Has anybody tried using the Lee lead hardness tester. I gave mine a go and got some unexpected results. most of my straight wheel weight bullets are approx. 16-17bhn.

quote:

Originally posted by smoke_eater:
Has anybody tried using the Lee lead hardness tester. I gave mine a go and got some unexpected results. most of my straight wheel weight bullets are approx. 16-17bhn.

SOunds a bit off. I use a CabinTree, most clip ww go 12-13BHN. Maybe you have better ww in Canada? I am surprised that Canada hasn't gone the way of Europe & moved to non lead. It's happening here unfortunately.

Never used a Lee hardness tester. But I read thread at Beartooth that suggested that the highest andbest use for the Lee product is land fill.

Jim

The Lee tester will give predictble results,takes a while to get used to using it especily if you shake a little.the tester uses a method that has been reccomended for years.

I had a lot of trouble using the Lee hardness tester until I started using a drill press vise to hold the sample/bullet. It takes a while to get a technique down, but once you do it's a very handy piece of equipment. Good light and a steady holding fixture are key. Gary

The cabin tree is the way to go. I like mine. Ron

like some of the others posted. Save a few more pennys and buy a cabin tree. I havent used the lee so i cant comment there but have owned a saeco and a lbt and the cabin tree unit is the class of the field and very resonably priced.

All right y'all, you know how much time I spent looking for cabintree testers? there's no such thing. it's CabineTree

Having used an LBT Hardness Tester for many years, and having gotten accurate repeatable results (after testing against known samples) is there a valid reason for me to replace it with a Cabine Tree?

if its working for you theres no need for another.

quote:

Originally posted by gnoahhh:
Having used an LBT Hardness Tester for many years, and having gotten accurate repeatable results (after testing against known samples) is there a valid reason for me to replace it with a Cabine Tree?

I bought the LBT for one reason...because many others use it and therefore my results will be similar to theirs if I use the same lead recipe and heat-treating technique.

i must have of gotten a batch of harder lead mixed into the ww or some form of impurity. the lee tester works fine, i tried it on pure lead and a known 20/1 mix and got the results i expected. a good light source is manditory with this tool!!!!

Lee will tell you their hardness tester will not give accurate measurements for pure lead. The chart supplied with the tester only goes to a .079 indent/8 bhn. Pure lead should be 5 bhn and when I tested I did get repeatable indents of .099 to .1.

From what I have seen the Cabintree has the best design to prevent user error from resulting in measurement error.

I have a Lee and since I am used to doing the same technique correctly over and over I find the results are within what would be expected and repeatable. It also has design issues that allow sloppy technique to provide less than repeatable results.

I have and use a Lee tester, it's not for folks with bad eyes or the shakes, but can be calibrated with a good scales (I checked mine at the Dr.'s office, talk about getting some weird looks!) and measures brinell hardness with the true, round-indenter method. I've found mine to be both very accurate and very repeatable provided the samples are prepared correctly. You won't get the same measurement from an ingot containing antimony that you will from an air-cooled boolit cast from that same ingot and aged the same, but that should be true of any good tester due to the different cooling rates of the ingot vs. the boolit.

Gear

I built a device to hold the Lee scope so it doesn't shake with hand movements. The hard part is lining up the bullet or lead ingot under the scope.