Terry, No torque measurements are necessary. I've always thought of fastener tightening this way: The purpose of the plate screws and rim bolts is to restrain the movement of the plate. If you're tightening one, the torque remains low until the fastener head has made contact with the plate, and the threads of the fastener have begun pulling upward on the threads in the rim or block. At that point, the torque begins to rise quickly. That's easy to feel. What does going much beyond that point accomplish? If they're all that tight, where is the plate going to go? Well, a tiny more can assure you it's truly seated, that you've used up the elasticity of the wood threads, and that it's not stripped; beyond that it's only the crushing of the wood fibers. If it strips with that little torque, it needed fixing anyway, and you can feel confident that wasn't your own, shall we say, excessive enthusiasm. Suppose ALL the fasteners were an eighth turn loose, due to seasonal movement. At, say, six threads per inch, that's between 0.010 and 0.020", depending upon elasticity. That just doesn't worry me too much. So, when you feel the torque just begin to rise, go just a little farther and that's enough! Bob Davis
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