Are old pointer/needle/dial torque wrenches reliable
- Thread starter qqzj
- Start date
Personally I’m not sure on how long they last. But I have one that’s over like 15 years
Old and love the thing. Also dead accurate and for the fasteners I need it for and what I bought the tool for (burly xb motorcycle) it works great and for me faster for me to use it plus when I’m
Tightening things down I can watch things snug up easily. Plus it’s still accurate and lately it’s been floating around my
Garage not being taken care of the best as I should be
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Dumber than lumber
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To the OP - I have one of those that is over 40 years old. Dirt simple. Don’t use it much. Works fine.
Hack Fabrication
Banned
I have one similar to the pic. It's a Craftsman, but black. It worked fine for a lot of what I asked it to do. Currently, the pointer is a bit off the 'zero', so it's sitting in the 'I don't know what to do with it' pile...
I upgraded to the 'click' style Craftsman for the 1/2", 3/8" sizes (one in in/lbs), and have a larger Husky 1/2" 'clicker' that goes to 250 ft/lbs.
I upgraded to the 'click' style Craftsman for the 1/2", 3/8" sizes (one in in/lbs), and have a larger Husky 1/2" 'clicker' that goes to 250 ft/lbs.
bob15
Well-known member
That torque wrench doesn't "go bad" like clicker and dial can. Nothing wrong with beam wrenches. I've built a lot of SBC engines using only that style torque wrench.
demarpaint
Well-known member
That pretty much sums it up. They're simple and reliable.
seber
Well-known member
Mine was my fathers. It is at least sixty years old and still dead accurate. Steel does not degrade with time if there is no strain involved. Only corrosion can have any effect.
Hack, just bend the pointer back to zero and good as new.
Hack, just bend the pointer back to zero and good as new.
Hack Fabrication
Banned
Yep, I probably should do that. I missed out on a couple of Tekton torque wrenches at my local Meijer store. They were clearing out the section, and they were 50% off. When I went back a couple of days later: Section gone, tools gone....
Snooze, ya lose...
driftpin
Well-known member
I have that Craftsman model still in the box, it's probably close-to 45 years old, the pointer is still on-center. I use it mostly for motorcycles. I have a Plomb of the same design, and it's also capable of what seems to-be accurate use, comparing one to the other.
Back in the early 90s I performed calibration checks on our torque wrenches for use at our regional airline maintenance facility. We had the "calibration checker", calibrated every six months. From there I/we checked our torque wrenches. The click type failed all time. Some even new out of the box failed miserably! They then went out to vendor for repair or???. I have two beam style Craftsman wrenches, that were dead nuts on every time I checked them. No longer work in aviation, but use and trust those torque wrenches frequently!
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bwringer
Well-known member
Short of catastrophic damage, there's absolutely nothing that can go wrong with beam wrenches. Kept from rusting they should stay usable and accurate for a couple thousand years.
I mean, clickers are kinda cool, but you're always wondering. Beam wrenches are the very simplest physics, how much a piece of steel bends under load.
FWIW, does anyone have a recommendation for a good 1/4" drive beam wrench? Most of what I can find for teensy inch-pound stuff are clickers.
Thinking about this Neiko; I've gotten some mighty nice sockets from this brand before:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FMXEWQC/?tag=atomicindus08-20
I mean, clickers are kinda cool, but you're always wondering. Beam wrenches are the very simplest physics, how much a piece of steel bends under load.
FWIW, does anyone have a recommendation for a good 1/4" drive beam wrench? Most of what I can find for teensy inch-pound stuff are clickers.
Thinking about this Neiko; I've gotten some mighty nice sockets from this brand before:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FMXEWQC/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Last edited:
Itsjustdirt
Well-known member
You guys can laugh at this question, but.......
Can you check two torque wrenches against each other if one is known right?
Can you check two torque wrenches against each other if one is known right?
bwringer
Well-known member
Yep, they'll click or reach the test torque almost simultaneously.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
As long as it does not get banged around, they are fine. Maybe a bit hard to read.
bob15
Well-known member
Have had good luck with Seekonk stuff in the past:
https://www.seekonk.com/cat-47-1-34/torque-deflecting-beam.htm
Toxictom
Well-known member
I believe these are called a beam type torque wrench. They work okay.
oldwino
ALLIANCE MEMBER
My old Craftsman beam torque wrench is nearlt 50 years old and still accurate. The biggest drawback for this type of wrench is being able to look directly at the scale. Look at an angle and you will be off
Old Radar
Well-known member
I think your question about accuracy has been adequately answered. Let me address collectability.
It depends.
As the character Belloq in the Raiders of the Lost Arc noted; bury a worthless pocket watch in the sand for 1000 years and it becomes priceless.
