Steady Your Lee Hardness Tester

[454PB]

I've seen lots of methods to solidify the microscope that is used to read the indention size of the Lee tester. Here's how I do it.


The microscope is pushed into a .45 ACP resizing die. This is my old steel die, which is not used much anymore for sizing. The microscope fits snuggly and requires some force to move it up or down. You can see that the spring loaded indenter is mounted right next to the microscope.



Here the sample boolit is placed in a shell holder. This boolit is one Lance supplied for his hardness tester experiment.


I place a gooseneck lamp behind the press to illuminate the top of the sample boolit and make it easy to read the microscope calibrations. A flashlight works too, but this lamp frees up a hand.

I raise the press ram up to get the proper focus, hold it in place by pressing against the press handle with my right bicep, then turn the sample boolit in the shell holder with my right hand to get it perfectly positioned inside the microscope calibrations.

It's really handy to have this gear mounted in a dedicated turret, it takes just a few seconds to install or remove. The same methods would work in a single stage press, but you would have the added hassle of screwing the dies in and out.

[Marlin Junky]

Yes, the Lee tester works very well when the 20X scope is steadied but you need to be able to orient the dent with the scale which requires some x-y direction adjustment when testing bullets of differing diameter AND if the dent doesn't end up in exactly the same place each time.

MJ

[JSnover]

That is a very cool idea!

[454PB]

Yes, the Lee tester works very well when the 20X scope is steadied but you need to be able to orient the dent with the scale which requires some x-y direction adjustment when testing bullets of differing diameter AND if the dent doesn't end up in exactly the same place each time.

MJ

That's why this works. The sample boolit is centered in the loose fitting shell holder, the indentor is centered in the turret, and so is the microscope. By minor turning/shifting of the indented sample, it's very easy to get the dent centered in the scope.

[Marlin Junky]

454PB,

Does it work equally well for .35 caliber bullets? Do you use a different shell holder for .35 caliber?

MJ

[DanM]

Very cool idea, and yet another reason to get a turret press!

[454PB]

Marlin Junky:

Yes, just use a smaller shell holder. You want one that allows some movement, but not a sloppy fit. The play in the shell holder and rotation of the sample allow centering in the scope graduations.