Help with what torque wrench to buy for a hand wrench.

[62 driver]

I need a torque wrench to use on a hand held wrench. Does anyone know where to buy one. What is it called? It has to torque 100 inch pounds.

[Guest kaycee]

Hi,

You can buy a inch pound torque wrench at any of the auto car parts places and most good hardware stores. Just ask for an inch pound torque wrench. Mine is a beam type wrench that goes up to two hundred inch pounds.Buy a good name brand!

kaycee

[62 driver]

kaycee, thanks. I have regular torque wrenches for sockets. What I am looking for is a torque wrench for a handheld/ combination/open ended wrench. I need to torque wire wheel spokes that need a open ended wrench to do it.

[Curti]

Use a crows foot.

[Bhigdog]

That changes the torque value................Bob

[DavidAU]

These people sell one http://www.buchananspokes.net/categories/miscellaneous_tools.asp

[62 driver]

Thanks, yes a open ended spoke wrench. Smaller than a 11/32. It needs to be 0.33. This is for my wire wheel project. I received my new spoke and nipples from Dayton. They said I need to buy the spoke wrench from Buchanan and then grind it to fit. That's what their truer's do. Buchananspokes.com sell the wrench ($29) and a torque wrench ($99). I am looking for a inexpensive torque wrench. I have a few socket type torque wrenches. The spoke wrench is fat and a regular open ended wrench won't work or a crows foot. They will just F up the nipples. Thanks Again Dave

[Dandy Dave]

That changes the torque value................Bob

If you put on facing forward. How about if you have it facing to one side? Thought about this a lot of times but rarely need to torque anything with a crows foot wrench. Dandy Dave!

[62 driver]

90* will work for torque value. But I need to use the spoke wrench do to it design. I can weld a old socket on the handle. I was hoping they made a torque wrench for open end tools.

[Bhigdog]

Not sure but I think there would still be a correction factor required because you are now working on the hypotenuse. But maybe not. A good math type could probably figure the exact length of the crows foot X the required angle to factor out any correction. But I'm not that type. I think I would just figure the percentage of added length the crows foot was, subtract that from the target torque and call it a day.................Bob

[62 driver]

Yea, what I will do if I have to is take a nut and bolt the same size of my spoke and using my torque wrench and socket. I will set is at 80 inch pounds torque and then use my wrench to check the value and call that 80.

[Restorer32]

Actually, even using an extension between a traditional torque wrench and a socket changes the reading. Also, regardless what you have read, a "click" type torque wrench is less accurate than an old fashioned one with a pointer. Ask any physicist.

[Gary_Ash]

Here's how to use a crows foot wrench on a torque wrench and get the reading: http://www.engineersedge.com/manufacturing_spec/torque_wrench_1.htm

[CarlLaFong]

I believe that a torque wrench, for truing or assembling wire wheels is a luxury that most can live without. I watched people do them and I did a few myself, years ago on my Harleys. I've never seen anyone use one. I'm sure they are handy, but I think you can live without one. Just put the wheel in the truing fixture, get it running round and with as little lateral runout as possible. Once your satisfied with it, evenly snug the spokes until they make a nice plinking sound when you tap them with a hammer. You can use a regular inch/pound torque wrench on a nut and bolt in the vise to give yourself a feel for what the recommended torque feels like. Your not building a space shuttle so absolute torque values are not that important. There are millions of wire wheels running around, that were trued by ear, and they're doing just fine

[Rusty_OToole]

You could make a wrench exactly one foot long and pull it tight with a fisherman's scale. Or put a torque wrench on it and divide by 2 ( because you have an extra foot of leverage).

[Dandy Dave]

Why don't we just do a real world test. Set up a bolt in a vice and see what the value is with a socket and the with a crows foot separately. Generally there is a span of what the general torque is anyway. Say the reading in a book will be 55 to 65 LBS. I have torqued a lot of stuff and never have gone wrong yet. Does that little bit make all that much of a difference? Some nuts do not screw on as well as others. That also makes a difference. Get er done and move on to bigger and better things. My work bench proves I have done a lot of successful stuff torqued within reason. Dandy Dave!

[Bhigdog]

Here's how to use a crows foot wrench on a torque wrench and get the reading: http://www.engineersedge.com/manufacturing_spec/torque_wrench_1.htm

Yo! Forget the hit and miss guessing and speculation. Now this right here is settled science..Thanx Gary.......................Bob

[Dandy Dave]

Yo! Forget the hit and miss guessing and speculation. Now this right here is settled science..Thanx Gary.......................Bob

It is only true in a perfect world. One where the torque wrench is 100% accurate and the nuts, bolts, and studs all have equal drag and friction. Also where they have equal tensile strength. , to lubricate, or to not lubricate? It all makes a difference. The only truth is that the accuracy of the math you cannot argue about. Dandy Dave!

