Found out my torque wrench was 30% off by accident at a shop swap

I was at a local co-op swap meet last month and one of the old-timers had a calibration tester setup. He let me check my 3/8 drive clicker that I've trusted for 5 years. It was reading 30% low, all my headset and stem bolts were way under spec. Turns out I'd dropped it off a workbench twice and never thought twice about it. Anyone else ever had a tool quietly fail on them like that, or do you send yours out for calibration regularly?

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stella3071mo ago

Damn, that hits home in a weird way. It's like the stuff you trust the most is exactly what breaks quietly, no warning, no drama. You don't notice because it still works enough to fool you, and then one day you find out it was lying to you the whole time. I feel like that happens with so many things in life, not just tools, but relationships, habits, even the way we think about ourselves. We assume nothing changed until something forces us to check, and then we realize it's been off for years. Good on you for catching it at that swap meet, most people never get that chance and just keep guessing wrong forever.

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