Tension Wrench Design

[mattc]

Okay, I've been here a while but I've got a question regarding wrench design that maybe someone can answer or shoot me down in flames or whatever. We all know that the amount of tension we exert on the wrench is vital to our success in picking, and that for many beginners too much pressure is a common problem. Now, I come from a healthcare background, and I've seen these things called nerve testers, made from monofilament which flex at a certain amount of pressure (often 10g) when applied in a direction perpendicular to the skin.
Could a tension wrench which flexed once a certain, predetermined, degree of force was applied be a reality? Would the flexing of the wrench rob the picker of feedback? This wrench could, I presume, also find an application for locks with security pins and the like, where a small and controlled amount of pressure is needed. Maybe I'm trying to reinvent the wheel here, and maybe I'm just talking out of my ***, but I thought I'd throw my idea out there, just in case someone thinks "Yeah, that'd work for me."

Discuss

[cppdungeon]

I think tension wrenches already flex, but people don't know how much force they are applying.

--Cpp

[raimundo]

the specific tension would vary greatly from one lock to another, but I have thought about making a tensor that is like a torque reading wrench, so that one could read the specific force being applied.

However, tensors also get into a bind in the bottom of the keyway when they ground much of the tension into the cylinder wall. to build a proper torsion wrench for keyways, you first have to make a wrench that doesn't do that, probably by fitting a roller bearing under it in the keyway. I would love to have a few roller bearings in sizes to fill most of the the bottom of different keyways, but I haven't got serious about locating them. anything that could be put in the bottom of a keyway that would slip easily and keep the edge of the T W from cutting into the cylinder wall.

[mattc]

On reflection , I think the principle would need quite a lot of research and people's preferences and picking styles mean it would be better as an individual's tool. I'm still going to scrounge up some material to experiment with and see if the idea's sound; see how much force I use on different locks and see if I can produce a tension wrench that produces up to, but no more than a required amount of force. I've got a feeling that I'm going to be making a lot of tension wrenches that work best with one, particular lock and no others
Raimundo, good luck with the torque reading wrench. I'd be interested to see what it would look like, just make the numbers big enough for someone with eyesight as bad as mine to read..

[datagram]

I am likely very wrong, but isn't this being done by the weighted wrenches? They have adjustable weights that make for hands free auto-tension.

dg

[mattc]

In this post, a few of the pros & cons of weighted wrenches are discussed, and while they seem to have advantages (frees up a hand, constant tension), you could lose feedback and they're probably quite specific in their application; eg mounted locks only. With a wrench that flexes at a known force, the wrench is the same "classic" design we're used to, and feedback will hopefully be unchanged.

Drawbacks; I already have more wrenches than picks and it may all be just a daft idea borne of too little sleep

[Trip Doctor]

Don't those circular 'clock-like wrenches' do something like that?

[unjust]

i think once you get past the max tension you'll loose all feedback (or the majority) but up to that point you'd be fine. an easy way to test this out would be to slot, neck down or thin a few existing wrenches and see what works the best.

[patrickson]

I also think that locks are too different and the required torque pressure can depend on too many things (especially the age and the condition of the lock). Probably you would have to make way too many wrenches to cover a certain range of locks.
Still, I think it worth a shot : )
I m looking forward to the experiences, let it be good or bad.

[5thcorps]

I prefer manipulating the wrench instead of the wrench manipulating itself. A torque-tension wrench for me would cause me to lose the feel it has taken years to master and still not quite there yet