[Bhigdog]

It is only true in a perfect world. One where the torque wrench is 100% accurate and the nuts, bolts, and studs all have equal drag and friction. Also where they have equal tensile strength. , to lubricate, or to not lubricate? It all makes a difference. The only truth is that the accuracy of the math you cannot argue about. Dandy Dave!

Yes the math is indisputable. But the true torque value, and whether it will increase, decrease , or stay the same with added or decreased inputs and other non knowable variables over time is only a prediction, and so, can't be settled. So now we also have to be worried about "torque change" on top of everything else. OyVey!...................Bob

[Restorer32]

As if there isn't enough to worry about...all those electricity producing windmills are slowing the rotation of the Earth. Imperceptibly yes but I'm sure some scientist could calculate the combined effect of those thousands of windmills. How much do we need to slow the rotation of the Earth before catastrophic changes occur? We need a committee to study this and soon!

[Bhigdog]

As if there isn't enough to worry about...all those electricity producing windmills are slowing the rotation of the Earth. Imperceptibly yes but I'm sure some scientist could calculate the combined effect of those thousands of windmills. How much do we need to slow the rotation of the Earth before catastrophic changes occur? We need a committee to study this and soon!

Yes! Yes! All those wind mills are producing torque. That torque has to go somewhere. So we've come full circle. Instead of "torque change" we REALLY need to study GLOBAL TORQUEING. I'm sure there is some grant money out there somewhere. Once the torque threat has been settled and the torquers identified they can be forced to buy torque credits which are sold by the folks that are untorqueing things..........Bob

[Seldenguy]

When I was a young fella I worked in the underground mining industry. The rugged old shop boss told me when i asked where the torque wrench was, " you don't need it, if your right handed tighten it with your left hand, it will be okay". I've gotten a little more finesse since those days. --Bob

[Restorer32]

We did engine work on a 1916 Pullman Roadster. The owner's manual actually said to tighten the head bolts snugly but to stop before they break. Tighten them 'til they are ready to break then back off a little.

[CarlLaFong]

Yes! Yes! All those wind mills are producing torque. That torque has to go somewhere. So we've come full circle. Instead of "torque change" we REALLY need to study GLOBAL TORQUEING. I'm sure there is some grant money out there somewhere. Once the torque threat has been settled and the torquers identified they can be forced to buy torque credits which are sold by the folks that are untorqueing things..........Bob

Global torqueing has been going on for many millenia. The first, presumed, instance was during the age of the dinosaurs, when the combined energy of their massive footsteps began the cycle. Later, it was the force exerted by the armies of Nebuchadnezzer, Cyrus of Persia, the Huns and so on that exacerbated the slow down of the earth. I don't even need to mention the name of Torquemada and his minions, who offer up proof of a conspiracy that goes back into the deepest recesses of time.

I would suggest that all drilling, be it oil, gas, water or whatever, be done utilizing bits that turn in the correct direction to reverse the damage that we and nature have caused by both accidental and careless over torquing. I would also recommend that we try to walk and drive in a westerly direction only.

"One step for a man, one step for retorquing the earth."

[Gary_Ash]

I'm not too worried about "global torqueing". One Wikipedia estimate indicated something like 100 TW (10¹⁴ watts) of wind power might be extracted globally if most of the wind power sites were developed. Over 31 million seconds in a year, that's 3.1x10¹⁸ Joules. The rotational kinetic energy of the earth is about 2.1x10²⁹ Joules, so in about 10 billion years it might make a difference if we extracted some of the rotational kinetic energy. Fortunately for us on Earth, the sun is providing 10¹⁷ watts of energy, and this is what makes the wind blow, not the spin of the earth. All those windmills won't make a dent in the rotational energy. Of course, since I live on the south coast of beautiful Massachusetts, I don't want those ugly windmills in my back yard, LOL. As my high school physics teacher used to say when he handed back the test papers with low grades, "Gosh, physics is fun!"

Incidentally, the torque wrench wasn't sold commercially before 1938, which is why all those old manuals don't have any torque values listed. The simple beam-type torque wrench was allegedly invented by Walter P. Chrysler himself, according to Wikipedia. And that's the rest of the story...

[Bhigdog]

Physic(s) ...............1. A branch of science or engineering 2. A laxative 3. Sometimes both ...................................Bob

Edited April 28, 2014 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[Restorer32]

A serious off topic question. How does one measure the rise of the oceans? I mean with waves and all how do you hold the tape measure? I see numbers claiming the ocean has risen 2 inches over so many years. How could you possibly measure that?

[GLong]

I'd go with what Rusty wrote. 10 ft pounds of torque is 10 pounds of pull put on the end of a 1 foot wrench. This is why the beam-type torque wrenches have a handle with a center pivot point, so the pull is done at a consistent location from the fastener.

You can make a special wrench, and as mentioned already, weld a socket on the handle, use a regular torque wrench, and do the math or do an actual comparison with a known torque wrench.

GLong

[Dandy Dave]

What all this really comes down to is that the actual torque can be off by 10% and everything will still be OK and work as it should. Dandy Dave!