Digital Scales

[Denice E. Demuth]

My triple beam scales have cratered on me, so I'm in the market for some digital scales.  I hope someone is  using scales that they could recommend.  The only brand I'm familiar with is Ohaus, so any help would be greatly appreciated.  If you have some scales you just hate tell me about them to so won't buy them.       Denice (Wichita  KS)

[O'Brien Tyrrell]

I have recently been working on a project where I need to mix up small batches of plaster for molds.  The molds are in the 800 gram range.  I didn't want to mess with the triple beam scale and wanted to go digital.  I looked at the postal scales and the small ones at the pottery suppliers.  Since this is just an experiment of sorts I didn't want to over-invest in the beginning so I "went shopping".  I ended up buying a digital kitchen scale from a Fleet Farm store for about 18.00.  The same price as Amazon.  The scale is a Taylor "The Biggest Loser" #3831BL.  The scale works in grams or ounces in 0.1 oz. and 1 g. increments up to 6.6 lbs or 3kg.  It is small with an easy clean glass top and allows "add and weigh".  I really like the cost and convenience...works great for this part of the project...have not used it for glaze as yet.

[Denice E. Demuth]

Thanks for the information on your scale, I purchased a scale by AWS that is the same scale that yours is but cost more.  It has a bowl that you can tare.  I already had a 150x0.1 small gram scale and added a 150x0.01 to make test glazes with. I have found that the digital scales are not a perfect fit with me.  I am one of those people who can't wear watches, I have too much magnetism in my body,  I stop them cold.  I've noticed that after I have been mixing tests for a while my digital scales start acting funny.  I can just pass my hand over them and the numbers on the screen will move up and down, with nothing on the scale.  If someone knows another reason for this let me know.  I'm just going have to change how I schedule glaze testing into shorter time periods to allow the scales to demagnitize.  Watches that I ruin take 2 weeks to a month before they start working again,  maybe my triple beam will start working again after it's had a good long rest.  It's kind of funny I didn't even consider magnetism a problem with my triple beam until I called Ohaus and they told me it sounds like I need my magnets replaced. I didn't even know it had magnets, oh well you learn something new every day.  Thanks for your help.  Denice

[Sharon Ivy]

Thankfully, my triple beam is still going strong, but I purchased a wonderful digital scale from Amazon that has a 75 lb wt capacity and I use it when shipping my pottery.  It was only $26.99.  I work for the Postal Service and my home digital scale was spot on, to the ounce, when I took a couple of my large boxes in to work just to double-check the weights.  I love this scale. If my triple beam took a dive, I wouldn't hesitate to use this one for my glazes.  Here's the link, if you decide to take a look.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Postal-Shipping-Postage-75/dp/B002TWE...

[Denice E. Demuth]

Sharon I took a look at the scale that you bought on Amazon, it looks like a great scale, I've been thinking about getting a larger scale for mixing up 5 gal batches of glaze.  This one looks like it would work and is inexpensive, thanks for the info.  Denice

[O'Brien Tyrrell]

So far it is working well...I figured that for the price I would gamble.  At this point I am using it for weighing out plaster and water for molds that are about 3"x3"x1" to get a very accurate measurement.  No problems as yet. 

[George Lewter]

I would use a small capacity 1/10 gram increment digital scale to measure weights smaller than 1000 grams. For 1000 and up the 1/10 gram increments are not significant, so a large capacity scale with 1 gram increments is more appropriate.

Following are a few scales I believe to be useful for potters:

Weighmax Top-class Stainless Steel 6KG 13LB Digital kitchen scale, ... $19.99

American Weigh Black Blade Digital Pocket Scale, 1000 by 0.1 G  $10.69

 

For those who are non-digitally inclined here is the old standby Ohaus, famed for reliability and durability.

Ohaus Triple Pro Mechanical Triple Beam Balance, 2610g x 0.1g, with... $169.00

 

And finally here is a low cost clone of the Ohaus. 

Adam Equipment TBB2610T Triple Beam Mechanical Balance With Tare Be... $114.71

[Brent Farler]

My Taylor with glass top died after 5 months.  Actually it still works when the on off button decides it wants too.  Unfortunately, that is only every few days.  I really liked it until it died, I think the weakness is the buttons are not membrane covered so easy for clay and dust to get into it. 

[Denice E. Demuth]

Thanks for the info,  I found out from Ohaus that my magnets were bad and repairing it cost as much as a new one. I'm one of those people with to much magnetism in their body so I probably killed it.  I have bought 4 digital scales U.S. Balance 150gX0.01g, U.S. Balance 1000X0.1g for mixing up glaze tests. An American Weigh Scales 3000gX0.1 and a Soehnle 5000X1g for larger batches of glaze they both have bowls.  The AWS is really nice it has a hinged cover so when not in use it keeps the dust out. I'm still having problems with my magnetism if I work with the scales too long the numbers move up and down when I get my hand close. So I work in short sessions now.   Denice

[Jan Wallace]

Hi Denise, it is very strange to read that you have a personal affect on your scales. It made me think of the incident that I had recently with my scales numbers jumping up and down randomly, until I worked out what was happening. Occasionally, I go out into the studio when my children are asleep at night and take my baby monitor with me so that I can hear if they wake up. I would place the monitor on a shelf within close proximity to my digital scales until I realised that the interference from the monitor was definately causing my scales to bounce up and down in numbers when measuring. At first, I was changing batteries, tapping the scales and even thinking of buying a new one. So glad I worked out what it was. lol

[George Lewter]

I've been looking at amazon for a large capacity digital scale for glaze batches and shipping. This tempered glass top model from Ozeri is very tempting. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003MSZBSI

[Norm Stuart]

We have two cheap scales which get a lot of abuse. They're accurate and can be re-calibrated with a weight.

The first cost $9 and measures in 0.1 grams up to one kilo especially for colorant oxides and small glaze batches.

The second scale costs $25 and measures in 1.0 grams with a 12 pound weight limit.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Black-Digital-Pocket/dp/B0012N...

http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/...

I reloaded some photos, so some comments may have been deleted before I read them. Just getting use to how this site works.

[Norm Stuart]

Your choice looks better than our 1.0 gram up to 12 pound scale.

It measures in 1.0 grams up to 12 pounds, has a larger weighing area - getting the readout away from the container, and has fewer openings to collect powders.

The round version of this scale we bought a couple of years ago collects dust in the recessed read-out and does not like to get any water or glaze splashed on it. You need to pull the batteries until the scale is dry. I now have people using mL volumetric containers for measuring out water.