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Why I stopped using a torque wrench on every single bolt
Last month in the shop, I was rebuilding a vintage Campagnolo crank and torqued the pinch bolts to spec, but the crank still had play. My boss, who's been at this for 40 years, told me to just tighten it until it felt right, and it worked perfectly. When do you guys decide to go by feel instead of the number on the wrench?
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viola_allen2mo ago
Experience taught me feel matters more sometimes.
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patricia_gonzalez2mo ago
My friend Sarah, a baker for twenty years, never uses a timer for her sourdough. She just puts her hand on the oven door and knows. She told me the exact feel of the heat on her palm means more than any clock.
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nancyj111mo ago
20 years of sticking your hand near a hot oven and she still hasn't burned herself? That's a win for natural selection I guess. My grandmother used the same trick with her apple pies and she still had to replace three oven doors from cracking the glass. Look, I get that experience gives you a feel for things, but calling it "more than any clock" is a bit dramatic. A $10 digital timer with a beep is way more reliable than your palm on a 400 degree surface. It's just baking bread, not defusing a bomb. You can trust your gut and still use a timer.
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miles_burns2mo ago
It's more that experience helps you trust your gut. The feel comes from the practice.
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