Craftsman torque

[Dubdoc]

I've had this Craftsman torque wrench hanging on the wall for a loooooong time now. It's gotta go. Are they worth anything or does it go into the scrap bin?

[Northwoods]

Take it with you when you next go to a swap meet.

[coolford]

Most like that sell for $8.00 to $12.00.  Still a usable tool if you don't have any other torque wrench.

[Bill Houghton]

I'd be a touch amazed if you can get anything like $8 for it.  I see them at estate sales for anywhere from $1 to $5.

There was a time when beam-type torque wrenches were what you had unless you were a professional mechanic.  They're not expensive, and they're not hard to adjust to zero ("calibrate").  But other designs work better when you're torquing a fastener that's upside down in a constricted space or in other awkward situations, and, as the prices came down on those, people, including me, migrated to the better designs.  I think I still have one or two beam-type wrenches, including the first torque wrench I ever bought, back when we first started torquing the fasteners on the wooden cart wheels; but only for nostalgia.

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple that I've picked up. They were very reasonably priced.
-Don Houghton

[Jim C.]

Nice Don!  Those are in mint condition.  I'm pretty sure my dad had (has) one of those.

Jim C.

[papadan]

I still have the one my girlfriend bought me in 1974.

[Bill Houghton]

I still have the one my girlfriend bought me in 1974.

She obviously knew the old saying, "The way to the heart of a certain type of man is to buy him tools."

Do you still have the girlfriend?

[Downwindtracker2]

The spring click ones can go out, causing all sorts of grief. A beam type doesn't so can be used to check them. I don't know what happened to my '70s Craftsman, but I pickup one just for that reason.

[Todd F.]

Those Beam types are great for things like after you tighten down on the crush washer in a rear end and you want to check the running drag torque on the pinion. You can't do that with a "click" type torque wrench.
Todd F.