Torque wrench calibration: factory certified vs my own check, which do you trust?

I've got two torque wrenches in my box, a Snap-On that's due for its 12 month calibration and a cheaper Craftsman I check myself with a beam style adapter. The Snap-On came back within 2% at 80 inch pounds, but my homemade setup showed it off by 4% at the same setting last week. I'm not saying the calibration lab is wrong, but I've seen enough bad adjustments on actuators to wonder if field checks are more real world. Anyone else trust their own rig over the paper trail, or do you send everything out no matter what? I'm leaning toward ditching the extra cost and just logging my own numbers for smaller jobs.

2 comments

2 Comments

simonreed5d ago

Reminds me of how people trust the check engine light over the guy who actually built the car, ya know? Paper certs are nice but field testing is where the rubber meets the road. If your rig is repeatable and you log it clear, that's worth more than some lab stamp on a wall.

thompson.xena5d ago

Simonreed, that totally reminds me of the time my buddy's check engine light was on for weeks, turned out it was just a loose gas cap, meanwhile his actual engine was fine. He spent like 200 bucks at a shop before I told him to just twist it harder, lol.