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Hardness testers?

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drummerdimitri

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May 31, 2012
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257
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
I'd like to purchase a hardness tester for my shop mostly to play around with it but also to determine the hardness of different metals such as steel, ss, aluminium, brass, copper etc. for drilling/machining purposes and in case I decide to ever do some steel oil hardening of some tools/parts.

There seems to be lots of different styles such as hardness files, rebound testers, rockwell testers etc. and I have no clue which one would be the best for my needs.

The Tsubosan files can be had for around 120$ shipped on Aliexpress so those are the cheapest route but then again for about 200$ I can get a digital device that can test hardness on these scales: HRC HRA HRB HB HL HV. Which can be quite useful.

As I have no experience whatsoever in this area, maybe someone can shed some light on the subject.
 
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Pwaley

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Apr 25, 2011
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Mitutoyo or bust!

https://www.penntoolco.com/mitutoyo-rockwell-hardness-testing-machine-hr-530-810-237/

mitutoyo-HR-530__43359.1516038459.jpg
 
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macgee

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Jan 11, 2014
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Sepulveda Pass, CA
A while back I bought one of these sets on Enco, I think it was Fowler or SPI and got it cheap on sale but a friend borrowed and lost it.

they get you in the range but wont get you exact HRC number.

I believe this is the same as the ones SPI or Fowler sell: MSC is selling it for $150

https://www.amazon.com/TTC-Piece-Hardness-Tester-File/dp/B005701LAG/ref=pd_lpo_328_t_0/145-5762326-5813310?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B005701LAG&pd_rd_r=d25af533-2036-4a94-955d-8eba4ac1fe5d&pd_rd_w=jfFrQ&pd_rd_wg=5v7xm&pf_rd_p=16b28406-aa34-451d-8a2e-b3930ada000c&pf_rd_r=WMGNFDRH7S79PS0R0C8V&psc=1&refRID=WMGNFDRH7S79PS0R0C8V

& another, same but cheaper $70 usd

https://www.amazon.com/TSUBOSAN-Japan-Hardness-Tester-Checker-HRC40-HRC65/dp/B000TGHFLC/ref=bmx_4?pd_rd_w=bAuNO&pf_rd_p=82aca571-3653-4c76-afa2-d596d18861b7&pf_rd_r=6BZSSW3R5TY8S6BA0Q78&pd_rd_r=5266e9a4-75b3-4c2d-a98d-21db5f5a796a&pd_rd_wg=bCtoM&pd_rd_i=B000TGHFLC&psc=1

ref=bmx_4


EDIT: Not sure who's the best place to recommend getting them to Lebanon
 
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Astro_Pneumatic_Tools

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Oct 30, 2013
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South El Monte
I feel the files or a leeb tester might be your best route if the material you plan on is usually going to be big and flat enough for leeb.

Just keep in mind an expensive Hrc tester like we use is mostly useless on mild/plain/annealed simple metals. Not only will you not get a reading on aluminum, brass and copper, most steels and SS won't show super useful readings either.

When you're talking the C scale, we're normally looking at 30-35+ which usually means some type of extra processing being done to the material forging,extra cold working, heat treating ect.
 
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drummerdimitri

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May 31, 2012
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257
Location
Beirut, Lebanon
Astro_Pneumatic_Tools said:
I feel the files or a leeb tester might be your best route if the material you plan on is usually going to be big and flat enough for leeb.

Just keep in mind an expensive Hrc tester like we use is mostly useless on mild/plain/annealed simple metals. Not only will you not get a reading on aluminum, brass and copper, most steels and SS won't show super useful readings either.

When you're talking the C scale, we're normally looking at 30-35+ which usually means some type of extra processing being done to the material forging,extra cold working, heat treating ect.
Click to expand...

Actually, I'm starting to believe I need both a leeb tester and test files as there will be times when an object is not large enough to be tested and when there is sufficient area, the Leeb tester will be much more accurate without harming the surface while testing.

Getting both will still be much cheaper than getting one of the machines mentioned above.

Is there a minimum material thickness of the Leeb testers to work? Haven't seen any video demonstration of it doing any actual testing just calibrating.
 
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1982fxr

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Jan 7, 2012
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10,012
Location
Phoenix
Seriously though, if you're near a university with a big engineering department you might get lucky at their surplus store.
 
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speed bump

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May 28, 2008
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Location
Butte Montana
I would probably get a brinnel tester if I needed to do hardness testing regularly. The reason being is brinnel easily converts to material strengths, it's fairly compact, and it's commonly used so you can reference to other materials.

Personally I don't have any experience with leeb but I do like the idea that you don't need a multiple shot sample.
 
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