Why are Rockwell Testers so Expensive?

D

Dennis Paish

Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
302
Greetings,
As per the title, why are Rockwell Testers so expensive? It is all tooling and cast steel. No complicated electronics, no software, very little calibration and no proprietary trademarks or patents infringements. I am confused why a hand held hardness tester can not be manufactured overseas for under $200.00 to $500.00.

Note: Ebay does have some reasonable deals but the shipping into Canada is $$$$.

Any thoughts and suggestions to cheaper alternatives.

Regards,
Dennis
 
Maybe they are not manufactured overseas thats why they cost so much.

I dont know though, as far as where they are made, but I would not mind paying $200 dollars for something made in the US which is quality, than paying $100 for something made in China that is a piece of junk and in the end costing me more than the $200.
 
The real problem is finding a market for inexpensive rockwell testers. They are a fairly precision instrument with a low volume of sales. You'd have to have a very large order to get it done cheaply enough to have a margin of profit.
 
You might try finding a spring shop or a machine shop, who has a hardness tester, who would be willing to test your blades for you at a reasonable price or may be free if you talk sweet to them. It always helps it they are knife crazy like the rest of us!

Jim Arbuckle

ABS JS
 
I found this guy the other day who made his own.
http://www.rayrogers.com/rhc.htm

There's not a whole lot of information about it but a few decent pics.

It does seem pretty crazy that even the cheap import testers are a thousand bucks. But as others have said it is quite a small market.
 
By the way, I don't doubt that Ray would answer questions if asked about the tester. He's a truly decent guy who helps out a ton of newbies on another forum.
 
I got both of my Ames hand held testers off of Ebay for less ten 300 dollars. It took time to get them at a decent price but it was worth it.
 
Holy Rube Goldberg batman...

Buy an Ames...
With patience, you can usually find one for not much more than the price of a penetrator.
 
In response to the why question about the cost.
They are used in industry to do very precise certification of metals and parts. They have to be 100% accurate.....that means every time. A cheaper, lighter, lower quality unit would have no use to the industry, and would only appeal to hobbyists who just want to know the hardness, and don't really need the information to be exact ( actually, the hardness testing with a Rockwell tester tells you nothing about the edge hardness).

A used bench unit can be found if you watch the auctions. If you live near any tech area ( LA, NC, NY, NJ, MI) units that are surplus or part of liquidations are cheap and plentiful. You just have to be able to pick it up. Shipping a two hundred pound piece of precision equipment is often more than the cost of the unit.

Hand held units are used for spot checks in industry ( not for certification) and are a less robust and accurate choice. They will work fine on small items, like knife blades. Because many knifemakers want one, the auctions are often bid up much higher than the bench units.

While you certainly could build your own, without a lot of testing and calibration, the readings will be just a guide.... which is all they should be anyway.

The final reason that hardness testers are expensive is the same as any technological advancement. They are expensive until the manufacturers can sell enough to make suitable profit to afford to lower the price.Unfortunately for us, there are only a few thousand hardness testers made each year.
When I got my first cell phone, it cost $2000. now they will give them away as premiums. If you could convince the world that everyone needed a hardness tester, they would be $100, and come in color choices.

Stacy
 
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