Buying a torque wrench

**petergoudie** · 28-10-2008, 09:20 AM

Some of the kinchrome gear performs OK but a lot of it is the same as the cheap stuff on ebay and in the cheap auto stores. It just seems to be repackaged and the price doubled. If you want a Kinchrome torque wrench go to the cheap stores and buy a cheap torque wrench and it will perform the same. I think the best are the older Britool made by Eclipse in the UK which owns Moore & Wright and all of the other good British tool brands. Unfortuneatly the latest Britool does not look as good as the old model. If you want an old model go to ebay but they still fetch $100 or more. Ebay also seems to have a number of dealers selling new Australian Warren & Brown. Only problem with WB is that it is not so easy to get to exact torques whereas the Britool scale will get you to 1 or 2 ft/lbs accuracy.

**willwal98** · 28-10-2008, 01:06 PM

Thanks guys, very useful info there. I'm getting some prices on the warren & brown units, I think I will get a smaller one for now and I'll get a larger range when I need to use one.

Has anyone had any experience with torque screwdrivers like these? http://www.warrenandbrown.com.au/Pre...?ProductId=161

**petergoudie** · 28-10-2008, 01:41 PM

I think you will find the screwdriver on the W&B site is made by someone else with W&B marked on it. It's not to say that it won't be any good but now with our world economy you don't know where they come from. I doubt if W&B would compromise its name.

A torque screwdriver is a worthwhile tool if you can afford it. Great for installing covers with lots of screws. However, they are not so easy to turn when on their upper end of the scale. You can get a sore wrist. Whilst I said they are great you'll find that they can be tiresome to use at high torques when there are a lot of screws or nuts. A 1/4" drive standard type torque wrench is probably a better proposition as a first purchase.

**SuperDave** · 28-10-2008, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by SilverRA23

Please done't buy a Kincrome one if you can afford not to. I know lots of backyard guys recommend them, but I had a collection of them and wanted to get them calibrated. The calibration guy refused to touch them and he put them on his tester to show us why.. the difference between two supposedly same settings was remarkable...

Hmm, might do a cross check against my dad's good one. Cheers for the heads up.

**oldcorollas** · 28-10-2008, 09:23 PM

between two different kinchrome wrenches?

if you buy a cheapy, i would not expect the scale to read close to the actual torque.. that is not a problem as long as it is repeatable.. and each time you use it then say 60 = 73 or whatever...
if they change torque every time you set to 60, then it is crap...

then again, a difference of a few % here or there.. for most things won't be that critical