Not strictly building DIY but I am looking for an opinion on buying
torque wrench from the Sealy brand. They seem resonably priced and
seem to offer a range of professional equipment, but I haven't
actually used the brand. Otherwise any recommendations for a
reasonably priced accurate torque wrench?

Halfords £49-95 job gets good reviews....

Nick



"nthng2snet" wrote in message
...
Not strictly building DIY but I am looking for an opinion on buying
torque wrench from the Sealy brand. They seem resonably priced and
seem to offer a range of professional equipment, but I haven't
actually used the brand. Otherwise any recommendations for a
reasonably priced accurate torque wrench?

"nthng2snet" wrote in message
...
Not strictly building DIY but I am looking for an opinion on buying
torque wrench from the Sealy brand. They seem resonably priced and
seem to offer a range of professional equipment, but I haven't
actually used the brand. Otherwise any recommendations for a
reasonably priced accurate torque wrench?

A pre-settable one with a 'click and break' action is accurate enough
for most DIY jobs, if you really want the dogs you know what's then
there are a few digital (audible) torque wrenches about now (not sure
if Sealy do them).

*Don't* be tempted by the cheap 'bendy bar' type, they are crap and
quite possibly grossly inaccurate.

In article ,
nthng2snet wrote:
Not strictly building DIY but I am looking for an opinion on buying
torque wrench from the Sealy brand. They seem resonably priced and
seem to offer a range of professional equipment, but I haven't
actually used the brand. Otherwise any recommendations for a
reasonably priced accurate torque wrench?

Norbar. Last forever and accurate enough for all DIY use.

--
*Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"nthng2snet" wrote in message
...
Not strictly building DIY but I am looking for an opinion on buying
torque wrench from the Sealy brand. They seem resonably priced and
seem to offer a range of professional equipment, but I haven't
actually used the brand. Otherwise any recommendations for a
reasonably priced accurate torque wrench?

I bought a Sealey torque wrench recently and thought it worth paying extra
for the calibrated model, AK 624. Tooled-up had them on special offer -
perhaps they still have - for around 30 pounds.
http://www.tooled-up.com/
The Sealey wrench was well made and, according to the calibration sheet,
accurate enough for my car work.

A possible drawback with many wrenches is they can only set the torque in
one direction, unlike the Britool range where the wrench can be turned over
and the drive pushed through enabling reverse torque to be applied.

This turned out to be important for my application where a lock nut on a
shaft had to be tightened to a specific torque. The end of the shaft was
restrained with the torque wrench and the nut tightened with a ring spanner.
The torque spanner needed to work in reverse direction.

Britool have a spring offer on some of their classic torque wrenches until
31 July. e.g EVT 1200 1/2 inch model at 82.25 inc vat.
I haven't seen these prices on the web, they are apparently only available
though their agents, they don't sell direct or on line. Ring them on 01992
702200, asking for the 'Britool Selection 2005' brochure.

They will also give you the nearest dealer -turned out to be the Vauxhall
main dealership just up the road from me- who will supply at the prices in
the brochure. No postage charges, it took about three days to come in.

Incidentally for Sealey and Draper stuff I found 'Just Off Base' tools often
have the best prices:
http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/

Roger

"Roger R" wrote in message
...
snip

A possible drawback with many wrenches is they can only set the
torque in
one direction, unlike the Britool range where the wrench can be
turned over
and the drive pushed through enabling reverse torque to be applied.


Well, talk about penny pinching design, I would disregard any wrench
that doesn't have a reversible action at the drive end, what else have
the designers skimped on - just how much extra does it cost to make
the thing with a standard reversible ratchet head or 'push-through'
drive....

nthng2snet (replacename) wrote:
Not strictly building DIY but I am looking for an opinion on buying
torque wrench from the Sealy brand. They seem resonably priced and
seem to offer a range of professional equipment, but I haven't
actually used the brand. Otherwise any recommendations for a
reasonably priced accurate torque wrench?

Is =A310 reasonable enough?

