I was thinking about getting a Lee Brinell hardness tester and was wondering about anyone else's experience with this tool. I read the charts on what wheel weights should be air cooled vs water quenched but I'm interested in what I'm actually getting.

Any input would be appreciated.


Jesse

I have a lee tester, and it works fine. My allow is 96% PB, 3% SB and 1% SN. It has a trace of arsenic. It air-cools to a BHN of 10.5 from a 700° pot. It water quenches from the mold to a BHN of 29.

If I were buying a new tester today, I would look very hard at the LBT tester. It is simpler to use than the Lee.

I have one and use it often. It is a bit of a PITA to use freehand. There have been many other options used by boolit casters. you can use a loupe and a caliper. You can mount the Lee 30X scope in a small kids' microscope head, and get the stability and accuracy of eliminating freehand from the loupe. There are more ways to skin this cat.
I just accept that the values are approximate and relative to my own smeltings, and as long as I don't lead up my barrel, I don't care about the absolute scientific BH# of the alloy.

The best thing about the lee tester is that, as far as I can tell, it is the only one that correctly applies the physics of the Brinell scale. The scale is base on the pressure required to displace a given spherical volume of material. The other testers I have seen use a needle point, rather than a sphere.

While not the simplest to use, it is likely the most accurate.

Hammer,

I just happen to have a kid's microscope so I might have to try that. In reference to sqlbullet's post, I have also seen how Lee's hardness tester is the only one that proportionally downsizes the brinal test. I feel that would be more accurate than other approximations. Midway has the Lee kit on sale for 42.99 right now so I might give it a shot. Nothing like more toys to tinker with right?

Jesse

Update,

Just got my Lee hardness tester in and it is a breeze to use the indention die. That said, using the microscope to read the results is a bit challenging. My microscope stand doesn't fit the Lee microscope so it looks like I'll be making my own since a stand would be really helpful. Overall, it seems like a good product and very accurate to my estimates. Would be nice if lee offered a custom stand for the microscope though. I love tinkering though so it's all good fun.

Jesse