New Lee Hardness Tester good results

[10mmShooter]

Hey Everyone,

Got a new toy today, the Lee Hardness Tester. Been casting for a long time and just usually mixed "known" types of lead to yield something in the in the ball park of Lyman #2 in hardness roughly 14-16 BHN. I have on hand real Lyman #2 from Rotometals (90-5-5) and some dead soft fishing weights, and my real mono type/foundry type printers lead that I actually melted from the print letters, and a couple of my own recipes to test.

So heres what I had on hand to test:

1. Rotometals Lyman #2 (should be pure 90-5-5)
2. Foundry and Monotype that I melted I know its Extremely hard
3. Some very old dead soft old fishing weights(closest thing I had laying around that was pure Pb)
4. One of my mixtures of 5 parts COWW plus 1 part monotype
5. One of my mixtures of 3 parts recovered Range Lead plus 1 part monotype

As you can see the results where nicely in order, no surprises, the simple Lee Tool worked great and yielded repeatable measurements. Tomorrow I'll do some more samples but I expect no issues. :smile::smile:

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Repeatability is tricky you have to get your lighting just right and to use the microscope scale correctly, I made a fixture to hold the microscope tube to make it easy to get a good measurement. The Lee tool is good its not going to give you "exact" BHN but as long as you can read the microscope to a scale of +/- .004(which is easy to do) you get very good numbers to allow you control the hardness of your lead mixtures.

The Lee loading manual on page 107 provides a chart that converts the ball indentation measurement to PSI and then extrapolates a "rough" BHN number for you. Its the bottom line in GREEN

[bangerjim]

I have both the Cabine and the Lee scope testers. Had the Lee on back order so long, I gave up and ordered the Cabine which shipped in 2 days. Love it! Lee finally came after 3 months!

I rarely use the Lee any more as it takes too long. Will probably give it to a friend.

I have compared the two and they are relative close in results. I discovered you do NOT need to wait 30 seconds for a decent read with the lee! a simple bump-n-go is sufficient, Just make sure the little plunger is brought up even with the top. I have a many hundred dollar pro Brinell tester in my shop that does not wait 30 seconds....just bump and go. It is for harnesses starting at 75 and up.

Welcome to more accurate alloys! Enjoy your new tool.

Don't forget to download the spreadsheet alloy calculator on here!

banger

[ChaplainJohn]

10mmshooter can you either pm me or post a pic or drawing of the fixture you made for the lee scope? I am getting a little shakey and have trouble using the one I received with my new tester.

[10mmShooter]

Hi John,

Sorry it took a bit to get back to you. My fixture is nothing but a couple of wooden blocks with a hole drilled for the scope. I have not gotten around to making anything "prettier" yet. I figure I can use a dial indicatior holder at some point. The wooden fixture is effective and its cold in the garage maybe spring I'll make something out of metal. It allows you look through scope without having to hold it. So this eliminates your had shaking. Hope this helps

Just a couple of hints, best focus with the scope is when the scope is touching the lead sample.(use the clip on the scope to control depth in the fixture)

Also a small flexible desk lamp or flashlight is handy to the lighting correct to the read the scale.

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[Larry Gibson]

I picked up a kids microscope in an antique store for $12 - 13 including sales tax. Was easy to adapt it to the Lee Hardness Tester, had to drill one hole and use duct tape as a "bushing/color". Works very well, easy to use and quick to use. A dab of modeling clay is used on the card "slide" to hold a bullet in any position. The slide makes it real easy to align the scale on the indent. The microscope adjustment makes it very easy to focus the tester on the bullet indent.

Larry Gibson

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[detox]

I use Handitak to hold bullet. You can buy it at Walmart, Homedepot or Hardware stores
http://www.supergluecorp.com/super-glue/stationery/-office-products/handitak

[jmort]

We know that it is proven to be as accurate as anything out there, and is a great deal. Doing one of the suggest mods make a lot of sense. Thanks Larry Gibson and 10mmShooter for the pictures.

[Mal Paso]

Not my design but hard to beat for easy. This one is a Gatorade bottle.

[ChaplainJohn]

Thanks to all who replied, excellent ideas all but I happen to have an empty water bottle sitting right beside me Mal Paso. That's beautiful... When I saw the picture I slapped myself alongside the head for not thinking of it myself.
Blessings,
John

[jmort]

"Mal Paso. That's beautiful... When I saw the picture I slapped myself alongside the head for not thinking of it myself."

Me too, that is so simple, why didn't I think of it?

[RedHawk357Mag]

I just love this place:grin:

[rockshooter]

I use pretty much the same as Mal Paso- I use a water bottle and just cut an "X" in the lid- enough friction to adjust where the eyepiece goes.
Loren