Cabine Tree lead hardness tester

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bearhunter

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Ok, anyone know where one of these would be available in Canada???

I've talked directly to the distributor as well as Buffalo Arms. It seems the fellow that makes them is on his own time. Some weeks he has time and some weeks he doesn't. Presently no one has any in stock and doesn't know when they will be getting any. Could be days or weeks.

If anyone has one to sell, please PM me.

If you have one you don't want to sell, maybe you could measure the diameter of the spring as well as the thickness of the wire used in the coils and the number of coils. I would also need to know the thread pitch of the driving screw. They look easy to make out of simple materials I already have on hand.

If I had a tester to use as a comparison, I could use a similar spring and measure the penetration of the pin against it and make up my own hardness chart that would be different but comparable.

I've looked at other types, like the Saeco and Lee as well as a few home made abortions. Altogether way to much trouble and way to much variance.
 
phishroy said:
no idea where you can find it but Lee also makes a hardness tester.
here is the link:
http://leeprecision.com/lead-hardness-test-kit.html
Click to expand...


I looked at that kit and it isn't what I want. I have used one of those before and was disappointed with the results. Three of us used the same kit and all kept getting different readings.

Thanks anyway, I appreciate the help.

If you are selling Dragon Lube, I was given some bullets lubed with it last fall. Good stuff.
 
bearhunter said:
Ok, anyone know where one of these would be available in Canada???

I've talked directly to the distributor as well as Buffalo Arms. It seems the fellow that makes them is on his own time. Some weeks he has time and some weeks he doesn't. Presently no one has any in stock and doesn't know when they will be getting any. Could be days or weeks.

If anyone has one to sell, please PM me.

If you have one you don't want to sell, maybe you could measure the diameter of the spring as well as the thickness of the wire used in the coils and the number of coils. I would also need to know the thread pitch of the driving screw. They look easy to make out of simple materials I already have on hand.

If I had a tester to use as a comparison, I could use a similar spring and measure the penetration of the pin against it and make up my own hardness chart that would be different but comparable.

I've looked at other types, like the Saeco and Lee as well as a few home made abortions. Altogether way to much trouble and way to much variance.
Click to expand...

Shiloh rifle in Montana lists them in their catalogue. $115.00
 
Just make one yourself with what looks close what the cabin tree model is. Then test it on pure lead and lino type, then you have an idea of how hard your lead is. It's not an exact science that says you have to you use x hardness or your bullets will lead up your barrel. Bullet fit is more important.
 
Thanks Ryan I will check out their site.

Spawn, I have no idea how big or small the unit is. I have only seen pics of it. The real secret to the unit is the amount of spring tension it uses and the angle of the point pushing against the lead. The principal behind the system is simplicity in a nutshell.

I was just hoping that if I got a spring with a close enough tension match that I could use their tables. I notice that the graph isn't proportional but has a curve.

It is a simple build. When I was looking up the tester, there were several extremely expensive testers and that some companies offer tested plates to calibrate this equipment with. That may be a good place to start. In the end though it may prove more expensive than just buying a Cabine Tree tester.
 
Bill, thanks for the measurements. That stuff is all off the shelf. Nothing at all special about any of it. I will do a bit of improvising and adapting to the one in the picture, so I can read it from the side and build the anvil/penetrator pedestals on an angle but other than that there shouldn't be more than a few hours into a workable unit.

I have downloaded their graph and printed it out as well. We'll see how close my contraption comes to the commercial model. The plunger will be the biggest thing. I think a piece of hardened drill rod pressed into the tip of the threaded rod should do the trick. Maybe, it will need to be live, like the center of the tail stock? That may or may not be a bit anal retentive. Can't hurt anything though and will only mean a bit of extra time.

Now to get together some known hardness tested samples.
 
Gerard, don't buy any lead hardness tester!
I can give you one for free!
All I have is a hardened ball from ball bearing 3/4" dia. Any other say from 3/8" to 1" dia or so will do.
I have soft roof lead flashing bars for a test sample 1lb ea from reg casting Lee ingot mould. They are 5HB hard.
OK. I put the ball between sample bar and tested bar of unknown hardness that is in the same shape.
That assembly goes into the HD bench vise and gets press together with any force as long as that ball makes min 1/4" print dia (.25 squared is .0625) in softer lead bar. Say the harder bar imprint is 3/16" dia (.187 squared is .0350)
OK, divide .0625 by .0350 and I end up with 1.78 and that times original 5HB is 9HB and that is the hardness of unknown lead bar.
Thats the most easy and most accurate way to measure lead hardness and science stands behind it.
 
gunrunner8 said:
Gerard, don't buy any lead hardness tester!
I can give you one for free!
All I have is a hardened ball from ball bearing 3/4" dia. Any other say from 3/8" to 1" dia or so will do.
I have soft roof lead flashing bars for a test sample 1lb ea from reg casting Lee ingot mould. They are 5HB hard.
OK. I put the ball between sample bar and tested bar of unknown hardness that is in the same shape.
That assembly goes into the HD bench vise and gets press together with any force as long as that ball makes min 1/4" print dia (.25 squared is .0625) in softer lead bar. Say the harder bar imprint is 3/16" dia (.187 squared is .0350)
OK, divide .0625 by .0350 and I end up with 1.78 and that times original 5HB is 9HB and that is the hardness of unknown lead bar.
Thats the most easy and most accurate way to measure lead hardness and science stands behind it.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the offer Roman. You are a fine fellow and I really do appreciate it.

I am in the process of building a Cabine Tree clone. I already have all of the needed components in my bins. I have the frame already built and will thread the plunger bolt hole today. I have enough spring material to make a half dozen units. The guide rod is a quick job on the lathe and as far as mounting a dial indicator, which I have a couple of spares, that is simplicity in itself. I have pure lead for a 5 BHN test. Now, I just need something around 10 BHN and a piece of pure Linotype around 22BHN and a small Tin block for comparison purposes so that I can make up a hardness comparison graph.

Thanx again, maybe we can get together for a beer in Chilliwack???
 
You used to be able to order direct from the maker. IIRC, his website is minimal, but expansive enough for me to complete a purchase a few years back.
 
If you go to the Lee web site and get the instructions for their tester you will see that it uses a 5/32 ball and sixty pounds of force. With that info it's very easy to make one that looks a bit like a balance scale. Make the arm twelve times longer and you only need five pounds of weight. Just need a way to measure and then use the Lee chart.
 
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