1/2 or 3/8. Which one and where to buy. Click or digital.

I bought a like new super quality American made originally expensive 1/2" on eBay for $60 They seem to be cheap there for reasons I'll never understand...

I don't think that there is a 3/8 that will go up to 200 lbs.

I recently bought a new 1/2" Craftsman Pro clicker. It was on sale for under 60$. The digital ones with a beeper? .... I would not trust it.

click wrenches just tell you that a minimum torque was applied. They can change calibration really easily, ie dropping it, pulling it a different way, different speeds and such. I would not spend a lot of money on one that you are not going to have calibrated every year and is not accurate. Go buy a 50 dollar click wrench and save your money for other areas.

The purpose of torquing a fastener is to apply a known and consistent clamping force in the fastened joint. That being said a torque wrench is only slightly more accurate than doing it by feel. The clamping force can vary by as much as 40% when using a torque wrench. It is this reason that manufacturers have gone to torque to yield fasteners and race engine builders use stretch gauges.

The most accurate torque wrench you can get is the simple beam type but these tend to be inconvenient to use. The click type is very convenient but are less accurate and are very rugged (dropping it isn't going to impact the accuracy. The digital ones can be very accurate or not any more accurate than the click, don't be tricked by the digital read out, its the internal method used to measure the torque that counts. The dial type are OK but don't take much abuse.

IMHO, get a mid price click unit and make sure every time you are down with it turn it back to zero so the spring is not preloaded all the time.

I like my S-K, american made, and I think it was ~$90 when I bought it.

Thanks all for feedback. Interesting read too.

Find a good used SnapOn click flex head.Mines 29 years old and has been used more than most here.Ive sent it back twice in 20 years to have it recaled and its been dead on.They also made a good dial one that I like.Rocky

I hardly ever use my expensive Snap-On dial type torque wrench because it won't register LH threads.

I like my reasonably priced, K-D torque wrench much better.

we have a annually calibrated torque wrench tester at work and one guy has a digital snap on wrench. im not impressed with it at all. its accuracy isn't any better than the average click type and it eats through the batteries for some reason. all the craftsman wrenches were so inaccurate they owners were told to take them home. this style Snap-On http://bobsbest.tripod.com/snap_on/snaptorqnew.jpg is a really nice wrench if your using it allot. the proto torque wrenches always test really accurate as does the mac, matco, k-d wrenches.


i bought a proto wrench used off ebay and when i got it thepin that holds the head in place was falling out. i sent it into proto to have it calibrated and repaired and they sent me a brand new wrench free of charge. i was pretty impressed with there customer service.

this is the wrench i bought. http://www.stanleyproto.com/default.asp?...r+Torque+Wrench

(dgc33 wrote
The most accurate torque wrench you can get is the simple beam type but these tend to be inconvenient to use. The click type is very convenient but are less accurate and are very rugged (dropping it isn't going to impact the accuracy. The digital ones can be very accurate or not any more accurate than the click, don't be tricked by the digital read out, its the internal method used to measure the torque that counts. The dial type are OK but don't take much abuse.)


I have to disagree with you on this one, I conduct classes in torque and torque wrenches at my company. Beam wrenches are good, however they still can be influenced by how the person pulls the wrench. Look at an assembly wrench like the Ingersoll Rand ETW series, these wrenches allow you to assemble fasteners to a preprogrammed torque. They will indicate when the torque is achevied and will also let you know if the bolt is over torqued. They have transducers in the wrenches which are more accurate than a beam wrench.

FWIW, my first job out of college was developing torquing specs for jet engines at Pratt & Whitney. Plus I also was a process engineer responsible for the assembly of high pressure measurement instrumentation that employed a lot of standard piping flanges that required torquing. So, I have had a fair amount of experience with torque measuring devices and how to use them.

I have no experience with the IR wrench you mentioned but did take a look at the specs. Its certainly quite a piece but I don't think its going to be in the budget for home shop. Plus the advertised accuracy is +/- .5% of full scale which in the case of the 180 Nm model is almost 7 ft-lbs. Certainly no better than a quality beam type wrench. The ability of this wrench to record and report over torqed fasteners is a huge advantage in a production environment but is less of a nessity for personal use where people are less rushed and take more personnal responsiblity for the quality of the work they are doing.

The biggest issue with the beam type is you are not always in a position to see the scale easily and do not always have the proper leverage to to pull on the wrench smoothly at higher torque levels. But it does have the ability to provide a very accurate reading.

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I hardly ever use my expensive Snap-On dial type torque wrench because it won't register LH threads.

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It's tough living in a right handed world. I know from experience. Lefty's don't get no respect.

I have had many brands of tourque wrenches over the years,including Craftsman and SK and the brand I highly recommend and currently own is OTC.1/2 inch drive which is 25 to 250 ft lbs,tool # 7378 and 3/8 drive which is 100 to 1000 inch lbs,tool #7375.These are both clicker type and are all metal construction,with no plastic lock rings to break or painted on dial numbers to wear off.These wrenches are not cheap but are well worth the extra cost,and both come with plastic storage cases.There are some tools you can go cheap on but tourque wrenches should not be one.

I bought a used Matco clicker type 1/2" drive at a pawn shop, like new for $90. My buddy works at Caterpiller and gets it calibrated for me twice a year. The guy that does the calibration recommends leaving them on the lowest setting when not in use.