Torque Wrenches

A torque wrench applies a measured amount of turning force and tells you when you have reached it, which matters wherever a specification exists: line hardware, connectors, flange bolts, equipment covers and anything where too loose fails and too tight strips or cracks. Click-type wrenches are the workshop standard — the handle is set to the target value, and the mechanism gives an audible and felt click at that point, so the operator does not have to watch a scale while pulling. Micro-adjustable handles set the value precisely rather than to the nearest mark. Range is the thing to get right: a wrench is accurate through the middle of its range and least accurate at the extremes, so a job at 20 ft-lbs wants a wrench whose span suits it rather than the biggest one on the shelf. Inch-pound and foot-pound tools cover different ends of that spread. Insulated patterns extend torque work to energized equipment. A torque wrench is a measuring instrument as much as a tool — wind it back to its lowest setting for storage, and have it checked periodically.