Use coins to find the weight of lures

[DGagner]

Yup, another scale sort of thing.

My digital scale was just not accurate. Cheap yes but boy did it have a range all over the place. I could get a more expensive one, but heck, it's just to find the weight of my lures when I make them.

Coins have a pretty good standard weight defined by the US Mint. They can be used to make a fairly decently accurate scale. This is how I did it.

 

[Vodkaman]

I am loving this series, two so far, hoping for more.

I have done a lot of work in the balance thing myself, and I posted a paper constructed beam balance.

Good work.

Dave

[DGagner]

10 hours ago, Vodkaman said:

I am loving this series, two so far, hoping for more.

I have done a lot of work in the balance thing myself, and I posted a paper constructed beam balance.

Good work.

Dave

I searched for it on this forum and couldn't find it. You got the link? I'd like to see it.

Thanks, the best solution would be to get a triple beam balance. Not that expensive but very accurate for almost any need. Still a decent one isn't as cheap as this (or as I am). It's still an option down the road. I used one at work for years, even off and on after we got the digital units.

I've got this problem.... over my lifetime I find that with some things, if I didn't make it myself I don't want it. Ya, it is a problem.

Edited May 24, 2020 by DGagner

[Vodkaman]

DGagner - I found the post, but like a lot of the older posts, it is messed up. There are photos lower down the post.

Similar to your scale, it is a beam, with a coin(s) one end and the object on the other. The main difference is that I slide the beam along a knife edge fulcrum and read off the weight. The weight markings are calculated on a spreadsheet.

The problem is always that the beam has to be as light as possible otherwise the weight markings become too close together as the beam weight has an effect. I made my beam from paper.

One of the pics shows the markings at half gram intervals, between those marks you can eyeball to 0.1g. The scale worked, but the post is a horrible read.

I now have an electronic digital scale that weighs to 0.01g and is repeatable, and can weigh up to 500g. With this, I can measure lure volume as well as weight, allowing me to calculate density.

Dave

[DGagner]

Thnx. Novel idea, moving the beam. All the picts worked so I was able to see exactly what you were getting at. When I taught science we used to make something similar to what I made with plastic soda straws, cardboard, pins and a glue gun. They weren't to durable but they actually worked. We had ohaus balances that we also used a lot but I figured the kids would find ownership in the work if they could make their own. It also gave a more complete understanding of mass vs weight. These were younger kids.

[Vodkaman]

Mass and weight are difficult for adults to understand, so I tend to always use weight just to keep things simple.

My 0.01g scale is from China. I also have a 200Kg to 1g accuracy, but for body weight, the last decimal place is all over the place, but is good for solid objects, and repeatable.

In school and college we had very fine balances that had to be kept in cabinets, but electronics was only just getting started. I was in my second year of college when simple calculators (+ - x /) came down to less than a weeks wages.

Dave

[DGagner]

My first calculator was a TI... My neighbor was in college engineering. He came over to my house and if we bought two of them we could get them for $150. Amazing.  Did basically what a two dollar calculator from walmart does today. Although, it did have scientific notation which I later found out was indispensable with my physics classes. My math skills are pretty good. My computational skills are error ridden. The calculator saved my butt more than once. That was in 1973. I got rid of the calculator just about five years ago. It was still working if plugged in. The batteries wouldn't charge any longer.

First computer in 1978 Radio shack model 1.

[Vodkaman]

I remember the TI, my mate bought one the next year when the prices came down. It had a red LED display. My first calculator was a Solitron or something like that.

I thought long and hard about the Radio Shack computer. I gave myself a choice; computers or electronics. I figured that computers were made of electronics and so chose that route. One of the biggest mistakes of my life

Dave