Accurize a balance beam scale?

So you feel a $75.00 MyWeigh GemPro 150 is accurate enough for you applications?
Dave T
I appoligize for the price I stated above, I googled that scale and I mistakenly got the price for a MyWeigh GemPro 50 instead of a 150. I thought I did an edit on my mistake but must have done it wrong. What would a 150 cost? Sorry for the mistake guys....
Dave T
 
So you feel a $75.00 MyWeigh GemPro 150 is accurate enough for you applications?
Dave T
I appoligize for the price I stated above, I googled that scale and I mistakenly got the price for a MyWeigh GemPro 50 instead of a 150. I thought I did an edit on my mistake but must have done it wrong. What would a 150 cost? Sorry for the mistake guys....
Dave T

Today the same scale is a Gem Pro 250 (just a capacity increase). I've owned mine for a number of years. It is still dead on accurate as it ever was. Tested items of various weights weigh to the milligram just as close as they did when they were put in the boxes that identified them years ago. Some have weights written right on the items. As for cost, probably just under $200 (as shown several times above in the thread where this very scale was linked by multiple posters).
Suffice to say, yes it is entirely accurate enough. But, stick a cat hair under the platter and all bets are off.
 
As to the above question of trickling, it works perfectly. Mine came with no warnings about place all weight at once. And in my 5 or so years of trickling powder on it, I'd say it's a non issue.
/edit
I also just saw 2 brand new ones that work just as nice as mine. The new are 250s of course.
 
4Mesh, I am not familiar with gempro scales, would be interested if I could find one. Both of my electronics have given me questions.
Now I am relying on an old redding which has the oil paddle. The V has been lapped and knife edge refinished. It will show
one kernal of 4895. It is still slow. The somewhat long beam having a capacity of only 300 gr should have a pretty good
ratio in responce. I use very light synthetic oil,and never move this scale, but it does migrate up to the V's for some reason.
that does slow movement so it must be kept clean. Not the best, but I can live with it
 
My weighing system

Jackie,

I have a Charge Master and I definitely agree, +/- 0.1 is being generous. I use mine to pre-throw charges because it's so fast to set it up. I dump the results on my 10-10 and trickle to weight. I'm seldom waiting for the CM.


I use both a PSECO powder measure which I have tested to be consistant in throwing charges + or - half a tenth. I just use that when loading cartridges for the field varminters. For BR I throw a slightly light charge onto a digital scale ( $4000 lab balance resolution 0.01 grains) and trickle to the correct weight. I didn't buy that scale for BR shooting but for another purpose entirely. But I figure I might as well use it for BR as well.
Andy.
 
Thanks John,
I managed to find one image on Google, but nothing on the web site. It looks like it might work something like a Belding and Mull. Does it have a fixed volume chamber between the powder bottle and the measuring tube, or does the powder feed straight into the tube?
Boyd
 
Boyd,

If it's still the same as originally produced by Neville Madden when he owned the business, it uses a fixed volume chamber rotating off a central pivot between two cover plates - essentially the same as the B & M, except the transfer from hopper to measuring tube is radial rather than linear.

John
 
I worked on my Redding scale to make it more consistent. The main problem with it was repeatability, even when the same charge was placed back on the hangar. It would have a different reading. No matter where the pan was placed on the hangar platform, the weight would change, so obviously, this area needed alot of work.

In addition to the suggestions Boyd made about leveling and the other tricks he used, the mods I made to the hangar assembly should make your scale work much better.

First, remove the hangar from the scale, then remove the platform from the wire arm. There are small weights inside the platform holder, so make sure not to lose them.

Secondly, take the hangar platform and make sure it is flat. Mine was bowl shaped. Turn it upside down, and using a rubber deadblow mallet, plastic, or rawhide mallet, lightly strike the pan on a flat surface until it sits flat. The soft aluminum will flatten easily.

Third, take the bare wire arm and lay it on a flat surface to see if it's twisted, and tweak until it lays flat.

Next, reinstall the platform to the hangar, and place it on the scale arm. Using a small circular bubble level, make sure that the platform sits level. You will have to tweak the arm a little to achieve this. Make sure that the center of the platform is directly below the attachment wire on the arm when viewed from above so that the weight is placed directly under the fulcrum of the hangar itself.

To check the results, put some weight in the pan and move it around on the platform. It should weight the same no matter where its located.

Its also important to keep the sharp beam angles clean, as well as the contact grooves. I use isopropyl alchohol on the blades, and a hair brush to remove dust from the contacts. Also, make sure the blades are centered in the groove. If they touch one side, it dulls the response significantly. I found that these mods also made my scale much more sensitive to slight changes, such as an individual kernel of powder.

