Calibrating torque wrenches, was dist. rattle

[auditude at cox.net]

Bernie,

Yes, I had it calibrated.  Not just a calibration check.  It is a clicker type, and it was off.  I took 
it in just to do it, I think it may have been like $45 or so.  I probably could have bought a 
cheapie new one for that much, but I still wouldn't know if it was calibrated, and I like to fix 
what's fixable instead of always replacing.  Also, I didn't pay for the torque wrench in the first 
place, so what the hey.  http://www.washingtoncalibration.com/  They gave me a sheet with 
the before and after values.  I've got it around here somewhere.

They actually brought it into calibration, and the end of the handle was different when I got it 
back.  I don't remember what it looked like before, but now it has a sort of tamped metal 
putty in the end of it, like they plugged it after getting in there to do their magic.  I think it 
was smooth metal before.  I wonder what they had to do to get to the innards.  Obviously 
whatever they did hadn't been done before, or maybe they didn't have the special Snap-On 
tools or parts.  They didn't blink when I brought it in tho', and I got a free calendar out of it. =)

Is there a DIY calibration, versus calibration checking?

Ken

On 27 Jan 2004 at 17:05, Bernie Benz wrote:

> Ken,
> 
> Had it calibrated, or DIY?  It's a simple DIY job if one has a bathroom
> scale, dead weights, or better, and one can easily monitor repeatability.
> The clickers are bad, the bending beams are good in this respect.
> 
> Bernie
> 
> > From: <auditude at cox.net>
> > 
> > There are also those, at least me, that had their torque wrench calibrated.
> > 
> > It was actually quite a bit off.  But this is a old hand-me-down Snap-On.  It
> > seems like a pretty good quality tool, so it seem worth it to at least check
> > the calibration.  They said it was still good, and I think they mentioned that
> > they don't see many like that come in.
> > 
> > I like to use it wherever it seems important, wheels, engine building, etc.
> > Other stuff I just make tight.
> > 
> > The whole calibration thing tho' is false security.  It only shows that it was
> > in calibration when it left the metrologist, after that who knows.
> > 
> > Maybe if you always subjected the wrench to the same routine, and could
> > establish over time that it stayed in calibration, then one could be really
> > secure.
> > 
> > Ken
> > 
> > Bernie Benz b.benz at charter.net wrote:
> > "Also, there those DIYers among us insecure enough that they must use an
> > uncalibrated torque wrench on every nut and bolt."
> > 
>