Calibrate a torque wrench? Huh

I thought this was a great video. I never knew you could do this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaqBA-xSGbc

 

Probably not really calibrating it unless you trust the luggage scale. That would need to be known to be accurate before I start adjust my torque wrenches with it.

You can test that by maybe hanging something you know, like 3 gallons of water which should be 25 lbs + the weight of the bucket.

But very useful and cool video, that is clever.

 

I have one of those little luggage scales and I tested it by hanging different barbell weights on it.
It ended up being pretty darn accurate with the different weights. But I agree, you can’t just assume the baggage scale is always accurate.

 

Grab a harbor freight digital torque adapter. And calibrate your torque wrenches against it. It comes with a calibration sheet, mine was essentially spot on at all tested torques by the factory. I verified its accuracy as well with known weight and lever arms and its dead nuts on even way below its minimum torque (measured down to 5ftlbs and it was spot on). So now i calibrate my 1/4in, 3/8ths and 1/2in clicker wrenches against it.

 

Also, with ANY clicker torque wrench, make sure you always loosen it up (thats a given) but also make sure you check calibration each time you use it, temperature changes will mess with them

 

I had to weight in on this (pardon the pun), because I have tested many torque wrenches over the years and have consistently found that there seems to be a great margin of error at the lower end of the scale. Recently illustrated here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXZh5acjLbc

 

Worked on calibrating mine today. Got a 30lb kettlebell from Amazon. One wrench was spot on and one clicked to early. It can click at 30 lbs below 12 inches (10 inches). I adjusted ring clockwise to correct this, e.g. tightened 15 degrees.

 

My torque wrench has been calibrated by top members of the state and federal Departments of Weights and Measures, to be dead-on balls accurate. I routinely twist the maximum allowable torquage.

 

@McSwine How much did that cost? around here even a basic calibration is $50. I could essentially buy a new torque wrench for that.

 

You can take them to tire shops to check - most have a wall mounted verifier of some kind. My buddy took both mine and tossed 1 of them he said was bad.

 

Interesting, maybe Ill try that next time. Thanks for the tip.

 

Sorry man, not for real. It was a quote (more or less) from the movie My Cousin Vinny.