TECH TIP: Use Mirror and Magnifier with Beam Scales
When he chooses to measure his loads or sort bullets by weight, Forum Member Boyd Allen likes his trusty RCBS 10-10 scale. He finds that it works predictably, time after time, and it doesn’t suffer from the drift and calibration issues that plague some of the less-expensive electronic scales on the market.
To make it easier to see the balance point, Boyd has adapted a magnifying glass with a mirror. This makes the end of his balance beam easier to view from his normal position on the bench. Boyd explains: “This set-up uses a cheap magnifier with positioning arms that was probably designed to hold and magnify small objects while soldering them. I think that it came from Harbor Freight many years ago. The mirror lets you look at the scale as if is was at eye level, and of course the magnifier makes the image easier to see.”
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Tags: Balance Beam, Mirror, Reloading, Scale
hi boyd, just wondering if you have trouble reading adjusting barrel on the other end of scale. i talked to rcbs, no help. i wondered about putting gold flakes or fingernail polish so i can read it. i know my eyesight is not a good as when i was younger but this is plain stupid. thx jim
My scale is at eye level, but I have one of those desk lamps with a magnifier lens in the middle of it. Well lit and bigger…
Jim,
No, I don’t have any trouble seeing the barrel at the other end of the scale, but if I did, I would use a magnifier on a stand, or one of those on an arm with a ring light around it.
BJS,
I use a regular desk to reload, and if I had a dedicated reloading bench I don’t like the additional time and effort required by a high scale position when a lot of loads are being weighed. The mirror started being held in the left hand, then I read about the fellow who mounted a magnifier, and thought that I might be able to rig up something that gave me both desk top parallax relief, and a little magnification, the latter because I believe that a tuned up balance requires close attention to see the small differences that are there to be read, but so small in measurement at the end of the pointer that they can easily be overlooked.
I use a 30 dollar usb camera and a free program called FSC Cam View to see the needles with on my laptop.
I’m sorry its FScamview
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Windows-Widgets/Webcams/FSCamView.shtml
I perfer this method over a mirror and magnifying glass because the position of my head n body doesn’t matter to see the needles, I use it with the usb camera with my gen1 Prometheus
Boyd,
Nice tip my friend,the mirror does help tired eyes for sure, I hope to see you finish this article with the rest of your knowledge of scales one day
Wayne,…..(bozo699)