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Chat with a 20-year vet in Phoenix changed how I look at torque wrenches
I was at a shop in Phoenix last week doing a side job on a Cessna 172 and this old guy named Rick watched me set my micrometer-style wrench. He said "you know those things drift, right?" and showed me his beam-style Snap-on that he's had since 1995. He calibrated it himself with a weight and a ruler in 10 minutes. Now I'm thinking about switching.
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stella_scott968d ago
Yeah @baker.christopher called it, every wrench has its own way of failing eventually!
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lucasw8415d ago
Beam wrenches still drift too though. That spring steel loses its temper after enough cycles, especially if it's been hanging on a peg in a hot Phoenix hangar for 30 years. Rick's method of checking it with a weight and ruler is smart, but that just tells him if it's still reading right right now. He probably has to recheck it a couple times a year to keep it honest. Every torque wrench is a tool that needs love eventually.
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david_reed228d ago
Every torque wrench is a tool that needs love eventually." Sounds like a romance novel for mechanics.
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nelson.wren15d ago
Oh man, that weight and ruler trick is solid, but yeah, beam wrenches aren't magic. I've had a couple beam-style wrenches over the years and I've watched the needle start to drift on hot days or after a lot of use. If you're going to switch, just get in the habit of checking it with a known weight before every few torque cycles, especially in a shop that gets over 100 degrees like Phoenix does. It takes five minutes and saves you a headache later.
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