Several members have noted they own beam torque wrenches that are 40-60 years old--I myself have a Super Indestro 8099-1/2 in the style that was made from the late 30s to the early 60's (probably looks just like Lardy's Duro). Are they collectable? Meh.
If they are in great shape; if they still have the box they came in; if they are rare, if they belonged to a famous race car team from the 50's... These things might make a "Tension Indicating Wrench" worth more money than one that doesn't have those qualities and therefore may be worth collecting.
On the other hand--and more importantly--is the item or category of items something that grabs your interest? Is it something that you enjoy reading about, researching, and spending time discussing? These are also factors in collecting. If you have no real interest in an item, how will you know if or when you run across an example that is collectable--or at least one that is priced well below market value?
So, is the Craftsman torque wrench you are considering collectable? Maybe to some but not by me, but I'm not that into torque wrenches.
Schurkey
Well-known member
Beam-type torque wrenches--if they're made right--are inherently accurate, and don't need "calibration".
The problem is that they're horribly difficult to use PROPERLY.
IF (big IF) they're manufactured right, everything that makes them inaccurate has to do with operator error, and its very likely that the operator won't use them correctly; from the way you hold the handle to the parallax error reading the dial, to the arm-shake of tired muscles trying to hold tension long enough to observe the indicated torque.
What good is an accurate torque wrench if you're not likely to use it properly? Aside from TESTING the torque on fasteners, or VERIFYING the torque to rotate an assembly such as a pinion gear in it's bearings, these torque wrenches are a hateful, worthless mess.
I have them in 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2"; each one American-made, and all used for VERIFYING torque on stuff that's already been assembled with a click-type torque wrench--for example, determining the torque needed to rotate a crankshaft on an assembled short-block. The tools imported from Asia should go directly into the recycle bin.
The problem is that they're horribly difficult to use PROPERLY.
IF (big IF) they're manufactured right, everything that makes them inaccurate has to do with operator error, and its very likely that the operator won't use them correctly; from the way you hold the handle to the parallax error reading the dial, to the arm-shake of tired muscles trying to hold tension long enough to observe the indicated torque.
What good is an accurate torque wrench if you're not likely to use it properly? Aside from TESTING the torque on fasteners, or VERIFYING the torque to rotate an assembly such as a pinion gear in it's bearings, these torque wrenches are a hateful, worthless mess.
I have them in 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2"; each one American-made, and all used for VERIFYING torque on stuff that's already been assembled with a click-type torque wrench--for example, determining the torque needed to rotate a crankshaft on an assembled short-block. The tools imported from Asia should go directly into the recycle bin.
landrover bodger
Well-known member
a beam type torque wrench is the best way to tension some timing belts
Al Borland
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Beams are great until a sub-genius co-worker uses one to take off lug nuts, like it's a breaker bar. Then the pointer no longer points at zero.
bwringer
Well-known member
You make many excellent points.
Beam-types are harder to use and quite often you can't see the damn scale properly. Clickers are mighty, mighty handy when access is difficult.
As ever, the proper GJ answer for "which tool?" is "all the above".
rogermac
Member
My first torque wrench is a Sturdevant beam type. Every now & then i'll torque something with it and check it with a clicker, it's always there within a couple pounds. Just nostalgia though, can't make rate with the beam type.
HenryAZ
MEMBER EMERITUS
WisJim
Well-known member
I bought mine new in 1969 and it has always been put back in the original box sitting safely in a tool cabinet. Works fine and I still trust it.
I still have two Craftsman that I bought in the late 1960's, still in their boxes. The biggest problem with that style is reading the gauge in anything other than ideal conditions, ie: at any sort of an angle. They work great if looking down on them like when torquing head bolts but when doing something like suspension components where you have to read the scale from the side they fall short. I don't think that I have used my beam wrenches more than a couple of times since I purchased the 'clicker" type.
Thanks guys for sharing. I would never have realized that reading the gauge is the issue.
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Jazz1
Well-known member
That type uses a spring or torsion bar and is not as accurate as the new ones that use a piezo-electric cell (electronic).
They rely on the spring constant not changing, which it won't unless you do something horrible to it. I dunno if the spring constant changes much from a hot day to a sub-zero Minnesota balmy winter day, but that would be my only concern as long as you check the calibration before use.
To do that, you just chuck a fastener in a vise, hang a known wt. from the center of the handle and see if the dial reading matches.
They rely on the spring constant not changing, which it won't unless you do something horrible to it. I dunno if the spring constant changes much from a hot day to a sub-zero Minnesota balmy winter day, but that would be my only concern as long as you check the calibration before use.
To do that, you just chuck a fastener in a vise, hang a known wt. from the center of the handle and see if the dial reading matches.