20 years in and I just learned I was using torque wrenches backward

I was tightening bolts on a 737 flap track back in March when my lead mechanic walks over and asks why my click-type torque wrench was set so loose. Turns out I had been reading the scale from the wrong end for probably 15 years, thinking the numbers got bigger clockwise. I always wondered why my fasteners felt way tighter than the setting indicated. Has anyone else had that moment where a coworker casually points out something obvious you've been messing up forever?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_fiona12d ago

Gotta say, I think you might be misreading the scale.

sagesingh12d ago

Wait, you think I'm misreading the scale? Did you see the little mark on the left side near the bottom? I swear it's right at the edge of the first big line, not the second one like you're saying. I checked it three times before I even wrote my first post. The light in here is terrible so maybe it's playing tricks on my eyes, but I'm pretty sure I'm right about where that line falls. That mark is so faint anyway, it could be a scratch on the ruler for all I know, but I trust what I saw.