Hope this helps, and Good Luck!
 
Next, reinstall the platform to the hangar, and place it on the scale arm. Using a small circular bubble level, make sure that the platform sits level. You will have to tweak the arm a little to achieve this. Make sure that the center of the platform is directly below the attachment wire on the arm when viewed from above so that the weight is placed directly under the fulcrum of the hangar itself. quoted from first page!

I guess the working surface should be level. I assumed muine were. I used the scales leveling screw to get the arm indicator to rest on 0 (zero)!!
 
I should have explained that my scale is on its own leveled surface before I zero the scale. Sorry about that!
 
Go to Ebay:

look at the labratory balances. One of my shooting buddies has a friend who works in the State bureau of weights and measures. That lad told my friend to find a good used Mettler. He found one with a nice self-contained cage around it. Yes, they are pricey but it's best to buy the best and cry once.
 
look at the labratory balances. One of my shooting buddies has a friend who works in the State bureau of weights and measures. That lad told my friend to find a good used Mettler. He found one with a nice self-contained cage around it. Yes, they are pricey but it's best to buy the best and cry once.

OMG, an epiphany!
 
Bump for great info in this thread. I just picked up an Ohaus 10-0-5 in great shape. Seems to be balanced fairly well. I will follow some of the tune tricks in this thread to see if I can make it better.
 
I remember something Wilbur wrote on this topic a while back. It went something like this:

"You can measure to a millionth of a guzillionth ( or something like that ) and it won't make any differance. The man is right again.
Some of this stuff simply gets out of hand, and I suspect this is already going in that direction.
Does anyone really believe that a kernal or two of powder is going to make a differance in your score ?
Get the bags right, read the flags, and gun handling. Is there any more ?
 
I hope that no one really thinks that having accurate measuring tools is a waste of time. tuning a scale is like using the small adjustment screws to adjust the jaws of a pair of calipers so that they are parallel, or adjusting a micrometer so that it reads correctly. Having an accurate mic. that reads to .0001 does not mean that everything that I measure has to be done to that degree of precision, but I would like my tools to give me the same reading every time, all other things being equal. The reason that I worked on my scale is that I could reweigh the same thing and get a variation in the reading that was significant, and after reading that someone was tuning scales for money, I thought that I would give it a try, and if I failed, I would send it off to be professionally adjusted. In the process I have learned a lot, enjoyed the challenge, and, room this thread gotten some more good ideas to try. Thanks for that. I throw 133..very carefully, and I like to check the EX of my thrown charges from time to time. That I why I want may scale to work better than it did. For a long time I believed what it told me, then I got the chance to play with a pretty good electronic scale, and compare its results with my 10-10. At that point, I knew that I needed to either spend over $300 on a new scale, or make mine work a lot better, which I have. I guess the root of this is being too tight and stubborn to upgrade my equipment, that, and enjoying a challenge.
Boyd
 
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as the shooters get better, and the equiptment gets better...you better start looking at the small things....the current method of dropping powder is inaccurate....go get a lab scale, and some n133..and start throwing charges...plus ot minus .2...that aint a kernal or two......
wake up or settle fornot first place.
mike in co
I remember something Wilbur wrote on this topic a while back. It went something like this:

"You can measure to a millionth of a guzillionth ( or something like that ) and it won't make any differance. The man is right again.
Some of this stuff simply gets out of hand, and I suspect this is already going in that direction.
Does anyone really believe that a kernal or two of powder is going to make a differance in your score ?
Get the bags right, read the flags, and gun handling. Is there any more ?
 
Mike...buddy...first place is often won with thrown charges. The Chargemasters are still in the minority, and many the short range shooter has discovered that his most accurate load was not he one with the smallest ES. I like Chargmasters, but they are a long way from a requirement for winning. Now at the longer ranges, where most of the ammo is preloaded, and velocity generated difference in vertical are proportionally magnified...I see no reason not to weigh charges.
 
i agree..but as i was saying as things get better and more competitive..look for the little things to improve your game...
a chargemaster is better than thrown, but a lab scale is even better....i think we are working our way there.
mike in co
Mike...buddy...first place is often won with thrown charges. The Chargemasters are still in the minority, and many the short range shooter has discovered that his most accurate load was not he one with the smallest ES. I like Chargmasters, but they are a long way from a requirement for winning. Now at the longer ranges, where most of the ammo is preloaded, and velocity generated difference in vertical are proportionally magnified...I see no reason not to weigh charges.
 
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