Because this isn’t normally as expensive as your example it’s not really yikes. I have several TWs that are over 20 years old now. Only one that has ever needed to be adjusted in anyway is the 1/4 inch lbs one. They basically need to be redone by the time you open the box getting it back. The larger ones haven’t been sent out ever just a quick check on a tester and they are good. If you NEED certificates for a certain industry then that is still way cheaper than what you were charged. You can recalibrate a torque wrench with a weight and a tape measure. This isn’t anything crazy.
The bike industry need for torque wrenches is kind of unique. One it is very low values, which creates a huge margin of error from an end user, but also low reading tools usually suck at accuracy and precision. The second would be that a hair under usually means a part slips and a hair over means a part is damaged. There isn’t room for the error that unfortunately is built in. Finally unlike many applications where precision is the point of torquing something and not necessarily the accuracy, most bike parts are single or at most 2 fasteners so it is infact the value that is important.
Agree. My main idea for recalibrating that wrench I had was because of the snapped bolt. I was also curious how much it cost to do it, and what I would get back. It was cheaper than a new one, but only marginally. Sure the new one could be off, but it’s also new and not gummed up and trashed by id10t’s using them to loosen bolts like an existing wrench, excluding recalibrated ones. (For those sub-geniuses out there, it’s for ONE WAY operation!! I read the Amazon reviews of the Topeak little torque measuring device, and I can tell right away what they did!!***)
Also why I replaced the 1’4" drive I had. It ‘felt’ like it was off, and knowing what it cost to fix the larger one, I figured I’d just replace it. It wasn’t quite ‘break the bank’ expensive compared to the possibility of having to remove broke/busted/cracked small and usually really expensive parts.
And I come from a auto/motorcycle mechanic world, so if the specs say 45 ft/lbs, you had better get those bolts to that spec or there may be hell to pay. Getting water leaking because a gasket wasn’t torqued down enough can be a really expensive mess, and snapping head bolts can really suck it the remaining stud is deeper in a threaded blind hole. (Did that once, and even had a compression tester break in a spark plug hole in a very inaccessible area. Headaches galore)
If the fastener is important, torque it. If the wrench you’re using ‘feels off’, it very well could BE off. And if you don’t return my torque wrenches to ‘zero’, you’re likely to get it on your empty head.
I NEVER loan out tools. My dad used to loan me his tools!
*** And that reminds me: be sure of the type of wrench you have. One type will pop to tell you are at the specified torque, and others just show you the torque either on a vernier scale, or digitally display. (Both have to be set for the torque you need, or are looking for) If you have a measuring wrench and are expecting that pop, you are going to be over-torquing that fastener and the pop you hear will either be the fastener breaking, or the parts breaking. Torque on…
I read the Amazon reviews of the Topeak little torque measuring device, and I can tell right away what they did!!***)