque wrench checker and found that a britool torque wrench( I had ) was a third under reading. The cost to rebuild was more than a new torque wrench from Halfords professional range.
Wondered if you had tested yours as I feel that you have stored correctly and wondered how this helped keep the wrench in spec.

Wondering if the torque wrench had wandered?

Just incase people don't know, always unwind/decompress your torque wrench after use.

Check the instructions, as some need to be returned to the zero setting, while some need to be completely unwound.

This help keep the torque wrench calibration.

All of my Norbar wrenches came with a calibration cert.

TBH mine may've done, I don't remember. But it was bought 45 years and that particular piece of paper could be anywhere by now.

@fishfabs.

I do like that Swiss Tools torque driver.

It's not a name that I was aware of.

Looked at their web site. Some very nice precision tools on there.

Ha, thanks. It's been nice to use

Yeah, I think it's the nicest tools I've bought.
I've bought some of the PB Swiss Hex keys recently - T-handle and rainbow type, which are nice - but I'm not sure if they deserve the hype they get from some people. I don't think powdercoating is a great finish for hex keys.
Have a browse here. Lock your credit card away first:
https://www.hoffmann-group.com/GB/en/houk/v2/search?search=PB+SWISS+TOOLS&manufacturer=PB+SWISS+TOOLS

I checked three torque wrenches at work recently. The VAR analog one was over 10% out, the 2 Topeak digital ones were spot on. This was using the ‘clamp the head in a vise and add mass’ method. I have no idea how old or well used they are.

I think these look nice and Christmas is coming…

1 Attachment

They obviously know I can’t afford to shop with them.

1 Attachment

Ha. Try going via google to their uk store....
They have some nice bits and bobs.

Bought this swiss bender by Gressel from them recently. It's meant for flat bar but I'm going to make some tooling that's kinder to round bar. It works differently to anything else I could find.

2 Attachments

All this talk of torque wrench calibration reminds me of my attitude to their utility in a low-torque application like bikes - they're worse than useless to anyone with mechanical proficiency, unless you're just curious what they say and are going to use your own judgement anyway.

Aside from the user needing to rely on them being in calibration, a tool can't account for the degree of friction on the fastener. And using them precludes paying close attention to the feedback through a plain wrench and refining your own sense of appropriate force.

For a noob, the old joke about doing it up until it's stripped and then backing it off half a turn isn't just a laugh, it's actually good advice, in a way - it's worth deliberately doing that to some junk in order to get a feel for the scale of force applicable to fasteners of a given size.

When it comes to highly weight-optimised ally and carbon parts in particular, the acceptable window of torque can get pretty damn narrow, admittedly - but torque wrenches can be real trouble here, especially for inexperienced users, who I've seen complain a number of times that they broke something despite using a torque wrench.

The trick is to do the opposite of the joke; sneak up on it by shooting for the lower edge of the window and testing to see if it's tight enough. Obviously this can't apply to a splined interface, but they're usually more than beefy enough; with something like a seatpost or a bar clamp, it's much less carnage if it does slip - not ideal, but better than it happening during a ride, and probably worth it to refine your own sense of 'tight enough but not whoops I broke it'.

And of course, always use carbon paste on carbon parts; it dramatically reduces necessary clamping force. It's often handy on other stuff too, especially on glossy anodising - remember, that stuff is sapphire!

Well, you're entitled to your opinion.

A lot of that isn't opinion though.

The opinions expressed seem pretty reasonable given the facts I laid out; curious why anyone would disagree.

I'm not pretending that feel is any better than +/- 5% at best, mind

Just the other day I was watching a guy from afar at work. He was struggling with his stem and when he eventually came and asked for help I discovered he'd put a bolt in the steerer clamp from the wrong side and had kept horsing it up, eventually stripping the threads, because the stem wasn't getting tight.

He'd done this with an approx foot long torque wrench with a 5mm bit in it. I'm sure the leverage afforded to him by the torque wrench had contributed to his clusterfuck.

Some folks boggle the mind.

You wonder how some of these jokers can even move around without bumping into things.

I would point out that you are mean to clean and lubricate as you re/assemble so that dirt doesn’t add friction.

I generally do things up to what feels like “just under”, then give them the final turn with the torque wrench. I find that having this routine gives me a sense of calm satisfaction when the wrench clicks the last bolt in.

That method has been explained to me, but having access to digital calibration stuff that are 1 per cent, is how I found my no idea how old britool stuff was out. But cheap Halfords ones and Lidl ones seem fine within 4 percent.

Depends on the spec, but usual specs of torqued threads is clean and dry.

Is this like the calibrated thumb of the person on tyre pressure that was mocked.