A "torque wrench" or a "wrench"?

For an informal usage as you seem to have written in your example, I would say it doesn't matter.

A torque wrench is different from a wrench, however, so if you were using it in a more formal sense, like a training manual, I would specify the difference.

Apparently, a torque wrench has a gauge on it that measures how much torque you have applied to the bolt you are fastening, and thus it is important in cases where the tightness of the bolt needs to be precise.


A Wrench (spanner in BE) is to tighten or loosen a nut.

A torque wrench is used to finally tighten a bolt to the correct tension.

It either has a scale (analog or digital) or a clutch that is set to release at a certain torque.
Note: you wouldn't use a torque wrench to remove a nut - that's the point in the article.


There's a tip for you. When I want to learn about a technical word, I search the word in Google Images. As you can see, clearly there is a difference between normal wrench and torque wrench. A picture values a thousand words.