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• This is a satisfyingly large click-type torque wrench. It has a 3/4” square drive, and a maximum setting of 600 foot-pounds. That’s the full weight of a 150-pound (70kg) person hanging off the end of the 4-foot (1.2m) handle. Unlike the wrenches on the left, this one succumbed to the bullies and uses Lbs-ft (pound-feet) on its scale.

• This large model has a dial that reads the torque, but inside we see that it works the same way as those on the left, with the addition of a gear mechanism that magnifies the deflection of the beam. It also adds a battery, light bulb, and buzzer that goes off when you reach a pre-set torque. It’s marked in foot-pounds, further making the point that both orders for the units are just fine.

• “Click” type torque wrenches have a scale you turn to set a desired amount of torque. When you have reached this amount, the handle suddenly snaps over a little (it feels a bit like cracking your knuckles). They are quick and convenient because you don’t have to look at a scale while using them, and often you have many bolts to tighten to the same torque.

• This style of torque wrench has a scale that tells you how hard you are turning. Small ones use units of inch-pounds and meter-grams, while larger ones are in foot-pounds or meter-kilograms. The English units may be given as pound-feet, which are the same thing as foot-pounds. The metric units may be newton-meters, which are numerically different than meter-kilograms.

• Torque Wrench

• Torque Wrench

• New Torque Wrench

• Torque Wrench

• This device does not measure torque. Instead it measures how far you have turned a bolt beyond a given starting point. Assembly instructions will sometimes say, for example, “tighten nuts finger-tight, and then ½ turn beyond”. This lets you get that measurement exactly right.

• This is a digital torque wrench. Its bulk is an obvious issue, but on the other hand, it has several separate memories for storing pre-set target torque values. When you get close it warns you with beeps, and then screams and flashes when you hit the target.

• People who have unreasonably expensive bicycles with delicate titanium frames use miniature torque wrenches to make sure that, even out in the field, they don’t overtighten their fasteners. Fortunately Nick is one of those people, so we have one to photograph.

Do you have a better example of this kind of tool? Let me know by leaving a comment, and include a picture of it if you can so everyone can see!