Torque Hand Wrenches
A torque hand wrench is an excellent addition to any home garage or professional shop. The perfect tool for achieving proper tightness, a torque wrench ensures you never have to worry about poor performance from something being too loose or something damaging from over tightening. Find the perfect option for your needs with our wide selection, including traditional, ratcheting, and electronic torque wrench options.
What should you consider when buying a torque wrench?
There are several factors to consider when making your purchase, including the following:
- Accurate calibration: Some styles come pre-calibrated to a specific level and others have adjustable torque settings. Choose a torque wrench that provides accurate calibration within a reasonable range of error.
- Ease of use: Various torque wrench models have different ways of setting torque and indicating when the appropriate level has been reached. Find a torque wrench that is simple for you to use and read, and is comfortable to hold when you are driving the wrench to torque.
- Durability: A wrench could be made of various materials, including some plastic parts. Choose a torque wrench that has a quality construction and is durable enough for your use.
- Size: Models are available in a variety of head sizes and lengths. Find a torque wrench that will fit your needs and be long enough for your purposes.
- Additional features: There are a variety of features available. Choose measurements, including foot-pounds, newton-meter scale, and wrenches that have both. You could also look for electronic, programmable, or reversible ratcheting head models.
Most varieties of torque wrench include some method of knowing when the appropriate level of torque has been reached. There are several common ways that a wrench may indicate this, including the following:
- Click: A very popular torque wrench feature is a click that users can hear and feel when the preset torque level is reached. A wrench with this feature is often called a click torque wrench.
- Slip: A torque wrench with a slip feature makes it impossible to apply too much torque. The slip feature will cause the wrench to stop torquing when the preset level is reached and may be combined with a click feature.
- Audible: Many electronic torque wrench models have a beep or tone that indicates when the level of torque has been achieved.
- Digital: A digital torque wrench will indicate the amount of torque on a digital display screen. Some models combine this technology with click or audible indicators.