What scale for balancing parts do you guys use?

[earthquake]

I am looking to get a triple beam scale for balancing rods and pistons and other things, I don't like digital scales so I will be looking at Ohaus scales mostly.
I have a Ohaus scale but it is for heavy things, it will up to 20KG in 1 gram increments, this thing is 3 feet long and weighs 20 pounds, I could weigh cranks with it! Its missing the weights for any thing over 1010 grams but I am watching Ebay for a set.

I don't have the 1 KG weight so I don't know what a Weber 44 IDF weighs.

Casey
_________________
74 CLASS 11 LOOK-A-LIKE
69 DUNE BUGGY
79 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT II
05 SCION XB SERIES RELEASE 2[#437]
95 Chevy C3500 dually
98 Ford E150
Link to Kelly J. Nolte 3/20/53 - 11/6/08
https://time-zonelabs.blogspot.com/p/about-kelly.html
DEATH TO CHINGERS!
[From a military recruitment poster in the novel "The Stainless Steel Rat" By Harry Harrison]

[vwracerdave]

Why don't you trust a digital scale? They can be certified and just as accurate as anything else.
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2017 Street Comp Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble, OK
2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK

[esde]

[nsracing]

The Ohouse will work ...if you want to measure it in pounds!

The digital is about as fast and accurate you can get...depending on tolerance of course.

I have a Shadow Scale from Stewart Warner (1/2 gram tolerance) if you want to have your own. Let me know..I am very agreeable. I need money for my M14 projects.

[risk]

[bugguy1967]

I have an Ohaus Triple Beam and a 600 gram Ohaus digital. My triple beam measures in grams. The digital is much more convenient, smaller, and just as accurate. I got mine on Ebay for $60 new, out of the box.
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[Northof49]

I just bought a cheap 2000 gram max 0.1 gram accuracy digital on ebay for $20.00.

I just tested it with some test gram weights I own from a powder scale and it tested right on, or + or _ 0.1 grams with various calibrated weights. Pretty good for $20.00
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[jfats808]

Cheapo AWS brand digital scale for around 20$. 3000 gram x .0.1. Amazon. I bought the 4x 500 g calibration wieghts also. Able to get down to a 10th or two and thats good enough for any build.
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[mark tucker]

I have digitail scales.i dont like the shadow scales.and dont care for beam scales either. Ive found the digital to be better for repeatability no mater where the part is put on the scale.

[bugguy076]

I use a cheap digital scale I bought at Harbor Freight. I check it by weighing something on my powder scale and again with the digital. For being as inexpencive as it is, it is very accurate.
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[Quokka42]

Metric.

On a more serious note, balance scales are more accurate than most electronic scales in the right hands. Most lay people confuse accuracy with precision - a resolution of 0.1 gram is useless if it is not repeatable due to changes in temperature, scale and position on the scales (most electronic scales have a single load cell and can show wide variations in readings depending on where on the scale the center of gravity falls.) Laboratory scales can overcome most of these problems, but are expensive.
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[morymob]

Digital, before i start i have a couple penny stacksI stick on , if theycheck out i go ahead.

[Dr OnHolliday]

O Haus beam. Works great for the infrequent need I have for it.
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[earthquake]

The thing I don't like about digital is they have to be plugged into a outlet or they have batteries, when they are plugged in they can fluctuate when there a load on the line and when batteries start to go flat,
You can plug them into a UPS and they will be pretty stable but
"A triple beam don't need no stinking power!"
I know a lot of guys that reload using digital scales made by "Denver Instruments" and they like them but the are not cheap.

Casey
_________________
74 CLASS 11 LOOK-A-LIKE
69 DUNE BUGGY
79 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT II
05 SCION XB SERIES RELEASE 2[#437]
95 Chevy C3500 dually
98 Ford E150
Link to Kelly J. Nolte 3/20/53 - 11/6/08
https://time-zonelabs.blogspot.com/p/about-kelly.html
DEATH TO CHINGERS!
[From a military recruitment poster in the novel "The Stainless Steel Rat" By Harry Harrison]

[nsracing]

This is what I use...Stewart Warner.

[bluebus86]

for most small time engine building don't be too concerned about absolute accuracy. repeatability is more important. ( ie You are most concerned in matching four rods, or four pistons in weight to each other, not so much concerned about their absolute weight, for engine building the difference in weight in a small number of samples is the main concern.)

1... repeatability issues can be overcome even on cheapo electronic scales by measuring all four pistons at the same temperature, since four pistons can be measured in less than a minute, temp variations of the scale should not be an issue. If you end up lightening a piston that is too heavy, and don't get to re-weighing it until a day later, it would be wise to re-measure all of them again (or at least one of the pistons you did not alter)) to see if any drift occurred in the weight measurement. Also you can do a repeat measure of each piston and compare values to check for drift of measurement

2... Also it is always wise on any scale when comparing samples, to set each sample (say pistons) that is measured in exactly the same position on the scale platform each time, this eliminates issues with repeatability due to placement on scale.

3. On ANY scale it is wise to have one or more proof weights to be used periodically to check accuracy if accuracy is required. The Proof weights should be close in size to what ever sample is being measured, and the location on the scale platform for setting the proof weights should be consistent (see item 2 above).

So digital or mechanical can both be used well. Digital has a great speed advantage for production uses. For an engine builder that does even an engine a week, the time savings of a digital scale is not great. Not needing batteries or needing an electric outlet may be a deciding factor for some. If your running a huge production facility with 1000's of parts to measure daily, semiskilled work force, then digital scales make a lot more sense.

Engineers have come up with procedures to address issues with accuracy and repeatability and understand how to do work with different types of measuring equipment, knowing the strong points and weak points of different methods of measure, and appropriate responses to meet various manufacturing and hobby needs.
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[Oil Phil-M]

I used a digital scale that read in grams and to get even more precise i added pieces of packing foam into the process for weighing. The foam I had just happened to weigh 1g for 10 pieces so I would add a piece on at a time until the scale when up to the next gram then the math gave me a rough 0.1g reading.

[Boolean]

That is clever.
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Build thread here:
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[bluebus86]

[Boolean]

You don't have to have good resolution to get good results with the foam (or whatever) trick. The clever part is that you can use small, say 0, 1 gram weights to find the resolution clickover point exactly.
_________________
I strive for perfection. Excellence will not be tolerated!
Build thread here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=529379