Questions on using check weights

I use the tweezers because they are tiny, and my meat hooks will fling them everywhere if I tried to set a 5gr or 7gr check weight in the tray by hand.

What Eric said......an alcohol will clean them if they get dirty, just make sure you are working over a counter top, because the 2 gr is easy to lose.

PWC said:

What Eric said......an alcohol will clean them if they get dirty, just make sure you are working over a counter top, because the 2 gr is easy to lose.

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You still have your 2gr? Impressive. I lost that one opening the box the first time.

ballman6711 said:

I finally got a set of check weights to verify my scale. But I do have a question or two.

First, why do you want to use tweezers when handling them? Do the oils on your skin change what the weights weigh?

Second, if you were to touch them, would something like isopropyl alcohol clean them, like cleaning the pivot points on a scale?

I haven't opened them yet, but it's looking like a pair of tweezers will be added to my loading bench.

chris

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Yes the oils frm your skin can and do change the weight. The techs that do calibration on lab grade scales also wear gloves too. But it kind of depends on which class of weights you have. The low grade not so much. The ultra high precision yes.

Alcohol is fine for cleaning them.

Harbor freight has a tweezer set that you will find all kinds of useful for about 6 bucks. I dipped about the first inch of the fine point tweezers in plasti-dip to make them a little grippier for those tiny check weights.

ballman6711 said:

why do you want to use tweezers when handling them? Do the oils on your skin change what the weights weigh?

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To keep the check weights clean and not pick up additional weight, using clean tweezers is better than fingers.

It's good practice to keep check weights in the container they came in and return them back as soon as you are done verifying the scale. Most "reloader's" check weights are made from aluminum and they can corrode. Better check weight sets are made from stainless steel.

And as you go down to lighter check weights, using fingers become impossible. I have Ohaus stainless steel check weight set that go down to 1 mg (0.015 gr) and even handling 10 mg (0.15 gr) check weight is not practical with finger tips.

As a former calibration tech and mgr; I use forceps, instead of tweezers. Longer reach and holds the weight. Available at HF.

Oils from your skin does change the weight and can cause corrosion. Clean with alcohol.

Seedy Character said:

As a former calibration tech and mgr; I use forceps, instead of tweezers. Longer reach and holds the weight. Available at HF.

Oils from your skin does change the weight and can cause corrosion. Clean with alcohol.

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Here in redneck land, we just call those big tweezers.

LiveLife said:

To keep the check weights clean and not pick up additional weight, using clean tweezers is better than fingers.

It's good practice to keep check weights in the container they came in and return them back as soon as you are done verifying the scale. Most "reloader's" check weights are made from aluminum and they can corrode. Better check weight sets are made from stainless steel.

And as you go down to lighter check weights, using fingers become impossible. I have Ohaus stainless steel check weight set that go down to 1 mg (0.015 gr) and even handling 10 mg (0.15 gr) check weight is not practical with finger tips.

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Seriously?
So, by picking up a check weight with ones fingers, how much weight does that add??????

Rule3 said:

So, by picking up a check weight with ones fingers, how much weight does that add??????

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I am not going to myth bust that with my check weights.

Rule3 said:

Seriously?
So, by picking up a check weight with ones fingers, how much weight does that add??????

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Look at the keys on your keyboard. Oils from your fingers get on the keys, then dust collects. It adds up.
Now, it is significant enough to affect our reloading? Probably not.

Rule3 said:

Seriously?
So, by picking up a check weight with ones fingers, how much weight does that add??????

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For any scale used for reloading purposes it's not going to be enough to ever matter.

Just make sure you use something big enough.
These work great on the grill and in the litter box too. 3 tools-in-one.

I have always used my bare fingers and have not yet blown anything up.

Rule3 said:

Seriously?
So, by picking up a check weight with ones fingers, how much weight does that add??????

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The oil from your fingers could draw dust into the equation adding more weight. I've had my check weight set since 1997 and have never touched any of them. Always used tweezers or forceps.

That's a lot to digest. Has anybody ever re-calibrated/rechecked/had weights re-?? weighed?? after handling?
Wondering.

-jb, I mean at the +/-.1 grain reloading level?

Otto said:

Just make sure you use something big enough.
These work great on the grill and in the litter box too. 3 tools-in-one.

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BUT....buy TWO pair.......and LABEL THEM!

I have the original duralumin weights that came with my 83 yo Pacific Powder Balance minus the 2 gr weight I lost. I bought an RCBS set (has the 2 gr wt) and checked them against the original set; they match.

Used them on my Lyman Pocket Touch scale ($25) and they match.

My powder balance is my golden standard. I've used my fingers, but find the big tweezers easier to use.

I'm big into check weights and I use offset canted tweezers even on the tiny kettle weights.

If the slightest bit of breath or breeze will upset a scale, and given how you are often setting the weight inside a tray or a recessed space ... tweezers just make it easier and more precise and it helps to prevent from you from rocking the scale. Besides, I have hands like a catcher's mitt that match my size 17 feet so fingers are not really precision instruments in my case, they're more like meat hooks. Tweezers are an absolute necessity for me when using checkweights to zero an LED scale or a mechanical scale.

Good tweezers that are canted and really pointy .... the pointier the better imho.

I use them because they came with the check weights and I figured they were included for a reason. Sometimes I'm a bit of a sheep that way. All the reasons others have espoused seem valid, and it's certainly not going to cause any harm to use them.

barnfrog said:

I use them because they came with the check weights and I figured they were included for a reason.

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The heavy "calibration" weights included with digital scales are for "calibrating" the scale.

To verify accuracy of your scale at the powder charge range you are using, you need lighter "check weights" at the weight range you are using.

GJeffB said:

That's a lot to digest. Has anybody ever re-calibrated/rechecked/had weights re-?? weighed?? after handling?
Wondering.

-jb, I mean at the +/-.1 grain reloading level?

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The best way for a reloader to check, is have 2 or more weights.

A certified weights is sent in for recertification every 5 years (not cheap). Not necessary unless you are certifying commercial or laboratory scales.

On a scale with .1 +/- gr accuracy, chances are slight you would transfer that much from your fingers. The corrosion from handling is a problem. A scale that weighs 0 00001 gram, a finger print weighs 0.00005.

My routine comes from 45 years in the industry. Old habits die hard.

LiveLife said:

The heavy "calibration" weights included with digital scales are for "calibrating" the scale.

To verify accuracy of your scale at the powder charge range you are using, you need lighter "check weights" at the weight range you are using.

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Yup, I get that. I was saying I use the tweezers because they were included with the set of check weights I bought to verify that my beam scale is measuring my powder charges accurately. My cheap digital scale didn't include a set of tweezers to pick up the 1000 grain calibration weight.