Torque

Hi, Engineering is not my field, so please be kind. I need to manually feel what winding a spring with 35-160 inch ounce torque feels like in order to complete a prototype. Is there a simple way to do this? Thanks so much. Lisa (toofarblonde@aol.com)

 

[jonralph]

You could get a torque wrench in this range (snap on have them small enough with a 1/4" drive. Make up some sort of adaptor between the 1/4" drive on the wrench and your key, set the wrench to 160 in/oz set it inot a vise or imobilise it some way and turn the key till you get a click. (torque wrenches click at a set amount of torque). The key wont actually turn but the amount of force required to get a click will give you a good indication of what it feels like. Obviously the amount of force required will vary depending on the diameter of the key.

Hope this helps but drop me a line at jralph@pslg.com if you require anything further.

 

[Ron]

Lisa911,
To give you an idea, your maximum torque of 160 in-oz will feel like picking up something that weighs about 10 lbs with your index finger and then flexing your finger at the first joint. Pretty tough, huh?! Assuming you are winding this spring closely around a stem (within maybe an inch or so of the stem), then you can expect to use about the same effort as would be required to open a pickle jar or other vacuum sealed jar. Pretty stiff for hand tightening, but easily do-able! The lower end of your scale will be very easy to gage. You should be able to spin that torque with little effort...kind of like the lid after the initial loosening is done.

 

[butelja]

What using taking a wooden dowel, some string, and some small weights? Wrap the string around the dowel, and calculate what weight is needed to generate the torque based upon the dowel radius. Remember, Torque = Force * Radius.