I'm pretty sure I saw a thread here some time ago about dating your snap on tools, but my searching isn't turning up the thread. Searching the web isn't turning up any hits that include torque wrenches in their id guide, plenty for regular hand tools though. ie; http://www.swedishwrench.com/snap-on_chart.htm I'm curious as to what year range this torque wrench falls into. Its a Snap On Torqometer TQ-250. Five digit serial number. No guard on the dial. I'm guessing its from the mid to late 70's. My '81 snap on catalog shows quards on the dial, and similar general construction, seems natural that the lack of guards and lack of knurling would make it a generation or two older. Any ideas or positive IDs out there? Alex.
I have a Snap-on torque wrench from the mid sixties and yours looks older than mine. If I can find it, I'll look for some numbers.
I had one very similar to that that I bought new in the mid-70s. But the logo on the dial on yours looks to be of an older style than that. I'd also guess 60s or even 50s.
Cool. You guys just gave me an idea of something else to do a search on, the logos. No doubt someone has done a web page of those. Alex.
I would never date something as high maintenance as a SNAP-ON Tool, hell I cant even afford the price of admission
if you want to pm the serial number to me i'll see if my snap on dealer can figure anything out. worth a try if you can't get it anywhere else.
How about 1950. At least it was available in 1950. I don't know when it was introduced. I left it big in case you wanted to print it out. This is catalog T April 1950. The TQ 250 model is in the inside of the catalog with the same dial as yours. They had several models. Your 250 means it was rated up to 250 foot pounds. The one on the cover is rated in inch pounds.
Thanks so far guys. I've had a mostly fruitless search for this. Surprisingly, it seems like personal pages of snap-on stuff is practically non existant (snap on one of those companies with an overly active legal department stamping out pages with its name and logo?) I did come across a couple items of interest, couple that with tommys catalog cover, I can say its probably from 1950-1970. =-) Not on the name plate, simply TQ-250. However, on the dial face, it has TQ-250-14, which I'm assuming is the dialplate part number. Looks like we'll get it narrowed down here. I don't want anyone to go out of their way, but if its something that he has at his fingertips for reference material thats another matter. Theres something about the 50's and Snap On tools for me. My ratchet it from 1951 (found it at the autowreckers), and I have a couple other late 50's wrenches (hand me downs). Would seem natural this torque wrench dates from the same era. - What I did dig up on the web would seem to indicate pre-70. I came across a snap-on ad from 1965 with a familiar face (attached, found on the polish epay site of all places), and a 1967 catalog cover that the "Snap On Tools" font caught my attention. I also found an old auction with a newer model TQ-250-xx (unreadable) which had a button on the dial and second pointer (also attached), and a 1984 calibration sticker. Also of interest in this epay ad is the fact there are two zeros on this dial, and the needle stop between the zeros. (mine has the needle stop at the 250ft/lb point). Given the info from you guys and the other tidbits, looks like it'll fall closer to the 50/60's than 70's. I'll try and get a better photo of the face soon. Alex.
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