Lee powder scale

[doubleh]

I bought one recently just to see if it will live up to Lee's claims. Considering it's price I won't be out much if it doesn't. I played with it and a set of Lyman check weights and it appears to be accurate. I also compared it with my old RCBS scale and they are in agreement on weight. I made a stand out of scrap pine 1x4 I had laying around waiting on a project like this so it sits on the bench high enough that I have a straight sight line to the beam without bending over much when I'm using it. Now I have to make a little stand to raise my powder trickler up so it will work with the scale and I'm in business. The RCBS was doing it's job. I just wanted something to play with.

 

[noylj]

It suffers the Lee curse--works great, feels cheap, and doesn't read like all the other beam scales. I found it to work as well as an RCBS 10-10, but I told my son to just get a digital scale

 

[AMraider]

The Lee reloading kit I got came with that scale. I still use it regularly to double check charge weights. It works great for what it is.

 

[troy fairweather]

Ya they work just fine, some have trouble at first with the settings but once they understand they are gtg

 

[C.F. Plinker]

Since you are just playing around, glue one of the small levels on the board and thread a bolt through the left end so you can adjust the board so it always starts out level.

 

[jmorris]

I gave mine to my niece, always thought it was goofy, even though it worked fine.

 

[gonoles_1980]

I've been using mine for 5 years, works fine for me. I just zero it, and then use check weights as close to my powder weight as possible. If I have to adjust when I use the check weights, I rezero and do it again. I've only had to do that a few time.

 

[sparkyv]

A Vernier scale can take some getting used to.

 

[mdi]

The only "problems" with a Lee Safety Scale are; first most detractors cannot/will not learn how to read a vernier scale (lining up two lines), and second the scale is a bit slower to settle. My first scale was a Lee SS in 1971 and since I had learned to read a slide rule and vernier scale in high school I had zero problems reading and setting the poise. Also the poise is lockable, set it, push a small button and the poise will not move until the operator pushes the button back. I don't know of any other scale has this safety feature (I once was loading some 44 Magnum handloads nd using a Lyman/Ohaus I noticed the poise had jumped 0.3 gr heavier. It turned out if I lifted the pan too quickly, the beam would bounce enough for the 1/10 gr poise to jump up notch. I had to dump and recharged 40 cases.)...

 

[doubleh]

Since you are just playing around, glue one of the small levels on the board and thread a bolt through the left end so you can adjust the board so it always starts out level.

No need to do this. The bench top is level and the stand is true so no leveling is needed. I also glued blocks on on top of the stand that the scale sets over so it stays in the same place without moving.

 

[stoney1666]

and a flashlight to read it

 

[Mr. Zorg]

The only "problems" with a Lee Safety Scale are; first most detractors cannot/will not learn how to read a vernier scale (lining up two lines), and second the scale is a bit slower to settle. My first scale was a Lee SS in 1971 and since I had learned to read a slide rule and vernier scale in high school I had zero problems reading and setting the poise. Also the poise is lockable, set it, push a small button and the poise will not move until the operator pushes the button back. I don't know of any other scale has this safety feature (I once was loading some 44 Magnum handloads nd using a Lyman/Ohaus I noticed the poise had jumped 0.3 gr heavier. It turned out if I lifted the pan too quickly, the beam would bounce enough for the 1/10 gr poise to jump up notch. I had to dump and recharged 40 cases.)...

The Ohaus 10-10, RCBS 10-10, and the RCBS 5-10 scales with rotary poise have a polymer set screw the user can use to lock the rotary poise in place. All are no longer in production AFAIK.

 

[mdi]

The Ohaus 10-10, RCBS 10-10, and the RCBS 5-10 scales with rotary poise have a polymer set screw the user can use to lock the rotary poise in place. All are no longer in production AFAIK.

You're right. I guess I could use the setscrew on my 5-10 1/10 gr. "drum", just regarded it as a "friction" adjustment to make adjustment easier. Kinda hard to reach the setscrew when it is located on the opposite side of the setting without removing the beam from the scale...

 

[1066]

You can always enhance the Lee scale -

 

[Mr. Zorg]

You're right. I guess I could use the setscrew on my 5-10 1/10 gr. "drum", just regarded it as a "friction" adjustment to make adjustment easier. Kinda hard to reach the setscrew when it is located on the opposite side of the setting without removing the beam from the scale...

Locking the rotary poise in place is the function of that polymer set screw according to the manual(s). I hadn't thought about using it to vary the friction while turning the drum, I'd personally have concerns about a track or groove being formed over time doing that, or messing up the numerals decal, but whatever works, works.

https://www.rcbs.com/on/demandware....es/rcbsPdf/Model_10-10_Scale_Instructions.pdf

 

[mdi]

On my 5-10 scale the digits on the adjusting "drum/thimble" are etched/stamped in. I believe the original set screw was nylon, not brass or steel and wouldn't mark or groove the thimble. The locking ability of my 5-10 is just a PIA, a very small set screw located at one place on the poise and to reach it and tighten it/lock the thimble, the beam would have to be removed in about half of the locking attempts. The Lee scale has a button on the front side of the poise and just a push tightly locks the poise in place.

I haven't gone as far as 1066 in modifying my Lee SS, but I have placed a rare earth magnet under the pan, on the bench, to slow the settling. Works quite well and does not affect scale accuracy...

 

[Mr. Zorg]

On my 5-10 scale the digits on the adjusting "drum/thimble" are etched/stamped in. I believe the original set screw was nylon, not brass or steel and wouldn't mark or groove the thimble. The locking ability of my 5-10 is just a PIA, a very small set screw located at one place on the poise and to reach it and tighten it/lock the thimble, the beam would have to be removed in about half of the locking attempts. The Lee scale has a button on the front side of the poise and just a push tightly locks the poise in place.

I haven't gone as far as 1066 in modifying my Lee SS, but I have placed a rare earth magnet under the pan, on the bench, to slow the settling. Works quite well and does not affect scale accuracy...

Yes, the manual(s) state the locking screw for the rotary poise is nylon.

 

[PapaG]

After sixty years of using a lyman or RCBS scale I got a Lee scale in a trade with a bunch of other stuff. Pain in the keister to use. Accurate, yes. Slow, yes. I grew up with slide rules and vernier calipers so that is not the problem. I have two of these and I keep hoping someone in my club needs a scale to start out with. They'll get one for free.
And I do use lots of Lee stuff. Most is well thought out. Lots are over thought or over hyped. See my earlier thread about Richard Lee and George Leonard Herter.