twisting off grade 8 bolts

[daugen]

I bought the electric model since I don't have a large air compressor, and all I was doing at the time was taking off lawn mower blades. Now I'm into a little larger stuff for sure.
That Ridgid looks nice, but is even longer/larger than my Dewalt, so would be harder to get under mower decks, but obviously just fine for wheel bolts. Nice looking tool.
One of these days I'm going to bite the bullet and get a decent air compressor. Then what rating should I look for in an impact gun?
Sure would be nice if you could dial in the tightening torque with some accuracy...and I wouldn't want something too heavy either.

One last question...is there an alternative system to grade 5/8 used overseas? Sometimes I see numbers on the bolt, and that makes me leery, instead of hash marks, and sometimes the hash marks
don't look very "official" either. What can be relied upon?
Drew

 

[Soundguy]

remember.. metric bolts have a different rating.

as for compressor / gun.

watch lowes and home despot I got a ?husky? ( rebrand of a campbel hausfeld ) 60g upright 3.2hp setup for 450$ It's a beast compaired to my old system. makes 135 psi air.. keeps up with an air sander, paint gun.. metal cutter, sand blaster and even my 1" air gun.

I got a 3/4 and 1" air gun from harbor freight on clearance.. kilelr deals. usually they offer 2 in each size.. one just 10-20% cheaper but at LIKE HALF the torque.. pay the extra 10-20$ and get the heavier one.

also flip for a real 1/2" id hose and use the large bung ont he tank for the air guns..a nd the smaller 3/8 bung for the painter and tire filelr hose.

that 1" gun I got will buxx bushhog bade nuts off OR twist the shank off.. either works for me.. ( since I don't reuse hog shoulder bolts or nuts for safety reasons.. )


PS.. you can get torque limiting color coded extensions that slip at specified torque.. however.. using on an air gun and they will slip too fast and/or wear out quick.. better on manual pull setup.

in areas that needs torque but precision.. I buzz them down 90% witht he air gun and then finish on one good long pull with the torque wrench to set them..

 

[Yellowhair42]

What does spauld mean?

 

[kensnelling]

One last question...is there an alternative system to grade 5/8 used overseas? Sometimes I see numbers on the bolt, and that makes me leery, instead of hash marks, and sometimes the hash marks
don't look very "official" either. What can be relied upon?
Drew

Metric bolts marked 8.8 are the equivilant to SAE/USS Grade 5
Metric bolts marked 10.8 are the equivilant to SAE/USS Grade 8
Just guessing on this one, but an unmarked metric bolt would be equal to a SAE/USS Grade 1/2

Ken

 

[Gale Hawkins]

What does spauld mean?

Shoulder bolt perhaps?

Spauld - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

 

[BukitCase]

"What does spauld mean?" - more likely a hand-me-down from spall (ed)

spall - definition of spall by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

I've also heard "gualded" instead of "galled", which is probably more accurate for metal parts.

 

[daugen]

Metric bolts marked 8.8 are the equivilant to SAE/USS Grade 5
Metric bolts marked 10.8 are the equivilant to SAE/USS Grade 8
Just guessing on this one, but an unmarked metric bolt would be equal to a SAE/USS Grade 1/2

Ken

good to know, and easy to remember, thank you Ken.

 

[daugen]

I got a 3/4 and 1" air gun from harbor freight on clearance.. killer deals.
funny, I don't even have a decent compressor,and I saw HF's "upmarket" air ratchet wrench, 3/8, and bought it, thinking it would be helpful to take apart my 1968 cub cadet 125 I am renovating. It was heavy, and very well made. I bought a Sears air compressor about five years ago, allegedly decent quality small-medium size, and it makes so much noise I can't stand to run it for any longer than to fill tires. What an awful racket when it runs in my home garage. So my nice air ratchet sits in the tool box, ahem, with a few other great ideas of mine... I've been studying the Northern Tools catalog for air compressors and tools, sure are lots of choices. Most of the compressors seem US made, most of the tools not, until one gets up to pro grade. I'd like quiet, compact tools, but first I need a decent compressor. And the quieter ones seem super expensive.

One really interesting thing I learned in this thread is that spraying some WD40 on a bolt about to be tightened changes its torque values. I do that lightly for lawn mower bolts to help with the inevitable moisture/rust problem under the deck, but never knew it had consequences. Never had a problem either, so I'm probably sticking within the range, unknowingly. Or I'd be twisting off bolts too.

 

[Soundguy]

that loud air compressor is likely an oil-less one... they make a ton of racket.
.. air cyls chambers wear out faster than an oil lubed compressor..

soundguy

 

[daugen]

I wish, I bought a nicer oil lubed one, changed the oil at ten hours, etc, etc, and still noisy. guess one has to build an enclosure for one of these things.