Powder scale

[FAL Shot]

Yes, jimbires, I meant .1 grain. I also did NOT mean that digital scales are crap, but for $100 dollars or less if you are weighing powder you are better off with a balance beam scale.....unless you like a scale that is drifty, jumps in .1 grain increments, and will not give you a lifetime of stabilility with reasonable care.

I have seen a balance beam scale that would weigh a fingerprint, being a biomedical engineer that worked with clinical lab equipment, and I would like to know if you know of a digital scale that does better than that.

Please try weighing your fingerprint with your digital scale, and please report back to me if you can detect the difference between a jelly doughnut fingerprint and a "toilet paper wore through and now I have a fecal matter fingerprint to weigh".

Don't laugh, fecal matter is weighed in clinical lab scales, so it DOES matter.

 

[jimbires]

Yes, jimbires, I meant .1 grain. I also did NOT mean that digital scales are crap, but for $100 dollars or less if you are weighing powder you are better off with a balance beam scale.....unless you like a scale that is drifty, jumps in .1 grain increments, and will not give you a lifetime of stabilility with reasonable care.

I have seen a balance beam scale that would weigh a fingerprint, being a biomedical engineer that worked with clinical lab equipment, and I would like to know if you know of a digital scale that does better than that.

Please try weighing your fingerprint with your digital scale, and please report back to me if you can detect the difference between a jelly doughnut fingerprint and a "toilet paper wore through and now I have a fecal matter fingerprint to weigh".

Don't laugh, fecal matter is weighed in clinical lab scales, so it DOES matter.[/QUOTE



talk forum tough guy ?

 

[Trickymissfit]

Funny. I'll bet you am Internet dollar he missed a decimal point: meant 0.1 grain.

I'm not as convinced as FAL that all electronic scales are crap. I do believe the less expensive ones have the propensity to drift in a way that may actually matter. The higher-end ones not so much. I'm still a balance beam guy for powder, as I just trust it more...

many years back I bought an RCBS electronic scale built by Pact. Nothing special about it, and it just worked perfectly. But alas somebody else wanted it more than I did, and they stole it! Dealer didn't have one and everybody seemed to be on back order at the time. Called Pact and ordered their scale. Was identical except for the color. Think I've had that one since 1997 (give or take a year). A few years later I came into another one that was new, but it had the inferred port. Thought it'd be nice to have a spare. Sometime later I wanted a small scale that I could use at the range, and picked up another Pact BBK. During a discussion the subject came up as to just how accurate they were, and I had no way to know except with the supplied check weights. So I packed the older one up and took it to work for some serious comparisons with some lab grade stuff. There was about two hundredths of a grain difference using a series of certified check weights. I was happy, but in the back of my mind I thought maybe I had a "ringer." I then took the other two scales in for a check. I checked them off of two different scales; with one being the master that everything ended up being graded off. Same results. The BBK was off another one hundredth of a grain, but otherwise right in my window. While I was checking these three scales I also checked it first on one we used in the shop to make master balance weights to balance jet engines. The results were spot on, so I then took it to the lab, and checked it on their two scales. I felt a lot better knowing they were right there.

Now days, I often will set up two scales in tandem, and compare one to the other with charges. I have done this with the BBK as well, but it's a PIA to do that with. Plus I have more important things to worry about. I have a couple of near perfect check weights that I know are right on the money, and calibrate off these same two instead of the factory supplied weights.
gary