Tag: Ames superficial hardness tester

When to Choose an Ames Superficial Hardness Tester

There are two types of Rockwell testing:

Standard Rockwell: the minor load is 10 kilograms of force (kgf) and the major load is 60, 100 or 150 kg.

Superficial Rockwell: the minor load is 3 kg and the major load is 15, 30, or 45 kg.

In conducting both tests, you nay use either a diamond cone or steel ball indenter, depending on the characteristics of the material you are testing. Today you will learn more about why you would need superficial Rockwell hardness testing.

The Superficial Rockwell Scales:

Are you wondering when to purchase a superficial hardness tester rather than the standard one?  Rockwell superficial scales are used to test materials too thin or small for the regular scales or outside the regular ranges. Generally, Diamond Indenters are used for hard materials while Ball Indenters are used for soft materials. The HR 15 N scale is useful for testing hard thermal spray coatings like ceramics and carbides, while at the other extreme the HR 15 Y scale is used to test very soft abradable coatings Superficial hardness testers can be used for testing shallow areas that you would normally use a standard hardness tester for.  

Use a superficial tester when you are testing super thin material that would be damaged by a standard tester’s penetrator, for example, case-hardened steel and shim stock.  Battery cases are another example, plastics can also be tested with a superficial hardness tester.   The video below gives you a comparison of thin materials and Ames superficial testers you can choose from to conduct a superficial hardness test.

Use Superficial Hardness Testers to Test Thin Materials:

Our special superficial tester is the model 1-ST, this tester allows you to test the hardness of tubes.  Tube testing is possible with either standard or superficial hardness testers but the model 1-ST allows you to test very small diameter tubes that are too large to test with the other testers.

Superficial Portable Rockwell Testers

Ames Model 1-S Superficial Portable

Metal Portable Rockwell Hardness Testers For Sale Includes: High impact case Diamond Penetrator – Serialized and Traceable 1/16 Ball Penetrator

Superficial Portable Rockwell Testers

Ames Portable superficial Hardness Tester

Portable Metal Rockwell Hardness Tester For Sale Includes: High impact case Diamond Penetrator – Serialized and Traceable 1/16 Ball Penetrator

Superficial Portable Rockwell Testers

Ames Superficial Portable Hardness Tester

Rockwell Hardness Testers For Sale Includes: High impact case Diamond Penetrator – Serialized and Traceable 1/16 Ball Penetrator – Serialized

Superficial Portable Rockwell Testers

Ames Portable Superficial Hardness Tester

Includes: High impact case Ball Penetrator – Serialized and Traceable 1/16 Ball Penetrator – Serialized and Traceable 1 Certified Brass Test

Superficial Portable Rockwell Testers

Ames Model 4-2S Portable Hardness

Ames Portable Metal Hardness Testers Includes: High impact case Diamond Penetrator - Serialized and Traceable 1/16" Ball Penetrator – Serialized

Why you Need a Superficial Hardness Tester

Why choose a Superficial Hardness tester?

Superficial testers are designed to test very soft and very thin materials and are designed to leave minimal surface distortion.  The three reasons to choose an Ames Superficial hardness tester are, you are testing a very thin or soft material, standard superficial testers will destroy these materials or the test will show the hardness of the penetrator.  This test will leave a less noticeable mark on the material you are testing.  The superficial tester uses 15, 30, and 45 kg weight to measure rather than 60, 100, or 160 kg as with a standard hardness tester. 

Use the Rockwell “N” scale to test Hardened steels, case hardened steels, and hardened strip steels down to about.006″ thick, and when you need to keep the mark left behind by the tester to a minimum.  Use the Rockwell “T” scale to test soft steels, copper, and aluminum alloys.  You can use an additional ball penetrator to test in Rockwell “W”  for some hard thin material down to .006″ thick and cemented carbides.  Rockwell “X”  and “Y” scales are used for testing plastics.  The model 1-ST is designed to test small-diameter and thin-walled tubes.  Using Rockwell “15-T” to test tube materials like aluminum, thin steel, lead, iron, titanium, copper alloys, and cemented carbides.

Industries such as aerodynamics, steel plants, stamping manufacturers, electronics, appliances, and air conditioning part manufacturers use these superficial testers because their components are super soft and thin.

Superficial and standard hardness testers operate in the exact same way.    The major difference is the material tested and the  Rockwell scale you are testing in. You can purchase an Ames superficial tester in most of the same sizes as standard testers, with the exception of the model 8 and 16 testers, there is a like tester in the 4 main sizes of superficial testers:

Model 1-S and model 1 Ames testers are the same size.  They have an opening  1 inch wide and a depth of 1 inch, so they are ideal for testing smaller parts.

The model 2 and 2-s are the same size and have an opening of 2 inches with a depth of 2.115 inches. 

The model 1-4S and model 1-4 are the same sizes featuring an opening of 1 inch and a depth of 4 inches, great for longer, thin materials.

The model 4-4S and model 4-4 testers are the same size 4 inches wide and deep to allow you to test larger materials

The only tester with no standard equivalent is the model 1-ST, a special tube hardness tester.