Torque Wrenches - the bigger ones

Unless you need it in a real hurry Ebays easily the cheapest place to buy them. Britool & Norbar turn up there all the time.

Are these pretty good quality. They seem a lot cheaper than the snap-on ones. I know you get a lifetime guarantee with snap-on stuff, but I'm not likely to be using it all that often, so would have thought it'd last.

Peter

Britool, Norbar , torqueleader & Gedore/Rahsol are pretty much the only ones industry use. Snapons lifetime guarantee didn't use to apply to torque wrenches & you're definitely paying for the name compared with the above.

Even the best torque wrenches are crap if they arn't calibrated on a regular basis and/or checked before use with a calibrated torque meter

What about this one?

Micrometer is the make from what I can make out - are they any good, or worth avoiding? It's quite near me, that's all.

Peter

Think Britool offer lifetime warranty as well.Not personally fond of Britool spanners but have a Britool 1/2" T bar dated 1954,so generally quality is pretty good.

Norbar is at the cheaper end of the market but perfectly acceptable for occasional use.

Many manufacturers offer lifetime warranty, Snap-On in fact got the idea from Facom, quality tools are made all over Europe as well as the US and for a lot of Snap On stuff, Taiwan.

Facom now parent company to Britool and Sykes Pickavant, Ferrari F1 use Facom. SP is old school British name.

Stahlwille, makers of dealer tools for Mercedes Benz, someone was selling load of SW sockets at nice price on ebay recently.

Halfords Pro range is pretty good quality, lifetime warranty, looks just like Snap-On but cheaper...

Would avoid Teng, quality control is not good.

Adam

The message from "Adam Aglionby" contains these words:

Though if you're lucky some of their stuff is splendid. Had a 3/8" socket set from them once and it was one of the best I've used.

Micrometer is not the make, "Micrometer adjustable" means that there are graduations round the twisty bit of the handle, rather than just along the shaft, so you can get a more precise setting (like the markings on a micrometer)

He doesn't give the brand, so I would steer well clear of that one.

I did think that was what the micrometer reference referred to, but then thought it strange pointing it out as that's how all torque wrenches work, isn't it?

And him not mentioning the make made me think maybe that was the make. D'oh!

Peter

Nope, the traditional pattern britools & norbars don't. As torque wrenches aren't that accurate in the first place & torques relative to bolt tension are rather imprecise (unless you buy an ultrasonic one) it's a little gimicky anyway.

Actually I'd differ on that, my 20year old norbars still in calibration & it's never been adjusted. They wear if you use them a lot & corrode but otherwise they last suprisingly well.

Looks like my Draper one - I paid about £15 so that looks about right. It seems to do the job and doesn't feel ropey in any way.

Gareth

Where did you get it for £15 from? I popped into Halfords and they do one (could be their own brand, which generally aren't that bad) for £80 that goes from 60Nm to 300Nm. Was it new at that price, or from eBay?

Peter

I got a Draper from a local Motorfactors a few years back.

IIRC, it was only =A318.

Pete.=20

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It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "AstraVanMan" saying something like:

Dr Micrometer. Never heard of the brand. Probably some name dreamed up by the importer of cheap Chinese crap. Otoh, it might be ok for the price, but for the same sort of money you should certainly be able to pick up a decent known make.

The message from Grimly Curmudgeon contains these words:

Wally! That's 1/2" Dr(ive) Micrometer torque wrench.

I'd agree with that. I have some teng stuff, wouldn't be without my 1/4 drive teng set, had it for years, not managed to break it yet, despite much abuse!

Mine came from Maccess - a motor trade superstore. I used to go with a friend who had a card but they only let one person at a time in now and I haven't got around to blagging my own yet.

Gareth

The message from Gareth A. contains these words:

I ain't been for years - since I stopped working. The old firm's still got a card, so some time I might slide down there and have a look.

For some stuff they were magic.