Lee Hardness Tester Scope Holder

[GP100man]

It`s cheap but it works & is adjustable!!!

[kelbro]

Clever!

[PepperBuddha]

http://bbdart.com/smile/icon_thumright.gif

[HeavyMetal]

That's a clever idea!

While yard sailing a year or so ago I stumbled onto a toy microscope. A quick removal of a few screws and I was able to fit the Lee scope right in!

Placing a boolit on the platform and I just dial the scope up or down as needed to read the scale. Never could get the darn thing to hold still in my hand.

I'd like to see a larger picture of this made into a sticky?? Many who want a hardness tester might benifit from a larger view of this. Not everyone will be as lucky as I was and, had I seen this first, I might have saved a couple bucks!

[GP100man]

HM

I`ve been cruisin` yard sales for a useable micro scope since I saw your thread but so far no dice !!

The theory is solid but holdin the lee scope by hand is "shakey" at best!!!LOL

[mroliver77]

Ooh ooh! Now where is the piece of junk wannabe microscope the kids had? I like this and the bottle top setup.
Jay

[Trapaddict]

Very nice!

Jeff

[onondaga]

Hi, How does this help you? I use the Lee tester microscope. Moving the scope and bullet to get the test dimple in view of the scale of the microscope is the hard part and I can't understand how keeping the area you have under a plastic dome would help to manipulate the bullet or scope. How are you using this?

I use a small machinist's vice to grip bullets and the microscope bottom will ride on the flat top of the vice jaws. It is not easy but the bullet stays still and the microscope slides to find the dimple. I put the bullet in the vice with the dimple up and level with the top of the vice jaw.

gary

[edsmith]

GP100man That is great idea.

[PacMan]

As always i do thing diffrently.Instead of filing the bullet down i take one with a really good clean base or file it down if needed and stand it up nose down in my press to use the indenter. After that i put the bullet back in the mold so that i have somthing to hold the bullet to take a reading.
Dwight

[BudRow]

dwight & Gp100man both are great ideas! I think if you cut a segment out of the pop bottle just big enough to slide the boolit mould in that that would be the best combination of both ideas. I might add that to make reading the scope digits easier, I slip a piece of white paper to cover half or almost half the dimple. This makes a better contrast as oppoosed to gray lead v. silver dimple. Best Wishes, Bud

[Papa Jack]

There is another thread or several others here someplace covering these Lee Micro Scope holders, Search the threads.....There were several really good ideas....
I need to make a holder for mine too, I used a Dial Indicator holder and moved the boolit under the scope......kinda worked. "PJ"

[onondaga]

Hey Dwight! I don't want to be the spoil sport, But check the directions that came with the Lee Hardness Tester, man . Lee specifically says not to check hardness on the bullet base because that is the last place that cools and that is where the porosity forms so it is the area where hardness testing has least validity and most variance. I have checked flat nose bullets on the nose but only on bullet molds that are base pour molds with the sprue on the base.

All joking not aside, Are you one of those guys that never reads directions or one that just likes to be contrary. These are bullets you are measuring the hardness of not ping pong balls. I'd think you would prefer the most valid numbers.

Gary

[462]

Here's my quandry:
Lee says to file a flat on the side of a boolit and make the indentation on the flat. Okay, that makes for a nice wide spot to indent and set the scope on. However, lead work softens and filing a flat creates an area softer than the rest of the boolit, resulting in a reading that is less than actual hardness.

I wrote Lee, about this, and their answer was that the flat is required for indentation purposes, however, there was not an answer to the question of work softening and an inaccurate measurement.

Does filing a flat result in a dubious measurement? Seems to me it would. I indent an undisturbed nose or a wide enough drive band.

[montana_charlie]

However, lead work softens and filing a flat creates an area softer than the rest of the boolit, resulting in a reading that is less than actual hardness.
I can't say with any authority that this is correct, but this is my take on 'filing a flat'.

When you work harden a metal you beat on it or pull on it to make it compress or stretch. We can suppose that similar activities will cause lead to work soften.
But passing a file over a piece of metal cuts material away from the main piece.
It's not compressing or stretching...it's cutting.

