Quote:
Originally Posted by mikerj
It's perfectly possible to torque most standard fasteners close enough to the required value without using a torque wrench if you have a reasonable level of skill and experience. If you don't then I agree a torque wrench should be used
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I use a torque wrench on everything, and I always use exactly the spec the book says. This is because I believe I don't have the experience to get it right by hand, or to know if the value in the book should really be less or more.
Maybe if I owned a smaller torque wrench of similar length to the ratchets in my socket set and smaller range, I would perhaps learn what a certain torque value feels like over time, but I don't, my torque wrench is about 450mm long and has an operating range of 28 to 210nm. Most nuts need very little effort when you use something that long, especially if it only needs 30nm, and you don't learn how much pressure you would need to apply with a normal ratchet.
I wanted a wrench that size for the rear wheel spindle and for the wheel nuts on the car. Maybe a smaller wrench with an operating range up to 60 or 80mn for those kind of bolts can be on my birthday list.