Life expectation of beam scales?
- Thread starter HankC
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I have an RCBS 5-10 balance that I bought used in about 1980.
I have an RCBS 5-0-5 balance that I bought around 2014/2015.
I also have an electronic scale branded "Smart Weight" that I bought in 2018 that can display weights in grains.
My 5-10 sat out, uncovered for 20+ years after the sudden, severe onset of my multiple sclerosis. When I returned to it, it was effectively worthless - at least until it was thoroughly (and properly) cleaned.
All three of my balances/scales now agree with one another or only disagree by 1/10 of a grain.
I my case, this is only relevant when I am reloading .25ACP since fractions of one-hundredth of a grain in such a small case can be significant, so for it I always use the electronic scale.
One piece of advice is that if you have an old balance, have it professionally cleaned and restored if you can.
I have an RCBS 5-0-5 balance that I bought around 2014/2015.
I also have an electronic scale branded "Smart Weight" that I bought in 2018 that can display weights in grains.
My 5-10 sat out, uncovered for 20+ years after the sudden, severe onset of my multiple sclerosis. When I returned to it, it was effectively worthless - at least until it was thoroughly (and properly) cleaned.
All three of my balances/scales now agree with one another or only disagree by 1/10 of a grain.
I my case, this is only relevant when I am reloading .25ACP since fractions of one-hundredth of a grain in such a small case can be significant, so for it I always use the electronic scale.
One piece of advice is that if you have an old balance, have it professionally cleaned and restored if you can.
Ranger99
Member
The pivot parts in the scale body itself
should be agate, and unless something
terribly drastic happens, will be good for
the usable life of the scale, which is
forever plus 4 days with proper care
Somewhere around 1970
This Redding has agate bearings. Agate is a 7 on the Mohs hardness, topaz is an 8, sapphire is a 9, diamond is a 10. So agate is pretty hard. As long as the knife edges are not damaged, this scale will function as long as gravity stays put.
This Redding has agate bearings. Agate is a 7 on the Mohs hardness, topaz is an 8, sapphire is a 9, diamond is a 10. So agate is pretty hard. As long as the knife edges are not damaged, this scale will function as long as gravity stays put.
I have an FX120i and it will read down to .02gr, which is indeed about one kernel of Varget or H4350. I dont load any powders like H1000 or Retumbo, but I think they are about .03gr per kernal. Shorter stuff like 8208 XBR and Benchmark are about .01gr per kernel.
JFrank
Member
Sorry for my typographical error .1 gr = about 6 kernels not .01gr .
I must have had a senior moment.
J
I must have had a senior moment.
J
I'm only 46 and I have senior moments already
Thanks for all the inputs, I guess my scale will out live me and I probably don't need a back up one! Maybe just keep it in case I do something stupid!
How do I tell if the pivot point is plastics or agate, both my Lyman and RCBS are white/grey plastics look. The Lyman has a beam lifter to raise the knife edge away from the pivot bearing when not in use but not the RCBS, that is a nice feature.
How do I tell if the pivot point is plastics or agate, both my Lyman and RCBS are white/grey plastics look. The Lyman has a beam lifter to raise the knife edge away from the pivot bearing when not in use but not the RCBS, that is a nice feature.
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