Low cost BHN measurement

[Hawkeye45]

I had the opportunity to use this today and pass it on for those new casters.
To start with you need a couple of items usually found in the reloading room, or shop.

1 a steel ball bearing about a 1/4 to 1/2 in diam.
2 a hammer
3 a micrometer or calipers
4 a sample of pure leas and your alloy sample.

Find a flat spot on the pure lead sample, place ball bearing on this surface. Do the same with your alloy, only put it on top of the ball bearing, in essence you have a ball bearing sandwich. Smack the alloy above the ball bearing with the hammer, don't be gentle. Now measure the dent in both the lead and alloy as carefully as possible, a magnifier comes in handy here.
Then get your calculator out and divide the alloy measurement into the lead measurement and square the result. Multiply your answer by 5 (the BHN of pure lead)
and you have your alloy BHN.

5(dent in Pb/dent in alloy)squared =BHN of alloy.

There is a formula on page 115 of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd ed.

Hope this helps somebody.

Mr. Ed

[too many things]

huh by the time I done that I wouldnt need to know. would be very hard to tell In .0001 s

[Mike W1]

Actually the method developed in the American Rifleman years ago called for squeezing the ingots together in a vise. I've done it using a 1" ball bearing and it's pretty accurate and repeatable. Believe there was also mentioned that the indent shouldn't exceed over 1/4 the size of the bearing but I could be mistaken on that part. Anyhow reading the 2 indents with a magnifying glass and a caliper to .001 is easily done. You don't need it to .0001 inches.

[detox]

I thought you were supposed to squeeze the two lead halves together in vise with ball bearing centered between the two. Then take measurement

[HollandNut]

I think detox is right , seems I remember that myself

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Yep.... Ball bearing & 3# hammer is how I do it down here in Peru. Gonna be a price hard to beat.
The OP was based on "cheap". A 4 inch vice down here is over $100. That is not cheap. My old 3# has wacked things from Chatanooga (new) to Mexico and down here. That is cheap.
Mike in Peru