Lee testing kit

[Vinne]

I am looking for a cheap way to test my cast bullets. Even a new Lee testing kit is out of my budget but I like the concept that it offers. Anyone out there maybe unhappy with one and would like to get rid of it at a decent price!!

Many thanks from a retiree on a fixed income.

[6bg6ga]

I am looking for a cheap way to test my cast bullets. Even a new Lee testing kit is out of my budget but I like the concept that it offers. Anyone out there maybe unhappy with one and would like to get rid of it at a decent price!!Many thanks from a retiree on a fixed income.

There are a lot of satisfied owners of the Lee hardness testers. They do a good job for what they are but after using one I purchased a cabine tree hardness tester. The reason was its simplicity and ease of operation. To use you simply put it into the fixture and turn the crank until it touches the bullet and from that point you do a complete 360 degree revolution and then look at the digital read out and take that reading to the chart that comes with it and you have your hardness. The Lee demands that you use a microscope type of device to sight the inpression in the bullet that you have made. A few minutes with the Lee had me purchasing the Cabine Tree unit. I have found myself telling myself that I didn't have money for a particular thing but if you want it badly enough you will find a way to get it. My thought is purchase once and purchase correctly and you will be happy and you will have made the correct choice.

[Yodogsandman]

There are a few other ways to test BHN on the cheap. The sticky above describes using pencils to test relative hardness.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...s-with-pencils

Do a search in the white "advanced search" box above, right side for "DIY BHN Tester". There's plenty of info there for making an inexpensive tester based on measuring the indent from a ball bearing using a known force and applying that to a BHN calculator.

[6bg6ga]

Yes, read that thread and you will see its not an absolute. Its a prediction at best. The ONLY way one might use it is if one had a Brinnel hardness tester to compare the reading against. Get back to the REAL world and buy a hardness tester that is based on Brinell readings not predictions.

[John Boy]

Get back to the REAL world and buy a hardness tester that is based on Brinell readings not predictions.

The REAL world is all hardness testers that WE ALL use are calibrated TO THE Brinell hardness of the alloy including the Lee tester - Not Predictions. Where ever did you get the idea that the readings are predictions?
If you want predictions, buy the set of pencils for testing

Yes, I am a retiree on fixed income too and as the adage says ... If you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler.

[bangerjim]

I have checked the pencil method against my Cabine and Lee testers and it is close enough for what we do. My buddy could not afford a Cabine and I ran some comparisons for him. Close enough....but a total SWAG. I also checked the readings against known NIST samples and my lab hardness tester......again.....close enough.

I do not use the Lee tester at all anymore because it is just too involved to use and I hate using my press and squinting into that silly little microscope and guessing at the readings. (No it is NOT for sale, so don't bother asking) The Cabine allows me to RAPIDLY test any shape or form of lead with digital accuracy. (I replaced the silly pointer dial indicator with a digital readout indicator). And I can easily take it with me to the scrap yards. Try that with the Lee!!!!!!!

Check out the pencil method outligned on here in great detail...do a search.

banger

[Don Fischer]

So, I've never heard of one but, is there a standard that thee tester' adhere to? I have the lee and made a holder for it I saw on here some time back, I'me not sure any tester is accurate without something to relate to. I suspect the only thing we can relate to is the performance in the gun and leading that may exit. Lee i kinda a pain to work with without the holder made from a clear plastic pop bottle. But, I too and retired on a fixed income and Lee work fine for me!

[454PB]

Some years ago, a test was conducted by one of our forum members to compare various methods of hardness testing. I was one of the participants in that test. One of the testing methods was a lab grade BHN tester. You can read the full report here:

http://www.lasc.us/Shay-BHN-Tester-Experiment.htm

[Obmi]

I had to go look for it but I saw a video on you tube where a guy used a bathroom scale and a drill press.
http://youtu.be/fOKIoKleGiw

[bangerjim]

The STANDARD you asked about - - - is the Brinell Hardness Index. The number can be arrived at using different testing methods and geometries of testing styli, but is referenced back to the same NIST industry standard. It is one of the several hardness indices used by industry. BHN is for softer materials. Rockwell's (there are few of them that span the ranges) are for much harder metals and are the common ones you see in industrial metallurgy.

