hardness tester

[steif]

Hi,
I was wondering I have been casting the non scientific way for years, and I have a bunch of lead saved up and most of it is mixed whatever I had at the time... how does one use the hardness tester and where is the cheapest one to get?
most of the ingots I have cast are not able to be scratched with a fingernail, and I also got about 60 lb from a old printing shop, these are small lead rectangles about the size and thickness of a stick of gum would that be lino? new to all this technical stuff I am...lol..
Thanks
Matt

[JSnover]

Hi,
I was wondering I have been casting the non scientific way for years, and I have a bunch of lead saved up and most of it is mixed whatever I had at the time... how does one use the hardness tester and where is the cheapest one to get?
most of the ingots I have cast are not able to be scratched with a fingernail, and I also got about 60 lb from a old printing shop, these are small lead rectangles about the size and thickness of a stick of gum would that be lino? new to all this technical stuff I am...lol..
Thanks
Matt

The Lee tester is simple enough, costs anywhere from $65-100, depending on where you shop. I've heard of some cheaper models but never tried them. Some of the others use their own hardness scale which may or may not correspond with BHN. I chose Lee because all you do is eyeball the indentation through a magnifier with it's own scale and match it to the Brinnell chart.

[454PB]

First, welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you have some linotype. Very good stuff for hardening softer alloys, or even straight for high speed rifle boolits. Try bending one of those pieces over double, if it snaps, you'll see the very crystalline appearance of high antimony linotype.

I have the Lee hardness tester. It works fine, but requires a steady hand and/or a method to solidify the microscope while you measure the dimple. I paid about $40 for mine on sale, they are a little higher now.

[ridurall]

I just got a Lee Lead hardness tester this week and just finished checking 120 lbs of ingots that I've had laying around here for many years. It worked great and I think I only paid $44 for it. Some of the others you can only test bullets but with the Lee you can test bullets, ingots and just about any sized chunk of lead.

[HeavyMetal]

Lee is the way to go for a hardness tester. several out there but most either go in or out of production on a whim or they have a scale that makes no sense to anyone!

I had the issue with getting the scope on the lee to "hold" still. Solved it by going to toys r us and paying 19.95 for a toy microscope! Threw everything else away, unscrewed the parts to the eyepiece opened the hole to fit the Lee scope put it in held it in place with the same screw that held in the eyepiece and wow it works!

Once you have the "dimple" in focus you just slide the bullet around until the scale lines up and your good.

I bought a Lee 44 cal full wadcutter mold at the gun show to cast samples with! This way I don't have to file a flat spot on the bullet!

try it!

[idahoron]

I like my Cabin tree a lot. It is a little more money but it is easy to use and can do thick chunks or single bullets. Well worth the money. Ron

[Lloyd Smale]

what he said. the cabintree is by far the most user friendly tester. Its built to last ten lifetimes too. Its a real bargin at what it cost and your buying from one of our own cast bullet forum members. Go to castingstuff.com you wont regret the purchase.
I like my Cabin tree a lot. It is a little more money but it is easy to use and can do thick chunks or single bullets. Well worth the money. Ron

[Bret4207]

Get the Cabin Tree tester. For a few more dollars you get a real repeatable tester that with accesories will check runout too. It's built to last 10 lifetimes and is quite easy to use. Although I use a lot of Lee products, their tester is a Cracker Jack toy.

A tester is like a chronograph- Handy but not a necessity unless you're really into writing stuff down and keeping track of things, a tech type guy. If you're like me you'll use it 4-5 times a year. They're nice and intersting and they'll surprise you, but if money is tight you can get along fine without it.

[randyrat]

I use a Lee tester and wish i would have bought a Cabin Tree tester. Couple things i found. 1)Don't waste your time trying to get consistant numbers with ingots. Like what it says on the Cabin Tree site; Ingots cool differently and don't have a smooth outside surface, Throws your numbers off.
2) Don't drink too much coffee when/before using the Lee tester, that dang microscope jumps around like a scope on a 500 yard target
I use mine for reference or comparisons on ready to load bullets. If anything it adds a fun factor and some comparison between bullets.

[montana_charlie]

A forum member (in another thread) is collecting numbers from others, with the intention of producing a comparison between the various hardness testers. But, if you don't want to wait for the product of that effort, there a comparison published on this website...
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm
CM

[steif]

Hi,
Thanks for all the info, I'll look at the lee and cabin tree testers, I bet I have about 400 or so ingots I have done over the years, and 3-400 lb of lead in varying states I have picked up at sales and stuff in the past... I've cast a bunch for pistol and 45/70 but mostly black powder on the bigger stuff, and 45 acp a lot as well, just never thought about a tester... the stuff I have cast seemed to have worked pretty good so far... but i'm not hyper velocity gas check kinda things yet either..
Thanks!