Vintage Christian Becker Analytical Balance 50s

I just bought this on Ebay and will pick it up tomorrow to keep it from getting banged around;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400306451070?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Was this a good buy? I see they sold new for around $350.

I had a guy who sold me some element samples with a really-really nice old wooden cased balance that was going to sell it to me, but I lost contact with him. I would have rather had that one, but think this one is cool looking also.

I already have a nice set of weights like the one in the pictures, but I lost the 1 mg weight from that set. Does anyone know a good place to find a replacement? Or how to make my own?

Jim

Great looking balance Jim! From a time when fine craftsmanship raised simple tools to artforms. An electronic scale just wouldn't look nearly as nice on your bookshelf. Is it accurate to 1 mg?

Dave

jimdoc said:

Was this a good buy? I see they sold new for around $350.

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Maybe in the day, but I expect you couldn't touch one now for that price.
A good buy? While I don't recall what I paid for mine, I have one very similar. Were I still refining, I'd consider it invaluable. However, if your intention is to use it for assaying, it most likely lacks the needed precision. Not being critical of your balance, Jim, just stating what I know of assay balances, which are far more delicate in design and nature. Because of the ratio of a sample as it relates to a ton of ore, the degree of precision of the balance must be extreme.

I already have a nice set of weights like the one in the pictures, but I lost the 1 mg weight from that set. Does anyone know a good place to find a replacement? Or how to make my own?

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The balance I purchased (surplus from the UofU, as I recall) had no weights, so I turned to Heusser Instruments to have a couple sets made. At that time they were located in Salt Lake City. With the passing of the father, the business is no longer active so far as I know. This was over 30 years ago, Jim.

For small weights, they used stainless wire. I had grain sets made. A single grain is a piece of wire that weighs one grain. Two grains is a piece of wire that is bent to a V, and weighs two grains, and so on, up to five grains, which is a piece of wire that is bent to a square, with one leg overlapping a leg. Beyond those sizes, all the weights are the typical brass knob design. For a very tiny weight like you desire, you could use the same procedure. The real problem is in certifying the weight. If you can locate one that is known to be calibrated, you may be able to make a similar weight, then check it by weighing from both pans of the balance, to see if they agree with one another.

Harold

can you get your weights certified by your states "department of weights and measurements"? here in Alabama, any company that does commerce by weight or volume must be certified. i dont know if all states have something like that, but once a year every gas station, weigh station, commercial scale in the state has to be certified.

Same in Iowa for weights and measures.

The problem is that there's no one in these government offices or scale companies that know anything about these old balances. All they know is digital. A few years ago, in Houston, I had a Sartorius analytical balance made in the 70s - one of those that you dial in the weights. I wanted it calibrated and called around to several large companies in that business. No one knew any anything about it. One company tried to get a retired employee that had worked on them to help me but he was ill.

Somewhere on the internet, there is a very informative antique balance forum that I thought I had bookmarked. I tried to search for it with no luck.

I know that Bob Myers can calibrate any mechanical scale. see http://www.myerstest.com/contactus.html Be very careful how such scales are transported and moved as it may have agate pivots that can be easily damaged.

I found this link online;
http://www.humboldt.edu/scimus/HSC.36-53/Descriptions/ChBal52.htm

It contains some good info and I found "The Use And Care Of A Balance" book on the Internet Archive.

Looks like I will have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up after the holiday. The seller is only about 2 minutes away from me.


Jim

jimdoc said:

I found this link online;
http://www.humboldt.edu/scimus/HSC.36-53/Descriptions/ChBal52.htm

It contains some good info and I found "The Use And Care Of A Balance" book on the Internet Archive.

Looks like I will have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up after the holiday. The seller is only about 2 minutes away from me.


Jim

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Here's some info on your balance from that same link. Yours is the bottom one, the AB-7. Note that the sensitivity can be as good as .05mg. I once worked in a lab with the top one, which is a chainomatic. Since yours is not a chainomatic and it doesn't have a notched beam with a sliding gizmo that picks up and moves the rider from notch to notch, you'll have to rely totally on weights and move or slide the rider manually with tweezers (for the last digit, in 10ths of a mg).
http://www.humboldt.edu/scimus/Manufac/C_Becker/1963_CB_AnalBal_AB4t.jpg

According to the certification label in the seller's photos, there is supposed to be a 10mg rider. It's a tiny bent wire that you move along the top of the beam to get the last digit (notice the numbers on the beam). I don't see a rider in the photos. Also, you're missing 4 fractional weights, 1mg, 2mg (you need 2 of these), and a 10mg. These weights come in different tolerance classes, depending on the sensitivity of your particular balance. For this balance, you should use either Class 1 or Class E2. Ohaus has about the best prices for these, which are $36 each (E2). If you want them certified, the price is almost double.
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/ohaus/weights/oiml-e2.htm

The amount you spend on weights depends on what you want to weigh. If you want to weigh assay beads, you'll need the Class 1 or E2 for 4 digits and you'll need a rider (I have no idea where you could get one, though). If you only want 2 or 3 digits, you can get away with weights of a cheaper Class and no rider.

Were I you, I would only use it for 2 or 3 digits, if at all. I will guarantee that there's a learning curve and that it will take quite awhile to make a single weighing. Maybe you could just clean it up and use it for decoration. Then, buy a 2, 3, or 4 digit digital scale.

Be very careful when transporting it. Remove the pans and the hangers. You'll have to somehow lock the beam down so it doesn't swing back and forth. Or, the whole beam assembly will probably just lift up out of the stand so you can remove it. Be very careful with the long "needle" that reads the marks at the bottom. It will bend very easily.

Good luck

I do have another set of weights, just like the ones in the pictures, but in very nice condition. Only I dropped the 1 mg weight and never found it. I don't have hopes of ever finding it, although I may get surprised if I move some things around one of these days.

I will probably just use it as a display, and try it out to see how it works.

This is a link to one like I wanted to get from the guy I bought the metal samples from;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Henry-Troemner-Analytical-counter-balance-scale-glass-encased-mahogany-/221062606035?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33785bacd3

He had it on display in his living room and it looked like brand new. He wasn't quite ready to sell it.
Maybe he will surprise me with a call one of these days.

I will be very careful when I get it. I am hoping the rider is there somewhere.

Thanks. Jim

Saw one of those go at auction a month or 2 ago and it brought right around $85.

jimdoc said:

I do have another set of weights, just like the ones in the pictures, but in very nice condition. Only I dropped the 1 mg weight and never found it. I don't have hopes of ever finding it, although I may get surprised if I move some things around one of these days.

I will probably just use it as a display, and try it out to see how it works.

This is a link to one like I wanted to get from the guy I bought the metal samples from;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Henry-Troemner-Analytical-counter-balance-scale-glass-encased-mahogany-/221062606035?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33785bacd3

He had it on display in his living room and it looked like brand new. He wasn't quite ready to sell it.
Maybe he will surprise me with a call one of these days.

I will be very careful when I get it. I am hoping the rider is there somewhere.

Thanks. Jim

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That is a beautiful balance.

If you're not interested in using this for serious work, you could probably make a 10mg rider. You could first zero the scale so the tip of the needle settles on the middle mark of the white scale. I think you adjust the zero with the nuts I see on the end of the beam. Then, get a piece of thin wire of the right diameter that will weigh .010g (10mg) when about 1/2"-3/4" long. Put a 10mg weight on one pan and the wire on the other and trim, scrape, or sand the wire until it balances. Then, bend the wire into a narrow staple shape with square corners and put it on the center mark of the beam. It might take a few tries.