Scales for alloy blending, choices?

[Murphy]

Hello men,

This is my first post on this board. I joined this site a week or so back. I've been casting for 20 plus years now. Learned it all the hard way...school of hard knocks.
So I joined up here in search of better, more effiecent ways of doing things.

I've been to the chatroom several times now and meet some truly great fella's there. Waksupi, 45 2.1, rugerman1, Throckmorton (an old buddy actually), and several more.

Now for the question.

I've always strived to get as closely as I possibly could when trying to blend an alloy mix I wanted to try out. I've used cheap Walmart kitchen scales mostly. I've never been too happy with their quality. Seems you can weigh the same bar of alloy three times and get three different weights out of it.

I'm considering going on up to a heavier duty scale that will weigh up to 20 lbs at a time. Prices aren't too bad for one. I have several place's to chose from for buying one.

So, what do most of you use when weighing out different alloys before blending them?

Respectfully,

Murphy

[waksupi]

Murphy, I don't know if you were in chat last night, when Felix and I were discussing hardnesses. I use straight wheelweights for pretty much everything, except the .223. To that, I add a bit of tin for easier pouring.
You can experiment with various hardnesses, by using the oven hardening treatment. I have found by varying the temperature, you can get a wide range of hardnesses, and it is repeatable. Might as well save some money on that expensive stuff you are putting in the alloy.

[Johnch]

When I make a alloy .
I make big batchs .
Enough for a year or more .
For deer I use 40-1 , I made 21 lb ( 20 lb of pure lead and 1 lb of 50-50 )
For most rifle shooting I shoot WW +2% tin .
I made up 100 lb last summer ( 100 about 1 lb ingots + 2 lb of tin )
For pistol I shoot 3/4 range lead and 1/4 WW , last summer I made up a about 100 lb batch .

IMO if you make BIG batchs for later use , any differances in weight of a single ingot of WW dosn't hurt or afect accurey .

Johnch

[buck1]

I also make big batches, About 300Lbs at a time. I use a cheep bathroom scale to get close, and a hardness tester to fine tune my alloy.
BUT A buddy of mine has a scale to weigh rabbits and small critters like that , I would recomend something like that. You may check a feed store. ....FWIW........Buck

[JohnH]

Big batches and a bathroom scale. If you are in doubt about the accuracy of the scale on the low end, weigh yourself without and then holding your sample.

I have a common 25 pound kitchen scale, won't return to "0" always stops at 4 or 8 ounces, but weighs 1 pound real consistant. Go figure. Scales are relatively cheap. I once saw an old candy store scale in an antique shop for 40 bucks. Weighed to 20 pounds. If I'd had the cash I'd have taken it. I've also seen the step on scales like those in a doctors office for the same amount. If what you are doing is working for you at present, don't et in a hurry, you can find some really nice scales if you hunt around for not a lot of money.

[Jeffreytooker]

I have an old spring scale with a dial. It will weigh up to about 10#. I think the wife found it in a thrift store for about $5.00. If you are concerned about the low end weights just take enough Jac***ed bullets to weigh a pound and check the scale. If you are making a 100# 2% SN mix the most critical measurement is the SN. If all metal is weighed on the same scale the error will be constant and will not make any diffrence.

Jeffrey

[Buckshot]

..............Scales are pretty cheap, but the more accuracy you demand the more they cost. I'm sure they may be found other places, but on E-Bay there are lots of'em. I bought a digital small platform scale (plate about 10x10 inches) for $26 + $5 shp. It's supposed to be accurate to 1/4 ounce, which is good enough for postal weighing or most any other non-critical stuff. It goes to 50#'s. Certainly way more then required for blending up a batch of lead, unless you were doing just a couple pounds.

I really don't think that a couple BHN one way or the other really makes a difference you can see for better or worse. Most important to me at first is the alloy's castability. If it casts a good slug and is a bit softer I'll add a bit of lino and re-check a sample. If too hard I'll just add some soft scrap or pure lead and re-check.

..................Buckshot

[cbrick]

..............I really don't think that a couple BHN one way or the other really makes a difference you can see for better or worse. ..................Buckshot

I have done a lot of long range revolver testing with heat treated bullets. One such test was shooting 150 meter groups with all loads as close to the same as I could make them. Every round was virgin brass with primer pockets & flash holes uniformed, length trimmed. All powder was from the same can, primers from the same brick and all bullets from the same pot of alloy. The only thing changed was the bullets BHN via heat treating with a convection oven. I tested WW + tin in ranges from 11 to 30 BHN.

Buckshot is right. 1 BHN one way or the other does not effect groups. This FA 357 revolver, scoped from a solid rest will shoot 2 1/2 inch groups @ 150 meters with 192 gr, 18 BHN bullets at 1550 fps. It doesn't hurt the groups to use 17-18 BHN or 18-19 BHN but the larger the range in BHN the more groups and E.S. & S.D. open up.

Back to the topic of of this thread, I use a digital postal scale that weighs to 5 1/2 pounds. I cast my ingots into 5 pounders and weigh the tin and the ingots to get consistent alloy.

Rick

[imashooter2]

I use a bathroom scale as well.

[Edward429451]

I use a digital refrigerant scale off of my work truck. It only goes to 176 LBS but thats good enough for the amount of alloying that I do.

[Blackwater]

I have a Rapala scale for weighing fish. It'll weigh up to either 30 or 50 lbs., IIRC - can't remember which. It's "digital," but I don't know just how accurate it is. Need to try it against a certified scale at several weights, and see. It wasn't expensive, either.

[Lloyd Smale]

I do it in big batches and dont worry to much about being exact i have all of the alloys in 1,3and 5 lbs ingots and i just grab what i need and mix them together. Its never been off enough to effect accuracy or load developement.