how does a lead hardness tester work ?

[mac1911]

How does it work and of what types are there

[Calamity Jake]

Hardness testers for all metals use a penatrater, eather sharp pointed or a ball of known size.
For testing lead based alloys it's the depth of the penatration when using a pointed tool or the dia. and time of known applied force of the penatration when using a ball, you must be able to measure the dia of the penatration when using a ball then convert that dia. from a supplied chart.
Saeco, Lee and Cabin tree use a conversion chart. LBT is the only direct reading lead hardness
tester that I know of.

[montana_charlie]

A lab-grade Brinell Hardness Tester (a scale designed for 'soft' materials) presses a sphere of known diameter into the 'lead', under a known force, for a given period of time.
The 'area' of the indentation is used to determine the BHN, and the deeper the sphere indents the greater the area at the surface.

Rockwell (and other testers designed for 'hard' materials) use a pointed indenter under a known force, and the calculation is taken based on the depth of penetration.

Most of the home BHN testers rely on pointed indenters and measured depth of penetration. That means they could be thought of as Rockwell testers, hybridized for producing a value in the Brinell scale.

The Lee unit relies on the same three elements found in the lab-grade tester...with everything scaled down for use in a reloading press. The resulting value is provided by measuring the diameter of the indentation - diameter being the fundamental factor in determining 'area'. With the diameter known, the chart 'does the math' which converts 'area' into 'BHN'.

CM

[mac1911]

I do not have a press yet, I am makeing shot and shotgun slugs

[Cowboy T]

Here's a video on how they're used. This is part 1. There's also a part 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D7OzkCxQNU

[John Boy]

Mac, read this ... http://www.calce.umd.edu/general/Facilities/Hardness_ad_.htm#rf09

[mac1911]

sweet, thanks john boy