new visual aid for beam scale
- Thread starter omega
- Start date
BoydAllen
Gold $$ Contributor
I just got one, last week. It works perfectly.
I think that one of the under appreciated facts about balance scales is that they can have parallax issues, and that there is so little difference in beam position for a tenth of a grain.
In the last year or so I have learned to tune my scale to be much more sensitive, and consistent, making it a much better tool, but even so, as scale can only be as good as your reading of it. Being able to leave the scale on my desk makes weighing charges easier and faster. Unfortunately, this can lead to inaccuracy in how a scale is read unless you lower your eye to the point where you are looking at the pointer and scale at a right angle, rather than from above. At desk height, this is slow and awkward, which is why you see so many scales on elevated platforms of some sort, to bring them up to eye level, and while this makes for more accurate reading, it poses its own set of problems, requiring a lot of extra arm motion that slows things down considerably.
This new tool uses a prism in an adjustable mount to bend your line of sight so that with the scale at desk height, you are looking at the pointer as if the scale was at eye level. It is simple, easy to use and set up, and inexpensive.
I think that one of the under appreciated facts about balance scales is that they can have parallax issues, and that there is so little difference in beam position for a tenth of a grain.
In the last year or so I have learned to tune my scale to be much more sensitive, and consistent, making it a much better tool, but even so, as scale can only be as good as your reading of it. Being able to leave the scale on my desk makes weighing charges easier and faster. Unfortunately, this can lead to inaccuracy in how a scale is read unless you lower your eye to the point where you are looking at the pointer and scale at a right angle, rather than from above. At desk height, this is slow and awkward, which is why you see so many scales on elevated platforms of some sort, to bring them up to eye level, and while this makes for more accurate reading, it poses its own set of problems, requiring a lot of extra arm motion that slows things down considerably.
This new tool uses a prism in an adjustable mount to bend your line of sight so that with the scale at desk height, you are looking at the pointer as if the scale was at eye level. It is simple, easy to use and set up, and inexpensive.
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