Got mine (made by Kamasa) from Screwfix, complete with a lifetime
warranty and calibration certificate (it's rated to +/- 4%):

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...611&id=3D18289

(Note it appears to have gone up to =A312.49)

It's reversible and comes with box, 1/2"-3/8" adapter and extension
bar. It goes up to 210Nm too which is why I needed it.

Mathew

":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
eenews.net...

"Roger R" wrote in message
...
snip

A possible drawback with many wrenches is they can only set the
torque in
one direction, unlike the Britool range where the wrench can be
turned over
and the drive pushed through enabling reverse torque to be applied.


Well, talk about penny pinching design, I would disregard any wrench
that doesn't have a reversible action at the drive end, what else have
the designers skimped on - just how much extra does it cost to make
the thing with a standard reversible ratchet head or 'push-through'
drive....


Most have the 'standard reversible ratchet head' but don't have the push
through drive. Classic Britool torque wrenches have the push through drive
but no ratchet action. As you say implementing the simple push through
drive feature looks like an economy too far, but maybe there is a patent on
the push through drive?

I was daft enough to think that when I switched the direction lever on the
standard ratchet head torque wrench the direction of the torque action would
change too. Of course it didn't and when tightening in the reverse
direction I began to realise the set torque must have been exceeded. Then
it dawned on me there was no torque indication in the reverse direction.
Fortunately nothing came amiss.

Roger

In article ,
Roger R wrote:
Most have the 'standard reversible ratchet head' but don't have the push
through drive. Classic Britool torque wrenches have the push through
drive but no ratchet action. As you say implementing the simple push
through drive feature looks like an economy too far, but maybe there is
a patent on the push through drive?

I was daft enough to think that when I switched the direction lever on
the standard ratchet head torque wrench the direction of the torque
action would change too. Of course it didn't and when tightening in the
reverse direction I began to realise the set torque must have been
exceeded. Then it dawned on me there was no torque indication in the
reverse direction. Fortunately nothing came amiss.

A Norbar has the standard ratchet action and a push through drive. They
may be slightly more expensive than some, but mine's survived some 25
years of abuse. ;-)

--
*You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Roger R wrote:
Most have the 'standard reversible ratchet head' but don't have the push
through drive. Classic Britool torque wrenches have the push through
drive but no ratchet action. As you say implementing the simple push
through drive feature looks like an economy too far, but maybe there is
a patent on the push through drive?

I was daft enough to think that when I switched the direction lever on
the standard ratchet head torque wrench the direction of the torque
action would change too. Of course it didn't and when tightening in the
reverse direction I began to realise the set torque must have been
exceeded. Then it dawned on me there was no torque indication in the
reverse direction. Fortunately nothing came amiss.

A Norbar has the standard ratchet action and a push through drive. They
may be slightly more expensive than some, but mine's survived some 25
years of abuse. ;-)

I've just had a look at the Norbar website and their products look the
business. They have a much wider range than other brands, ratchet, ratchet
with push through drive, bi-directional ratchets, and separate handles
supporting a range of plug in spanner ends.

This latter type would have been especially useful on a recent suspension
job on my 'Astra' car where the strut to lower arm ball joint is supposed to
be torqued up to a particular value but it is quite impossible to get in
with a conventional wrench. A spanner end wrench would do the job.

I've not seen any prices and don't imagine this quality comes cheap but if
they give service as long as yours has, the extra cost would be justified.

Roger

In article ,
Roger R wrote:
A Norbar has the standard ratchet action and a push through drive. They
may be slightly more expensive than some, but mine's survived some 25
years of abuse. ;-)

I've just had a look at the Norbar website and their products look the
business. They have a much wider range than other brands, ratchet,
ratchet with push through drive, bi-directional ratchets, and separate
handles supporting a range of plug in spanner ends.

Didn't realise they had quite such a varied range. I've got three which
are all of similar design - ratchet with push through. But 3/8 and two
different 1/2 drive ones to cover the things I've needed them for over the
years. And since the ranges overlap, it makes it possible to do a rough
check of one against another, and they're all the same.

--
*Honk if you love peace and quiet.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.