How necessary is a torque wrench for knife rotation?

[Ken Platt]

Folks - I'm rotating the knives on my spiral cutterheads, both jointer and planer, for the first time. The recommendation is to tighten the screws with a torque wrench, set at 48-50 inch pounds.

Problem is, this is the very lowest setting on my torque wrench, and it's a 3/8", so in order to use it for a torx screw, I have to use the 3/8" to 1/4" drive adapter, then the socket itself, then the torx bit in the socket. I think between this low setting on the wrench, and the play in having the adapter, socket, and bit attached, the wrench just isn't working, meaning it doesn't click. (It seems to clicks as it should if I test it on a regular nut-head bolt with a socket attached directly). I managed to strip one screw with it, too.

So, to make this work, it seems I'd need a lower-range torque wrench with a torx bit socket, which'll end up running maybe $60 or so total. I'm always very happy to buy more tools, but I do try not to buy stuff I don't really need and will not use much. (To be fair, my record on tool purchasing that way is pretty mixed...)

So I'm wondering if anyone's done this job without the torque wrench, just tightening the screws by feel, and how did it work out? Thanks -

Ken in Granby, CT

[Brian Runau]

I have never changed these, but I did work in the mechanical power transmission industry and if a manufacturer says to do that it is for safety. You will need to change these over the years, might as well have the right tool. Brian

[Brian Holcombe]

Fix-it sticks are probably a good way to go on this.

[Warren Lake]

Years back a finishing expert told me he did a seminar and a few people said they didnt need gauges as they could tell the pressure they were spraying at. He called them on that and non of them were right. I had one wagon in to a shop id never gone to for a cert.

All was marginal as id already had it apart and did adjustments. I figured it would fail. It passed he said it was a great car. When I took the wheels off on one side I broke my bar. Clearly wheels put on with an air gun., other side so loose not sure they were even torqued on. Moron.

I like calipers and I like torque wrenches even for the peace of mind. As long as its in good shape and calibration checked every once in a while,

[Ronald Blue]

Get a 1/4" drive torque wrench. The problem is when you are at the minimum setting it may not be accurate even though it's supposed to be. Think of it like a pressure gage. You need 11 psi and it starts at 10. Can you be sure it's responding accurately? It's so close to the range limit that it is unreliable. My experience is also it's such a "light click" it's easy to miss. Just my .02. A 20-200 inch lb at Oreilly's is $30.

[Warren Lake]

yeah thats why when you use a dial you dont start from zero you preload it first some amount then zero it. Have no experience with those inserts. Ive asked about shaper spindle torque a whole number of times and silence.

[Andrew Hughes]

When I had a jointer with inserts I rotated the inserts plus a whole new set without a torque wrench. I did have trouble with some of the threads and had to chase them with a tap. But I didn’t break a insert
I do not have a jointer with a insert head anymore.
I do have a planer with inserts I bought the fax max torque wrench because I was breaking a lot of inserts.
Good Luck

[Scott Winners]

I have a small torque wrench, it ranges from 10-60 in/lb. Mine is a few years old but the price tag on it is $54.95, found in the long range riflery area of a sporting goods store.

In this situation I think of it as safety gear. If one of those cutters comes off it will -most likely- bounce around inside the machine and possibly cause me to wet your pants. If it gets loose in the shop at whatever speed it could be a big deal.

Alternatively, compared to the annual deductible on my health insurance, or the copay for an ER visit, $60 for a torque wrench seems cheap.

[Ron Citerone]

Yeah, I am with the others who think you should just buy the wrench.

[Mark Bolton]

Watch any video out there with people running 250K-1.5M machining centers. Very few if any bother with tourque'ing inserts that are working in the several tenths range (0.0005). Its not necessary. Search Edge Precision on Youtube. working in the tenths range by default and never torques inserts. This has been beaten to death here. Use the search function before you post and you'll most likely find your answer.

[Ron Citerone]

Mark, you make a great point. I agree that may be the right path for an experienced person. The OP, by asking the question has some doubt so that is why if I were him, I would buy the wrench for peace of mind.

[Bill Space]

OK.

But to the OP. Just buy the damn proper size torque wrench. They are not that expensive.

How long do you expect to live?

That will be the only question as far as payback.

Just do it the right/best way. Not rocket science...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Some things, like carbide, are brittle. A slight over torque will fracture them. Professionally I had 3 torque wrenches that were calibrated annually. Retired, I have 3 different torque wrenches at home. I bought one for torquing the carbide cutters on my Grizzly G0490X jointer. The replacement carbide bits cost $46.90 for a 10 pack. A beam type 1/4" inch pound torque wrench runs approximately $25 on Amazon and a digital one can be had for less than the cost of a 10 pack of carbide cutter bits. It's your choice.

[mike stenson]

A CDI TorqueControl is 2-8 Nm, your spec is 5.5. They're reasonably priced (for a CDI), reliable and easy to use because they are torque limiting tools. They hold standard 1/4" hex bits. They include a couple T25 bits with it. I have that, some fix it sticks, and actually several other torque wrenches that can work in this range. The CDI is my go-to.

[Tom M King]

What is the stated proper torque? It might be possible that a gold club head adjustment tool would work, but I don't have any insert heads, so have no idea about the torque.

https://www.amazon.com/Torque-Wrench...33989577&psc=1 They click, and release at the target torque.

I like my inch pound Gearwrench torque wrench- forget what it cost, but not a whole lot.

I bought a set of Snap On torque wrenches that came from a race team sale. They go up to a 1" drive 1500 lb. one. The 1" bolts holding the loader on a tractor called for something like 1152 ft./lbs. The 1500 lb wrench uses pipes for the handles. I called my Wife to help me torque those 1" bolts, because I was on the end of every pipe I had, a good 12' away, and couldn't see the gauge. She was on her way to Yoga class, and dressed for it. She was bent over, looking at the gauge, and holding the end of the 13" long 1" drive extention, just as calmly as could be, calling out, "Keep going, keep going, keep going, stop.", while I was worrying with a Lot of my weight on the bending pipes. I was glad when we got there.