Kamasa 56094 Torque Screwdriver Set for Bicycles

I was pretty impressed when I first opened the package, both the box and the tools appeared to be good quality. Considering it was one of the cheapest torque screwdrivers on Amazon, I was not expecting much.There were no instructions, but I quickly worked out that the chrome socket and bar was to wind up the internal tension spring to produce the torque setting desired (second pic). Those settings were marked on the dial with numbers representing Nm, and as the spring was tensioned there is a little red line that moves up the scale. It is easy to get a fairly accurate setting from that.With the help of Google, I converted my in/lb settings to Nm and started with the lowest at 2Nm. It was a fairly small hex head and I was cautious, but there was a reassuringly solid click when I reached my target setting. I repeated this for all the bolts and moved on to a larger bold requiring 3.4Nm. A lot harder to twist the screwdriver, but this was reached without hassle too. I moved onto my other scopes and finally had one that required a flat headed screwdriver (none supplied or listed, but they are in the photo as being part of the set - they are a standard size, so I borrowed on from another screwdriver set I have). This required 4.5Nm and was very hard to achieve, and barely managed.I believe a tool would be required to achieve torques above 5Nm unless you have a very good grip and arm muscles to match (not me!) the tool would be like an 18mm hex key inserted in the end (third pic). Though again, without instructions I have no idea if the plastic case was designed to take that sort of mechanical effort.So in summary, excellent tool for the money. Instructions should have been provided. Correct picture on the advert would be helpful, and a few more heads, particularly flat blades would be useful for those that don't have other sets. But not really a game changer. It did what I wanted very well and very easily, and probably accurate enough for my needs.

While this is great value for money on the face of it I am a little disappointed in some of the features.1. You need power lifter levels of grip to achieve the top torque settings because although it looks like you get a tool with the T bar and mini socket to apply more force tightening bolts, in fact that bar is simply to set the torque of the tool. I’m fairly average strength I think and it’s tough without extra leverage. There is a hex insert moulded into the plastic of the handle but I’ve yet to find a suitable insert and worry it would split the casing if I did...2. Loosening bolts is not really this tool’s forte. The instructions say not to loosen bolts with the torque set, but winding it off makes the tool feel soft and I’ve decided to use Allen keys for loosening instead of potentially causing damage.This sounds like I’m really down on this torque driver but in reality up to 6Nm it’s very usable. The click at torque is positive and strong and setting the level whilst not intuitive is actually easy with the supplied T bar and small socket. I’ve given this 4 stars because nothing on my bike that I wouldn’t use a full torque wrench on uses more than 6Nm and it’s small, comes in a nice case and works well. I just wish they’d provided an adapter to use the T bar make the top settings more accessible.

This is about a third the price of the brand name certificated devices yet it is solidly made. This has been pointed out in other reviews, but it is also accurate, or rather predictably inaccurate. I calibrated it and found that it consistently read 0.3Nm high across the scale which means it is easy to compensate for and that they have got the right spring which might mean that all devices of this model could be similarly accurate or off by a constant amount. If you want to calibrate yours then a M10 bolt fits the nut recess on the bottom which with two locking nuts can be put in a vice and a suitcase weigh scale (calibrated against a known weight) applied to a lever (eg a socket wrench) of known length to give you Nm. Lever length x scale reading x 9.8 = Nm. you need to ensure you pull perpendicular to the lever and horizontally. It is not too hard to measure +/-0.1 Nm but you do have to play around with sockets to convert from the standard hex ending to something you can attach to your lever. The bolt in the base makes it all much easier as otherwise it is hard to hold.

I was not too hopeful that this would not be a bad purchase but now it has arrived and I have had a chance to use it I am delighted, it is excellent.The description put me off as I wanted it to set the torque of screws on my very expensive rifles and telescopic sights, not bicycles! It was not too obvious how it worked and I expected to have to turn it and read the gauge at the same time. I was wrong.It arrived in a good quality heavy duty plastic storage case and badged Kamasa which is a brand I am familiar with and like.In use, simply use the 6mm adapter socket and T-bar to wind the adjuster recessed in the end of the tool to the correct setting as displayed clearly in the side window. Once set, it will hold that setting. Now use it like a normal screwdriver and at the pre-set torque it will click loudly and release. It claims plus/minus 10% accuracy which is more than accurate enough. Rifle scopes tend to be torqued to around 2Nm range and Stock screws 7-8Nm so this tool covers all you might require for a gun (do check, all guns are different).For info: Converting Nm to inch/lbs 1Nm=8.85, 2Nm=17.7, 4Nm=35.4 and 8Nm=70.81 inch lbs