Torque wrench?

No offense taken. This is how I experience it. My father was an old timer, born in 1915. He is long gone, but I still miss him. At least the pleasant, fond memories have started to flow. In his tool boxes, were two brands of tools. S/O and a small amount of Herbrand. Now, this man went thru some hard times. The depression made big impact on him. He went hungry a few times but he never sold or hawlked his tools as that is how he made his living. Now, that spoke volumes to me.
The S/O tools made this day are of good quality, but the older S/O tools that are from the 1940's thru the 1970's were IMO of just a bit better quality. These hand tools are stamped Made in Canada.
As to offshore/China. All S/O branded hand tools are made in the USA. The quality is good, very good. Now, Blue Point is another kettle of tools. They can be made in almost any country. The English as well as the Germans have some very good quality tools, but unless you have a contact for warranty issues ...
I have seen some torx bits, triple squares and so on that were not up to snuff. I believe that the temper treatment was off. The thing is, I look after my customers, their broken bits were warrantied. Call me Snappy, John
 
NavyCuda said:
No I'm not a snap on dealer, but i like paying for my dealers house!

I just believe that a quality tool pays off, because 30 years down the road if you didn't loose it, it will work as good as the day you bought it.
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Hey, I don't disagree, there's a reason my tool payments were larger then my mortgage payments for long, long time. I just think it's really overkill for gunscrews, though.
 
Snappy said:
I am A Snap-On Tools dealer. Any t-wrench that is calibrated is good. The problem is "made is China" and made off-shore torque wrenches. They may or may not be in spec even when new. A quality T-wrench will come with a certificate of calibration and when it requires service, parts will be available.
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So how about quoting us a very good CGN'r price on an inch pound torque screwdriver? I am in the market for a new one :)

Being in the scope business I really wish more people had them!!! I hate having to tell someone their warrany is void because they overtightened to the point where the scope tube is obviously deformed!! It's only happened a few times, but an investment of under $100 could save some people $500 and up.
 
Something to remember, in my snapon manual for my 3/8's torque wrench it says to excersise the wrench at half the rated value before setting it to and using your desired setting.

Like anything, read the owners manual on your torque wrench before you use it the first time.
 
Snappy said:
....As to offshore/China. All S/O branded hand tools are made in the USA. The quality is good, very good. Now, Blue Point is another kettle of tools. They can be made in almost any country. The English as well as the Germans have some very good quality tools, but unless you have a contact for warranty issues ...
I have seen some torx bits, triple squares and so on that were not up to snuff. I believe that the temper treatment was off. The thing is, I look after my customers, their broken bits were warrantied. Call me Snappy, John
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Thanks for the clarification John. It must have been some BluePoint stuff I'd seen made in China on. I retract my earlier statement about Snap-On and offshore obviously.

Warrantee is a good point. I've never broken anything of mine that is Hazet. The Cdn distributor is in Kitchener and I get quicker service from them than the lazy, surly Snap-On rep out my way. The last time my ratchet blew it took him six weeks to fix it. No joke. He is half the reason I went Hazet...

To the OP, give John a call for a 1/4" torque wrench like mine. You will get a lifetime of use out of it. When I had mine calibrated, it never needed adjustment from year to year. Snap-On makes a good wrench.
 
NavyCuda said:
Something to remember, in my snapon manual for my 3/8's torque wrench it says to excersise the wrench at half the rated value before setting it to and using your desired setting.

Like anything, read the owners manual on your torque wrench before you use it the first time.
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Generally speaking, anytime you torque anything, it is best to do it in thirds, ie: say you have a 90 pound required torque, torque first to 30, then to 60, finally to 90. And yes, a good torque wrench should be checked and calibrated (if required) at least once a year. - dan
 
skywrench said:
Keep the minimum torque rating of a wrench in mind. As an example the 1/4" drive Snap-On, (that I've used regularly for more than 30 years) only goes down to 30 in/lbs - this exceeds what most commonly used mount and ring screws are rated for even considering the extra fine thread and quality of steel used. IRIC you'll be looking at 20 in/lb for a 6/48 screw and, while it might only be 10in/lb extra regarding the overtorque, you are exceeding the rated value by 30% - that is significant. I haven't seen what the min. rating of a 3/8" drive Power Fist or Mastercraft torque wrench is, but if you were to use one of them I suspect you'd eventually be asking for trouble let alone the fact that it would be clumsy as hell to use. As posted previously there are several options but the Wheeler Engineering Fat Wrench is not too pricey and FWIW, mine survived the first calibration that I had done to it (mandatory scheduled calibration requirement if you plan on using it on aircraft) and it was within limits.
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I'm looking at the Snap-on QDRIVER4. It it's a screwdriver format rather than standard torque wrench type. It goes from 5-40 inch pounds. Should be good for all scope mounting purposes.
 
Snappy said:
AGW, Are you thinking a group buy or a single? I will give a price break either way for fellow guns nuts. Snappy
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Either way works for me. If you think you can get he price down on a group buy I don't think GT would have a hard time approving that. It's a very worthwhile investment for any gun owner. My preference would be the QDRIVER4 for scope mounting. Maybe a good Snap-on torque/hex assortment in the smaller sizes to compliment it.
 
That QDriver4 sounds good, unless you need to get into the higher torque range for things like cross bolts on tactical rings 65-70 inch pounds. I will have to head to snap on site and chack that out though. The swcrew driver style is definetly the way to go for ease of use.
 
dan belisle said:
Generally speaking, anytime you torque anything, it is best to do it in thirds, ie: say you have a 90 pound required torque, torque first to 30, then to 60, finally to 90. And yes, a good torque wrench should be checked and calibrated (if required) at least once a year. - dan
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Oh I agree, though I was speaking about torque wrench maintenance. My explanation should have included that before using the torque wrench on the fastener that needs to be set, "exercise" the torque wrench at half of the torque wrenches scale. I use a bolt head locked into a vice to quickly warm up the wrench before I use it. Check your manual for exact instructions, I'm just going by memory. (edit: I do three clicks on and three clicks off)
 
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