Choosing a Scale for Alt Processes

wilsonneal · Sep 18, 2006

I am in the final stages of putting together a darkroom, primarily for Palladium/Platinum printing, and haven't yet acquired a scale.

I see on eBay the various triple beam balance scales and they all look serviceable. I also see some very inexpensive digital scales that go up to around 100g. They are sold as Jeweler's scales. Does anyone have experience with these? Do they have enough capacity/accuracy for the kind of measurement called for with these processes?

Any advice on particular scales that are good values?

Thanks
Neal

colrehogan · Sep 18, 2006

Whether they have the capacity depends on how much stuff you are planning to make. Also, if you plan on weighing directly into your container, keep in mind that the container itself might go over the capacity of the balance. You might need to go down to 0.1 g or 0.01 g, but keep in mind, that the more zeros you put behind that decimal, the more expensive the balance will be.

David A. Goldfarb · Sep 18, 2006

There are many good choices at affordable prices at www.balances.com.

I have a Toyo 250g pocket scale. This is good enough for emulsions and developers. I check it occasionally with a 100g calibration weight, and it seems to hold fairly well, and seems to be consistent across the range. It was about $40 or so. The really cheap pocket scales may not be entirely linear (which you think would be important in a high-risk business like the drug trade, which I would guess is the likely market for them).

Generally, the greater the capacity of the scale, the less the precision. If I make a batch of hypo, I need to measure it in two parts. If you need to measure larger quantities, you might want a scale with 500g capacity, but larger than that, and it may not be precise enough for measuring small quantities.

donbga · Sep 18, 2006

wilsonneal said:
I am in the final stages of putting together a darkroom, primarily for Palladium/Platinum printing, and haven't yet acquired a scale.

I see on eBay the various triple beam balance scales and they all look serviceable. I also see some very inexpensive digital scales that go up to around 100g. They are sold as Jeweler's scales. Does anyone have experience with these? Do they have enough capacity/accuracy for the kind of measurement called for with these processes?

Any advice on particular scales that are good values?

Thanks
Neal

An Ohaus triple beam balance with 1 KG capacity will do all that you need for less than $100.

photomc · Sep 18, 2006

Will add a 2nd vote for the Toyo 250g pocket scale. I really enjoy mine and the price was great.

Mark Fisher · Sep 18, 2006

I have one ot the jewelers scales and they are quite inconvenient, but servicable. The platform is very small so it took awhile to figure out a good way to use it for larger quantities. I originally weighed on paper, but I switched to plastic or dixie cups and that worked much better. Anything much heavier is a problem given the capacity of the scale. I'm hoping mine breaks soon so I can get a real scale (-:

wilsonneal · Sep 18, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
There are many good choices at affordable prices at www.balances.com.

I have a Toyo 250g pocket scale. This is good enough for emulsions and developers. I check it occasionally with a 100g calibration weight, and it seems to hold fairly well, and seems to be consistent across the range. It was about $40 or so. The really cheap pocket scales may not be entirely linear (which you think would be important in a high-risk business like the drug trade, which I would guess is the likely market for them).

Generally, the greater the capacity of the scale, the less the precision. If I make a batch of hypo, I need to measure it in two parts. If you need to measure larger quantities, you might want a scale with 500g capacity, but larger than that, and it may not be precise enough for measuring small quantities.

The Toyo 250 is out of stock until January 2006. Is there any reason this scale: http://balance.balances.com/scales/741/would not be a good substitute? 500g capacity. Measures to .1g. Accuracy to .1g, too.
Thanks for all the replies and looking at this scale.
Neal

David A. Goldfarb · Sep 18, 2006

Looks okay. I haven't heard of that brand.

sanking · Sep 18, 2006

Perhaps one scale does not fit all for everyone.

I have two digital scales, both purchased from www. balances.com

One is a iBAL 201, which measures up to 200 g with accuracy of 0.01g. The other is a i2600, which measures up to 2600 g, with accuacy to 0.1g.

I use them both.

Sandy King

Phillip P. Dimor · Sep 19, 2006

I have/had a Mettler p1200 analytical balance. It is analog. It is extremely sensitive, you can drop a human hair on it and it will register on the dial. Same with condensation on your breath. Nice part is that it is real quick to tare, good to weigh heavy and light amounts.

I paid $40 on ebay. In the late 1970's I believe this cost close to $12k.
Sartorius is also a good company. Just my opinions.

Then again, you may not want to weigh chemicals on a good scale. To each their own.

Robert Hall · Sep 19, 2006

I bought this one and it's fantastic!

http://balance.balances.com/scales/844

But that may be a little overkill.

I've used it now for a couple of months, I love it.

Paul · Sep 21, 2006

I bought this. It is called a My-Weigh. It looks and awful lot like a Toro. It is very accurate and very cheap.

http://balance.balances.com/scales/853

-Paul

Choosing a Scale for Alt Processes

wilsonneal

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David A. Goldfarb

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donbga

photomc

Mark Fisher

wilsonneal

David A. Goldfarb

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sanking

Phillip P. Dimor

Robert Hall

Paul

Choosing a Scale for Alt Processes

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