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Holy Grail of beam scales

That is an impressive scale. I have the little green liquid dampened scale on the left in the background of your picture, 50 years old and still works perfectly.
 
thats a webster model AR, one just sold on e-bay. I was looking at it for my collection because it had the box, but passed because of no weights or jar. I already have one of that model. there were 3 models of that scale, only difference was weight range. the wheel on the top adjusts the sensitivity. Webster made all the pacific scales, texan, and a few other small company's scales. the herters model 5 that was mentioned is a cool scale also, it has a wire tightened by a spring that the beam rides on.
 
@sparker, I really appreciate what you do with these scales! What features differentiate a really good balance beam scale from others? Is it the materials in the bearing surfaces or their finish? Or something else? I have been using an RCBS (Ohaus) 5-10 since the late 70’s and recently got its twin in a recent package deal. My old scale is reliable but not perfect. Thanks for any info! Danny
 
@sparker, I really appreciate what you do with these scales! What features differentiate a really good balance beam scale from others? Is it the materials in the bearing surfaces or their finish? Or something else? I have been using an RCBS (Ohaus) 5-10 since the late 70’s and recently got its twin in a recent package deal. My old scale is reliable but not perfect. Thanks for any info! Danny
Most scales use agates for the bearing blocks. This is the classic material used and unfortunately is often maligned as plastic. Agates have been used for their very high hardness and being able to be polished to a nearly perfect surface. The Reddings use hardened tool steel for the bearings. These also work well but are subject to misalignment in rare cases.

Two-poise beams are preferred over three poise beams. Two sources of error are better than three. Beams should be long, light weight, with the fulcrum relatively close to the center of the longitudinal axis.

Magnetic and hydraulic dampening can both work. Magnetically dampened scales will always have a small bias.
 
With the 20 weight, each kernel is clearly visible. It settles completely in 6 seconds.

I have a Redding fluid damped scale that I played around with various weight oils. I settled on 20wt silicone shock oil because I had it from 5 to 30wt already, (used for RC cars).
 

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