Bought a hardness tester

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OccamsBlade

OccamsBlade

Jim Dobbler
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So I found a hardness tester on craigslist for a decent price. Thing is is that I don't know anything about them. I know it's a Rockwell/Wilson superficial hardness tester Model 3S. It didn't come with a manual, and can't find one online. This thing is ancient.

So first mistake I made (I think) was getting a superficial hardness tester, and it only came with 45kg of weight. I was wondering if this is still usable for testing hardened steel, that's if I can find more weights for it to get up to the required 150kg of weight? Or if a "superficial" tester won't work for knife making/hardened steel. It did come with a diamond penetrator and 54.55 45kg (45N scale) test block. So I'll probably need a test block that's around 60 (RC) 150kg (?)...if I can in fact even use this thing for knife making.

Also don't know what type of oil the dashpot uses. I assume it's the same type of oil you use for motorcycle shocks or the like. 10W oil. Some leaked out during transportation.

Thanks for looking and any help is appreciated!

 
I accidentally bought one of these also, nobody around here wanted it, so I scraped it.. It's no good for what we do & will never read in the C range, even with 150kg weights. Resale it if you can.
 
Well, gosh durnit. It just so happens I found another person on craigslist that has a bunch of (non superficial) testers for sale. Hopefully someone in these parts will have a use for one, otherwise it was a $200 mistake.
 
OccamsBlade said:
Well, gosh durnit. It just so happens I found another person on craigslist that has a bunch of (non superficial) testers for sale. Hopefully someone in these parts will have a use for one, otherwise it was a $200 mistake.
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I paid $200 also. Funny thing was there were two Wilson testers side by side and I picked the better looking less used one. Bet the other read in C scale, but it was gone when I went back. I did end up finding a good Wilson for $200.
 
Well, I went and picked up another one today. Got the right one this time! The guy I bought it from says he sells a lot of hardness testers in the area, including superficial testers. So that's good news I guess. Just have to get a test block. He only had superficial test blocks.

The only thing I'm not a 100% on is its accuracy. Will have to see once I get a proper test block for it. Did you get yours calibrated by a professional?
 
OccamsBlade said:
Well, I went and picked up another one today. Got the right one this time! The guy I bought it from says he sells a lot of hardness testers in the area, including superficial testers. So that's good news I guess. Just have to get a test block. He only had superficial test blocks.

The only thing I'm not a 100% on is its accuracy. Will have to see once I get a proper test block for it. Did you get yours calibrated by a professional?
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No, I did it myself, it didn't work when I got it. Was froze up with dried oil/grease and dirt dobber nests. After a good cleaning and some very light machine oil in the right places it worked fine and was dead on the test block I had here.
 
I just picked one up for $50. I had to send the Indicator out and have it cleaned. It was kind of gummy returning to zero. I sent it to a Metrology lab and they took it apart, ultra sonic cleaned all the parts, micro polished the spindle, put new jewels in it and lubed it for $65. I'm waiting on some certified test blocks from the tech college machine shop the instructor said I could borrow. Right now I think it's reading 3 points low after testing a blade known to be at 61, it was reading 58. This one is pretty easy to calibrate, so one I have actual test blocks I'll get it reading dead on.
 
Yeah, the calibration is pretty straightforward. The indicator is the only thing I'm concerned about. That's something I definitely would not want to take apart and fiddle around with. And doesn't seem to be hanging on mine. $65 isn't bad at all. And $50 for a hardness tester is a great deal.

Westport Corp has their blocks on sale for $71, which doesn't seem too bad.
 
OccamsBlade said:
Yeah, the calibration is pretty straightforward. The indicator is the only thing I'm concerned about. That's something I definitely would not want to take apart and fiddle around with. And doesn't seem to be hanging on mine. $65 isn't bad at all. And $50 for a hardness tester is a great deal.

Westport Corp has their blocks on sale for $71, which doesn't seem too bad.
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NIST certified test blocks are the way to go...You KNOW they are correct no guess work. They last a long time Keep it clean and in in a safe container. When you specify the hardness of the blade you know it's correct your reputation for quality will Thank You!
 
OccamsBlade said:
Yeah, the calibration is pretty straightforward. The indicator is the only thing I'm concerned about. That's something I definitely would not want to take apart and fiddle around with. And doesn't seem to be hanging on mine. $65 isn't bad at all. And $50 for a hardness tester is a great deal.

Westport Corp has their blocks on sale for $71, which doesn't seem too bad.
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Thanks for the tip! I've been looking for several days and couldn't find test blocks under 100 bucks. They appear to be certified "Each block comes with the latest test block certification requirements from ASTM and NIST, providing you with the most comprehensive calibration test block available."
 
Welp, just got my test block from Westport. Looks like my harness tester is off by about -1.

So where do knife makers normally test their blades? I imagine it's on the ricasso, as close to the blade as possible. The most accurate reading being on the blade itself. And when testing on the Ricasso I assume you adjust the hardness range to include the blade, being slightly harder.
 
Got mine today too. You need to test a flat area, most folks do the forward part of the tang that would be covered by scales.
 
I test under the scale area (tang), or on the blade if the edge bevels have not been ground yet.
 
I was super lucky a few years back and got a ancient one from Japan . Looks identical to the Wilson . It came with a purpose built wooden box with all papers and different anvils etc. while a hardness tester is not required to make knives it definitely is a plus while learning how to heat treat . Plus they look cool and definitely brings a lot of questions from friends.
 
Marko3 said:
I was super lucky a few years back and got a ancient one from Japan . Looks identical to the Wilson . It came with a purpose built wooden box with all papers and different anvils etc. while a hardness tester is not required to make knives it definitely is a plus while learning how to heat treat . Plus they look cool and definitely brings a lot of questions from friends.
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I feel the same. Mostly for seeing how close I'm getting to the desired hardness. Also because I like cool toys.
 
When you start to dial in a heat treating protocol it's nice to do test coupons of the given steel, and the best way to see if you are
accomplishing your goals for Hardness is to test the coupons. Just guessing that it came up to austinizing temperature before quench and that it was more or less successful is no longer in question you can test the samples and know for sure you're hitting your marks!!
 
Busto said:
When you start to dial in a heat treating protocol it's nice to do test coupons of the given steel, and the best way to see if you are
accomplishing your goals for Hardness is to test the coupons. Just guessing that it came up to austinizing temperature before quench and that it was more or less successful is no longer in question you can test the samples and know for sure you're hitting your marks!!
Click to expand...

That's a good idea, testing pieces of steel to get my heat treat process down. Then using those as test blocks.
 
Don Hanson III said:
I accidentally bought one of these also, nobody around here wanted it, so I scraped it.. It's no good for what we do & will never read in the C range, even with 150kg weights. Resale it if you can.
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Not true for anyone browsing this their is a chart that converts superficial to c scale if you have is calibrated.. I have a superficial and my buddy I c scale we get the exact same readings https://www.brystartools.com/hardness-conversion-chart-rockwell-c-hardness-range/
 
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