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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:06 am 
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Koa
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Location: Lincoln, NE
First name: Paul
Last Name: Burner
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Status: Amateur
I want to start keep better records of my builds - and that includes weighing things.

I want to be able to weigh braces, tops, neck blocks, tail blocks, etc etc etc.

I am looking for something that is quite accurate and easy to use.

I have NO idea what to look for.

Found this website: http://www.americanweigh.com

Any suggestions on what I might look for?

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:32 am 
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I use a triple beam balance, no batteries, accurate and easy to use.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:32 am 
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Joined: Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:02 pm
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First name: Gene
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I have a couple similar to this one. There are a number on the market in the $11-$25 dollar range.
I've found them easy to use, and certaintly accurate enough for luthier use.

http://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digital-Kitchen-Capacity-Stylish/dp/B003E7AZQA/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1373729463&sr=8-21&keywords=digital+scale

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:53 am 
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Same thing here. I've been using one of these for the last few years:
http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Silver-Digital-Kitchen/dp/B003STEJFM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373730741&sr=8-1&keywords=amw-13

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 12:54 pm 
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First name: Joe
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+ 1 Triple beam. Accurate and enough precision to monitor moisture content in neck wood, brace stock, etc., to determine when it's reached equilibrium at shop RH.

Joe


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:46 pm 
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Location: Reno, Nevada
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Harbor freight will have several and the best part is that they're CHEAP! bliss

Mikey

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:30 am 
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+1 on the triple beam

edit: Is this going to be a hand tool/power tool question? beehive
bliss

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:49 am 
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Triple beam is hard to beat...but I've used dozens of small electronic scales and don't remember ever having a problem with any of them...except the ones I encased in epoxy by accident. I have four or five different brands lying around the shop. No reason to be too picky about them...the technology is pretty simple. The triple beam requires calculations to switch from metric to standard measuring systems. The electronic scales require pushing one button to switch over.

I think you'll probably want to get something that graduates down to .1 grams if you're weighing smaller parts....or mixing liquids. Those tend to have about one pound as a max weigh and they run in the $100 range. The kind Filippo linked generally max out at around 5-10 pounds, have coarser increments, and are always quite a bit cheaper. I find that I need both types of scales for my processes but I use the smaller, finer scales more often.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 3:29 pm 
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Koa
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First name: Paul
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Focus: Build
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Many of the digital scales I have seen have VERY small beds on them.

I want to weigh things like braces, tops, heck, maybe even a complete guitar.

Any suggestions along that line?

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Burner Guitars


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:04 pm 
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Paul Burner wrote:
Many of the digital scales I have seen have VERY small beds on them.

I want to weigh things like braces, tops, heck, maybe even a complete guitar.

Any suggestions along that line?


I've used our OXO kitchen scale for all of the above.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:33 am 
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First name: Rodger
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Country: USA
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Status: Amateur
With the accessory counterweights, the triple beam will weigh up to nearly 6 pounds within 0.1 gram. I can and have weighed all those items. I've had mine for years, so I've never needed anything else.
If I was in the market for a scale these days, I'd get at least two and maybe three of the digital scales. Small, to .01 gram, medium, up to 5 lb in 0.1 gram, and large for anything over 5lb. That's a lot less expensive than a new triple beam, but the triple beam will last a while. I got mine back in the 70's when I was in engineering school.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:47 am 
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I use mine for everything. stand the guitars/tops/backs upright on the scale and balance between two fingers. May not be perfectly exact but you can get very, very close. Certainly sufficient for our needs. This works fine on a digital scale but probably would be next to impossible to do on a triple beam balance.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 6:19 am 
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My wife's Weight Watchers scale. Yeah, I think she knows.:):)

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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