Purchasing a Hardness Tester

J

John Frankl

Joined
Oct 16, 2001
Messages
1,917
Hello,

I am about to buy a Rockwell hardness tester.

I would like opinions on units under $1,000, like in the Grizzly catalog.

Are they worth the money? Or are they frought with problems?

If there are some decent units for this price, any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

John
 
:) Check E-Bay, at times there are some decent machines. Usually several Wilsons. You might consider a handheld Wilson, if you can find a used one. Got mine off of E-Bay, really like it.
 
I read an article a few years ago about the import models. The bottom line was they are good but can vary a couple points one way or the other. The fix was to test the calibration on your new one with a "known good" USA test block.
 
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I live in prestonsburg ky floyd county.test blocks of differnt hardness comes with the hardness tester.
 
Ah, but, notice Bruce said known USA test blocks. If your test blocks are not valid you have no true start point. You could have the Grizzly test blocks checked.
 
John, I have the Enco... same one Grizzly sells, and am quite happy with it. I tested some stuff on it, and then on the big dollar Wilson at school, and it was the same Rc.

Since Rc is only part of the equation... it's still a pretty big pill to swallow, to spend $700-800 on a tester. Of course I know a guy that bought a certified Wilson that's worth $5k, for about $350 when the seller was WAY hard up for cash... but that sort of deal doesn't seem to fall into my lap :)
 
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