Finds: Swench Manual Impact Wrenches
By Chuck Cage
What do you do when you need a lot — and we mean a lot – of torque in a place where you don’t necessarily have power or air available? Kevin sent us a tip about a tool he used on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers while in the Navy that’ll fill that bill perfectly: the Swench Wrench.
It’s a spring-loaded impact wrench. As you turn the wrench, it stores energy by loading up a spring inside its head. Once you’ve turned the wrench about 30 degrees, it suddenly releases the spring, powering that energy back into the bolt or nut. Kevin said, “When three guys and a four-foot cheater bar couldn’t free a bolt, we brought out the swench.”
Kevin also said that their website is a bit cheesy but worth a look; He’s right. Their “little” model 625-50 cranks out 500 ft-lbs of torque, and their Goliath model 1500 spins up a whopping 7,000 ft-lbs. Now that’s some torque.
Pricing’s a bit whopping, too. The 13-5/8″ long 625-50 goes for $612, and the massive 39″ (to 60″ with extension handle) 1500 runs $4,400. Then again, it sounds like some of Swench’s prime buyer is the US government, who probably doesn’t flinch at this kind of pricing.
Yeah, it’s a bit expensive. But if we could afford one, we’d have one.
Swench Manual Impact Wrenches [PowerHawk]
September 15th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
[…] Finds: Swench Manual Impact Wrench A reader (thanks, Kevin) wrote in to call our attention to this incredible tool which he used in the Navy. It’s a spring-loaded impact wrench; You crank it around 30-degrees or so winding up the spring, then BANG! It lets go and drives (with the biggest version) up to 7,000 ft-lbs of force. Holy crap. Even the little version whacks out 500 ft-lbs. […]
September 15th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Just a followup, I called Swench and they do not make a “home” version of these at all. Hopefully this thing will come down in price to where a weekend mechanic could make use of it, but I suspect that they are comfortable in their niche for the moment.
September 15th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
Sounds similar to the impace wrench used on the Space Shuttle. They may not have a “home” version, but I wonder how much the “orbit” version is?
September 18th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Wow! These are really cool but for the price I could get a pneumatic impact AND a compressor!
September 19th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
i just bought a old modal #500 swench wrench at a garage sale it is awsome
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I bought a 750 from a military surplus after it came out of an auction.
I was suspicious when I had to pay out $20, but it works freely. I gave $35 each for the impact extension and dual sized impact socket!
Now I can finally change the blowout on my RV?:~)
June 19th, 2007 at 7:36 am
I have a model 750 swench for sale. I have had it for years. Works great. Selling price is $200.00. No sockets.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:31 am
[…] The Swench Model 750 [PowerHawk] Finds: Swench Manual Impact Wrenches [Toolmonger] PeterP’s Comment [Toolmonger] […]
September 12th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
[…] A reader tipped us off to the Swench manual impact wrench, some models of which can deliver over 1,000 ft-lbs of torque. He used it on a nuclear aircraft carrier, so it should fit right in around your garage. […]