lyman thermometer question

[Tswafford]

I received my lyman thermometer in the mail yesterday and im not sure it is working properly. When I took it out of the pack the needle was pointing to 1000 deg. I noticed that there is no stop for the needle to hold it on 0 deg. So I went ahead and melted some lead and it seem to be working but how do I know if it is correct? Is there something I can compare the temp to? maybe does COWW start to bubble at a certain deg? Or is there anything else I can use to know if it is functioning properly? Thanks in advance for the help.

Terry Swafford

[bumpo628]

There is a sticky in this forum that shows melting points of different metals and alloys. Plus you can put it in boiling water to see if it reads 212 deg.

[lwknight]

Melt some pure or almost pure lead to barely melted. The thermometer should read around 620 or so
then let it cool and it should read 580 to 600 as it gets thick and starts to set up.
If nothing else you can use this as a reference point to get your mental calibration to the scale reading.

[Tswafford]

Thank you.

[Tom Trevor]

Mine was accurate within 50 degrees plus or minus. Piece of junk.

[Zacf16]

Terry,
Mine arrived today, and I had the exact same question.

[John Boy]

Here we go again ... order from Tel-Tru for 21 bucks, adjustable head and don't get screwed on price from the reloading suppliers
http://www.teltru.com/p-272-big-gree...degrees-f.aspx
Calibrated with boiling water - mine is dead nuts on

Lyman ... http://www.midwayusa.com/product/595...ng-thermometer

[lwknight]

John, are you saying that the Tel-Tru can actually be calibrated?
Or was it that you checked the calibration against boiling water?