Troemner Balance

[Harold_V]

Some time ago I was talking it up about wrinkle paint, which I wanted to use to repaint my old Troemner balance that was in dire need of restoration. I needed the balance to accurately calibrate the weights I was going to make for my Wilson hardness tester, recently acquired from ebay without any of the anvils, penetrators, or weights. Living on social security money makes you do strange things!

The balance came to me years ago, already well used, then had been subjected to further hard usage and abuse, having resided in my refinery for years, then stored in our shipping containers for another four years. It easily looked like a candidate for the dump.

The balance was completely dismantled and either sand or glass bead blasted, then painted. Originally it was painted after assembly, but that left some areas poorly covered, so I decided to replace a few pieces of hardware with stainless so I could paint the components before assembly and leave the hardware (stainless nuts and washers) bare, which would allow for assembly after painting. That worked out very well. In our environment, unpainted steel wouldn't have lasted long without rusting.

In order to guarantee that the balance was calibrated properly, I used a set of high quality bullion balance weights as masters to adjust the balance weights. The finished balance appears to be capable of weighing within a few grains, more precise than needed for most operations. It does not have the precision of a bullion balance, but it won't be used as one, either. Considering what I started with, it's far more serviceable now than it was. I've copied a picture of it below for you to see.

Harold

[Ralph_P]

Nice job

[Marty_Escarcega]

Nice work Harold. Manageable project. Now I understand what you were referring to
Marty [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

[Michael_Az]

Nice looking job Harold. Glad the scales didn't end up in the dump. Would look good anywhere. My first experience with wrinkling paint was when I was a big kid. One evening I brush painted an old utility trailer and that night the paint froze and wrinkled really nice! Ha
Michael

[dpage]

Nice job Harold.
Did you have to do any work on the knife edges or bearings?

dpage

[Harold_V]

The knife edges. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, at the very worst, they had a very slight surface film of rust that readily came off. It was light enough that brisk rubbing with a cloth would have removed it. I'm sure that's because they are enclosed by covers, though not air tight. Absolutely no signs of pitting, none! Considering the age of the balance, it was in remarkable condition.

They also showed almost no signs of wear, likely a tribute to the heat treat process. The knife seats are heat treated iron, and were, likewise, in perfect condition. A quick swipe with a good stone revealed a seat in wonderful condition. I stoned the knife edges to guarantee that they didn't have any flat spots, otherwise there was nothing that needed to be done to them. I didn't have any soft media, so I used glass bead on them, making sure I didn't blast towards the knife edge to damage it. Glass bead is reputed to remove little to no metal, and my experience in using it pretty much goes hand in hand with that assessment, especially on heat treated items, which it leaves with the most lovely satin patina.

The balance is rather interesting in construction. The table stays dead perpendicular at all times, thanks to the complex linkage underneath. Without that feature, it would be difficult to weigh anything because the center of gravity would shift, creating a heavier or lighter weight as the relative position of he load shifted.

I have attached a photo of what the balance looked like moments before I started to dismantle it. Not a pretty sight! The general condition is mostly due to the use of the balance in my laboratory when I refined precious metals. While I ran a fume hood, the atmosphere in the lab was slightly acidic, thus everything quickly changed. Any bare iron or steel surfaces would acquire a surface rust, and the brass components on the beam slowly degraded as if they had been exposed to weather for years. You can see how bad they look in the attached photo. A far cry from how they turned out after bead blasting.

Thanks for your kind comments and for looking.

Harold

[Harold_V]

So, Michael, did the paint stay put? Sounds like you used a water base.

This wrinkle paint is interesting stuff. You spray on two or three coast in rapid succession, then apply some heat if possible. I used an old heater. Within about 15 minutes it begins the wrinkle process. It's relatively sensitive to the amount of paint applied. Too much and it goes crazy, not enough and it doesn't wrinkle, or does so very poorly. Might be easier to paint on a cool evening and leave it outside! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

Thanks for the comments, Michael.

Harold