There is also the MOHS hardness scale for stones and gems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_s...neral_hardness

And others!

Do a net search for "HARDNESS STANDARDS" and you will discover a lot! The net is your "leeeeeetle friend".

banger

[bangerjim]

I had to go look for it but I saw a video on you tube where a guy used a bathroom scale and a drill press.
http://youtu.be/fOKIoKleGiw

OMG.......that is really scraping the bottom of the barrel of cheap-ness.

[Yodogsandman]

I had to go look for it but I saw a video on you tube where a guy used a bathroom scale and a drill press.
http://youtu.be/fOKIoKleGiw

This is the method that I use and it's plenty accurate for our uses. Too much emphasis is put on BHN. Consistency in a general range of hardnesses works just fine. Very soft lead (5-8 BHN) for muzzle loaders or black powder, 9-12 BHN for most pistol loads and 10 BHN on up for rifles, depending on the desired chosen velocities.

[6bg6ga]

Quote://Get back to the REAL world and buy a hardness tester that is based on Brinell readings not predictions. The REAL world is all hardness testers that WE ALL use are calibrated TO THE Brinell hardness of the alloy including the Lee tester - Not Predictions. Where ever did you get the idea that the readings are predictions? If you want predictions, buy the set of pencils for testing Yes, I am a retiree on fixed income too and as the adage says ... If you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler. John, The point that I was trying to make that you may have missed was the Lee and the Cabine Tree testers ARE based on the Brinell Hardness and the pencil one isn't according the the thread link unless I missed something.

[6bg6ga]

NO method has ANY relevance unless it is backed up by the Brinell hardness tester. The Lee and Cabine tree is. The bathroom scale/ drill press and the pencil methods are a waste of time unless compared to the Brinell method and a reference scale/chart is made.

[Yodogsandman]

Here's a link to the online BHN calculator for use with a ball bearing.

http://www.ajdesigner.com/phphardnes...ess_number.php

[bangerjim]

Retired or not..........we all find ways of spending money on the things we really want.....like even MORE guns, powder, primers, lead, etc.....! But when it comes to the basic rudimentary tools we really need, like a Cabine hardness tester, many cry empty pockets.

go figure.

this IS your hobby.......spend accordingly.

banger

[6bg6ga]

As banger said. Got a credit card? Very easy to put it on the card and make payments if you have to. Having a useful tool is a good thing. There is a point in life when you can be too cheap and this is one of them. Step up and buy a hardness tester.

[Vinne]

Thanks everyone for the info. I do like my hobby and have been at it for many, many years. I have been without one for all that time. I am not one of the 1% top shooters so the bullets I have been shooting seem to be good enough. It would be a nice conformation to see just where I have been all these years concerning different batches and formulas. New toys have always caught my eye and if it got to the "must have" stage I would save up for it.

Vinne

[PBaholic]

I am looking for a cheap way to test my cast bullet hardness.

A drill press, bathroom scale and a micrometer. Of course if you don't own all those, it ain't cheap....

[bangerjim]

I own 4 drill presses, 3 digital bathroom scales and 6 digital micrometers. Still, having a proven accurate tool designed specifically for the purpose you need it for (rather than a Rube Goldberg rig-up) is what it is all about.

You can use a screwdriver as a chisel, a crescent wrench for a hammer, a hammer for a pry bar, a pry bar for a hammer, a chisel for a screwdriver.....but is that really accurate???????

I certanily hope the OP can justify the purchase of a proven accurate piece of equipment to help in the hobby he loves! Knowing the hardness of a Pb alloy is a VERY valuable piece if information in casting and loading. Artist pencils get you in the ballpark. A Cabine style tester gets you to home plate. Every single time. With ease and accuracy.

banger