If you created a flat by tapping the bullet with a hammer, I would share your concern. But that's not what the directions call for.

Personally, I use a sharp chisel and plastic mallet. I have a little jig that holds a bullet with it's base against a step so that it doesn't move as I slice a thin layer off with a single tap.

CM

[Doc Highwall]

The reason you file a flat is because you will get a softer reading next to an edge. If you have something to make a small ingot that will give a flat surface just use it for hardness testing. The small mini muffin pans will work.

[Kraschenbirn]

My solution was to bore an old Lee powder-thru-the-die expander to accept the microscope tube then drill and tap the aluminum funnel part to use a 1/4"-20 nylon bolt as a set screw to hold it in place. This lets me leave the test boolit (or other sample) on the shell-holder V-block while I take a reading.

Bill

[462]

'If you have something to make a small ingot that will give a flat surface just use it for hardness testing."

I asked Lee about ingot testing, too. The answer was that an ingot takes so long to cool that measuring one will give an accurate reading.

[454PB]

Try using a dial caliper to measure the dimple.

After several attempts at making a "holding jig", I did a few tests to compare measurements using the microscope and just a hand held dial caliper. The results were within one BHN of the same.

[montana_charlie]

Try using a dial caliper to measure the dimple.
That's what I do. I have a good headband magnifier to wear while working the bullet and calipers under a strong light.
CM

[Jim]

GP, that's brilliant, Man!

[GP100man]

My understanding of the scope is to have it the correct & consistent heigth from the boolit !
wiether ya use the nose , base or file a flat on the side this basic concept is the same !!

I set the boolit unfiled & put a dent in the nose . then set the bullet nose up & the scope level with the height of the boolit, your very close & will only have to move the scope a minimal amount to get a reading !

I use isotope alloy & got 10.5 way before I looked on sql bullets link to the containers & there bhn readings !

Keeps me from going blind in 1 eye anyways LOL!!

[trapper9260]

I had made my own type of holder for the scope. I first have a board of about 10"x10" about 3/4" thick 5/8" will work and drill a 1/4" hole in one coner about 1" away. and have a carriage bolt of 1/4" about 4 or 5" long and then coner bratket that is about 2 1/2" long the wone with 2 holes and also 2 1/4" nuts . and 2 lats like for the bottom of the board. After you have the hole drill . Put the carrage bolt in it and then you put one nut on the bolt ,you can add a flat washer or a palnut. and then you put the coner bratket on with it looking like a L but backwards with the first hole use for the bolt and then the next nut on top and then you place the scope on the bratket and then you can adjust the hight of the scope with the nuts and then the scope to fine tune it to have your reading . I came up with this my self and I have not a problem with my readings. Hope this will help someone.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I made this stand from one peice of oak.
I posted this a while back.
lots of light is needed for that scope.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/100_1302.jpg

[BeemerMark]

I love all the ideas. I removed the pocket clip from the scope and put it a Lee .451 bullet sizer. Fits real nice. The I put the sizer in the press and the bullet on the ram. I can position the ram and it won't slip. I use a desklamp to shine the light on the bullet.

[oldtoolsniper]

I admire the people who don't read the directions and do their own thing. My grandmother was fond of saying "How do you think the first guy did it?" Directions are just suggestions since there are many streets you can take to get to the same address why not take them all?

Using imagination and experimenting is part of the adventure that makes this hobby fun and the fact that you can spend hundreds of dollars to get the perfect 3 cent boolit well' that is as they say "Priceless!"

[onondaga]

Your intelligent Grandmother was in my nightmares for decades when I was responsible for technical accuracies in manuals for Dental Lab Equipment and materials..

The CYA excuse cited as an annoyance in instructions is to protect consumers from repeating reported accidents and injuries. Manufacturers actually want their products to work the best they can for you and do their best to supply idiot proof instructions to follow. I have personally been in charge of drawing the line between idiots and non idiots regarding following instructions. It is a very easy line to draw.

The Lee instructions for the scope are good for idiots, it is the smart people that have trouble with Lee's instructions. They put too much imagination and inventiveness into what they are reading. It is a simple tool, if you demand it to work like something else you should have bought something else instead.

Gary