Old Thorsen torque wrench

[toolmiser]

Here is an old torque wrench I picked up at a car show last summer.

Can't figure the age, but in the spec manual, the newest car was a 1964. There is a hand written price on the front of $7.96.

I thought it was pretty neat, especially since I paid $10.00.

 

[Thumper]

That's a damn good wrench......good price on it too...

 

[Fixnair]

One thing about a bending beam roque wrench is that it never goes out of calibration. The only thing that ever happens is the pointer can get bent but all you have to do is bend it back to zero and you're good to go. I have a 3/4" Thorsen that goes p to 350 ft. Lbs. it is so long it takes two people to use it. One to pull and one to read.

 

[sumner52000]

There is guy on tooltalk that collects Thorsen.

http://www.papawswrench.com/vboard/index.php?topic=5307.0

 

[Steinmetz]

Here is an old torque wrench I picked up at a car show last summer.

Can't figure the age, but in the spec manual, the newest car was a 1964. There is a hand written price on the front of $7.96.

I thought it was pretty neat, especially since I paid $10.00.

I don't think that it has the pivoted handle.

 

[kxxr]

Just curious to know if someone can describe the purpose of the pivot or wiggle in the handle on those torque wrenches that do have it? I have tried to look it up, but no luck.

 

[Steinmetz]

Just curious to know if someone can describe the purpose of the pivot or wiggle in the handle on those torque wrenches that do have it? I have tried to look it up, but no luck.

It prevents the hand of the user from applying a moment to the end of the torque wrench, while simultaneously applying a force. It also provides for the application of the force to a specific point on the torque wrench.

 

[lowbucktruck]

Man, that is cool! And in the box too! Thorsen made some good tools in their day.
I still keep a beam-type torque wrench in the toolbox as a backup.

 

[kxxr]

It prevents the hand of the user from applying a moment to the end of the torque wrench, while simultaneously applying a force. It also provides for the application of the force to a specific point on the torque wrench.

It’s helpful to add that the inner walls of the handle must not contact the wrench at any point other than the pivot point while in use. It’s design is meant to prevent application of unmeasured torque. In my travels, I see maybe 1 in 12 users are aware of the reason the handle wobbles. Most do not question it and proceed with 100% confidence. Thanks for the reply, Steinmetz but the typo or auto-correct word, “moment”, made it unclear.

 

[Beerhippie]

the typo or auto-correct word, “moment”, made it unclear.

"Moment" is the engineering term for the static vector of a force operating on a lever at a distance--what you think of as "torque".

Been over forty years since engineering school, so I hope that's close enough.