A very handy tool for creating alloy

[michiganmike]

Awhile ago I bought a DYMO® M3 Digital Postal Scale at Office Max. It was intended for postage. But I realized it could be a big help to me in creating my casting alloys. So, I bought another. They are available at Staples, Office Max, etc for $20 on up. They are electronic, digital, and accurate.

I pour my reclaimed COWW in mini muffin times. And I use a 10 lb. Lee furnace. Using the scale I can accurately determine how much tin, lyno, pure lead etc. to get the "recipe" I want. I know that this forum is filled with clever, experienced casters. So, I am likely preaching to the choir. That said, I have found this to be a very handy tool for dialing in the alloy I want.

Happy Casting and Shooting,

MichiganMike

[MBTcustom]

Very true. I use scales quite a bit. All of my alloy is now certified, and all it takes is one lazy moment where I throw a bunch of stuff together, and suddenly, I no longer know what I have! Getting it recertified always ends with me saying "how in the world did I manage to get THIS?!?!?!?" I have resolved to keep careful records, keep the alloys separated and labeled, and if I make something new, I write down exactly what I did. I find that when I keep good records, I can build alloys and never get too far away from something that will actually test what it is supposed to.

I started this whole thing by throwing all my weird alloy experiments together into 150lb batches, had each one certified, then I built each one into one common alloy.

None of this is possible without good scales.

[dondiego]

Where do you get alloy "certified"?

[MBTcustom]

Where do you get alloy "certified"?
Anywhere that has a calibrated way to measure the exact composition of an alloy. Rotometals can do it for a fee, but if you're lucky, your local scrap yard will have an XRF gun they can shoot your alloy with and print you out a list of elements contained by it. Just remember to take the results with a grain of salt. Nearly all of these tools have a lot more resolution than they have accuracy, so below a certain percentage (.05% typically) the numbers cannot be trusted and should be ignored.

[Echo]

Different elements (Sn, Sb, Pb, Cu,&cetera) diffract the x-rays different amounts, and that is how they measure percentages - by where the diffracted rays impinge, and how much. So they do not work just on the surface. I think...