Potters lead hardness tester

[abunaitoo]

Finaily got to try the tester.
Need to clean it up better, but it works good.
Downloaded the instructions from the web.
Problem is the chart goes by lead to tin percentage.
And it have only has four readings.
10 to 1
15 to 1
18 to 1
25 to 1
Anyone know of a chart that would show the percentage of lead according to the brinell hardness scale

[Fireball 57]

Good Morning, Abunaitoo. I would only offer this advice to help your cause; You need to be more specific ie: type of tester, composition of alloy, etc. I use a RCBS hardness tester and the scale can be found online. Good luck and have a great day! Fireball 57

[Minerat]

You might look at a lead alloy calculator. Mine shows

10:1 as 12
15:1 as 10.4 est.
18:1 as 10.1 est.
25:1 as 09

Pure lead and pure tin.

[abunaitoo]

It's an old Potters Lead Hardness Tester.
I did find the instructions for it on-line.
I'm guessing back then, they didn't go by brinell hardness.
I found a chart that, kind of, gives brinell in lead/tin mix.
251427

[dimaprok]

Well the brinell hardness is measured by how big of indentation is made by applying certain size ball with certain weight, Lee uses spring loaded pressure and they use a little microscope with graduations to measure the size of the crater and convert that to Brinell number but you can also scan it preferably with high resolution scanner or even take a macro picture and use software like Photoshop or GIMP (free) to measure the size and it's actually more precise since nothing is moving and jumping. https://www.hardnesstesters.com/test-types/brinell-hardness-testing
and this: http://www.tacticoolproducts.com/brinell/

[abunaitoo]

I have a Lee hardness tester.
Got it when it first came out.
Tried it a few times, but didn't notice any change with the different hardness.
This Potter is so much easier to use.

One thing i don't get is the length of time the ball is on the boolet.
I would think shorter, or longer, time would change the dimple.
I'm sure the size of the ball also has an effect on the dimple.
Wouldn't different tools have a different chart?????
The Potters instruction say to hold for 10 to 20 seconds.
The Lee says to hold for 60 seconds.

I did try the Potter on a few boolets.
I noticed that the beam would move fast, then slow down.
I timed how long before it stopped moving, and it was a little over 25 seconds.
I'm guessing the dimple got bigger as time went on.
It would be slightly bigger at 25 seconds than at 20 seconds.

I'm thinking I could use the Lee eye scale as a reference.
Use pure lead as a known test material.
Use a timer at 10, 15, 20, 25 seconds.
Measure the dimple and that would tell me the correct amount of time.

Is the Brinell scale a known gradual scale?????
I'm thinking not.
I'm thinking I would need at least three points of reference, of known samples, to get a good idea of what the scale might look like.

Maybe I'm just over thinking all of this.

[Preacher Jim]

I have used potter since they came out. Minerats scale is what I use and been acceptable for my shooting. Don't complicate it the potter is a simple tool to use.

[m37]

Mine is missing the weight could you weigh yours
so I could make one
thanks
mike

[abunaitoo]

It is a one pound weight.

[rcslotcar]

I've never seen one, thanks for posting!

[abunaitoo]

Tried it today, on some boolets I'm loading.
Reading came out to 2 1/2..........Chart says 10 to 1.
What would be the brinell reading????

[dimaprok]

Lee hold time is actually 30 seconds, I don't think the dimple will get bigger if you wait longer. 10 to 1 sounds like 10% tin alloy, maybe they were trying to simplify chart and not use Brinell hardness numbers.

[m37]

thanks
mike

It is a one pound weight.