Archive: May 26, 2018

Rockwell Hardness Testers

Buy New Not Used Rockwell Hardness Testers

May 26, 2018 by Ames Portable hardness testers 0 Comments #ames hardness tester, #Ames portable hardness tester, #Ames tester, #new vs used Ames tester, #Used Ames tester

New Ames testers are a big investment and can serve your company for decades with proper care and maintenance.  There are some pitfalls and issues that you can have when buying a used Ames hardness tester:

The age of the unit is the key component to be aware of.  You can’t tell the age of a tester just its condition. Old testers may have scratches and signs of wear but they also may appear to be in excellent condition.  Some older testers have been used infrequently.  In some cases, these old testers may not have been calibrated regularly due to their irregular use.   

The tester pictured above, from our records, is roughly 40 years old.  With the build style, the spring tension over the years will fade and give you an inaccurate reading. For example, conducting accuracy testing with our test block in a scale of “C.”  It is very slow and we have managed to get it to 150.  I now back the tension off all the way so the needle comes back to set. This particular tester is giving us a reading of 78 which is quite high and very inaccurate. This likely has something to do with the spring tension or the ball penetrator being heavily damaged as well as the Anvil.   So this tester is too old to repair or calibrate. Any tester with a serial number older than 12,000 we cannot certify calibration on.  While we can provide repair and calibration services for the older testers, we won’t provide certification because of the age of these testers.

Potential Issues You May Experience Operating a Used Tester VS a New Tester:

  • Penetrators or other items normally included could be missing or damaged.
  • Spring tension on units over many years can fade
  • Accurate readings will start to diminish
  • Often used testers are too old to calibrate or repair
  • The cost of calibration and repair to a used tester, in some cases can exceed the cost of a brand new tester.
  • New Ames Portable Hardness testers come with a brand new case, test blocks, penetrators, anvils, and extenders.
  • Also included, our Rockwell hardness Tester Manual

 

You may be compelled to purchase a used tester in an attempt to save money. This is great if you don’t lose anything else that you would get with a brand-new item. With some products you won’t sacrifice quality but with metal hardness testers this is not usually the case. You need your tester to be providing you with accurate results every time!

Use theseGuidelines to Help you Decide if a New Portable Hardness Tester is What You Need:

  • Old hardness testers can lose accuracy
  • Some older testers cannot be repaired
  • Don’t purchase without knowing a tester can be calibrated or repaired
  • Parts may no longer be available
  • Is the diamond penetrator chipped?
  • Is the indicator working?

 

Used Ames TesterCall us with a serial number and model and we can at least tell you when it was manufactured and if it might be repairable. Don’t get stuck paying for a Rockwell tester you can’t use.

Ames How To

How To Use A Rockwell Portable Hardness Tester

May 15, 2018 by Ames Portable hardness testers 0 Comments #guide to Ames hardness testing, #how to test with Ames, #how to use an Ames portable Hardness tester

Using An Ames Portable Metal Hardness Tester

Find more helpful videos on our youtube channel. Below is a transcript of the above video.  If you have any questions or need more information on our portable Rockwell testers than contact us here.
We’re going to be testing a customer’s sample piece on her Model 1 a standard Ames portable hardness tester.  The purpose of this demonstration is to show you just how easy it is to operate the tester as a sample piece or using a small clip. It is a hard material spring-type steel.  I’m using a diamond penetrator for the flat Anvil.   I’m going to be measuring in the C scale which requires a 10-kg minor load and I’ve got a  150 kg major load.  First thing I want to do is initialize the Dow indicator Itself by rotating the setting of the stylus of the indicator. Next we’re going to trap the part between the Anvil and the penetrator and I’m going to establish my 10 kg. load. Simply do that by rotating the handwheel and the pin correctly. Next we want to establish the zeo point on the tester itself. To do that we  rotate barrel down and rest the pin directly on the magnifer. Next we will rotate the handwheel to 150. Once that is set, reverse the handwheel back to the set point. What you see is the C scale numbers in black and B scale numbers in red. We are looking at the C scale.  You can see the line underneath the number 40 there’s a thick line and then off on the left hand side there’s little hash marks each one of those small hash marks is 2 points.  The large broad line underneath the number itself is the whole number or in this case 40.  You can see it set up in 10 point increments.  So what we’re looking at is 40 which is the black line underneath the 40 and then we’re sitting right between the broad and hash mark which makes it a 41.  We want to thank you for your attention should you have questions please feel free to contact us by email telephone.
Below are a few videos featuring tips on how to use a Portable Ames Rockwell Hardness Tester. Make sure  to tighten extensions, penetrator and anvil. Also make sure the gage is set to the dot. When used correctly our metal  hardness testers are reliable for testing metals and plastics. If you should have any questions on our portable hardness testers please contact us here.
The first thing we are going to do is, with no load applied we want to lift this needle and make sure it’s below that set mark and pointed right at the dot. The next thing we’re going to do is just make sure all our components are tight so starting with the anvil, the extension and the anvil adapter and finally our penetrator, just make sure all of those are finger tight.