Anyone into old Scales?

[Hugh R]

The old radio thread got me thinking. I have a "collection" of old scales, nothing fancy. Some out there are worth $x,xxx, mine are much, much cheaper. When I was in college in the 70's, I was in a Chemistry class and I called a "balance" a "scale" and the professor said "Chemists use balances, drug dealers use scales".

This one had lots of paint on it and when my brother moved he threw it in the trash, I took it and stripped it and when he saw what I had done with it he said "Wow, if I had known what it would turn out like that I wouldn't have given it to you" I reminded him that I rescued it from the dumpster.




I got this one from the long since closed Stroh's brewery in Van Nuys, CA when I was doing a HUGE asbestos abatement of the place prior to demolition about 25 years ago.


The others I bought for $20 each or so from yard sales.

[BRPORSCHE]

That has be one of the most random collections that I have ever seen.

But I like it.

[azasadny]

Cool scales, Hugh!

[johnco]

not really a "collection" but I have two large floor scales from an old sugar mill a friend was tearing down. the newer one is supposedly 140-150 yrs old and the other one much older. the older one is cast iron with decorative trim and a seperate glass faced gauge on a pedestal connected by levers. unfortunately, my brother threw that part away long ago when I stored it at his shop when I first got it. these scales probably weigh a couple hundred lbs each

[GWN7]

While I don't collect them I have a old one.

[Hugh R]

Johnco, you coon-ass, how are you doing? I wish I was doing another film in your town. On the other hand, maybe its best if I don't. Bad for my health! He and I met when I was filming Deja Vu (pretty good movie if you haven't seen it) we shot it a few months post Katrina. I brought home from his town a styrofoam cooler with shrimp the size of your hand for something like $4/pound, he told me I got ripped off. I got home and the wifey said "are they fresh" and I said "they were caught about 8 hours ago."

[johnco]

Hugh, about the only thing I do bad for your health (that I will admit to) is drive my 26 ford truck at highway speeds. my life is boring

[JMPRO]

I have a few.
This one is called a dairy scale


on the left some sort of kitchen scale and on the right an egg scale

this is a cotton scale . It goes to 160LB.

two postal scales, one not so old and one probably early 1900. I have two others that did not get photographed.

Jerry

[pete3799]

[gr8fl4porsche]

Anyone recognize this?

[JMPRO]

Flower cutter, ice grinder, cheese cutter and sausage stuffer, I only have one each of these.
Jerry

Can you tell my wife was on an antique buying spree.

[porsche4life]

The pharmacy I used to work in has an old scale from a Dr's office circa late '30s... I was always trying to talk my boss into having it restored. At some point someone had smeared latex paint on it...

[GH85Carrera]

A friend of mine had an old bathroom scale that just stopped at 115 lbs no matter who stood on it. His wife loved it. She was probably 125 but preferred the scale that read 115.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

Anyone recognize this?

There was a time in el lay when that might incriminate you...

[ledhedsymbols]

Thanks for sharing more neat things that folks collect. It's always fun to look at!

[sc_rufctr]

Great thread. Although I don't have any old scales I've always been fascinated with measurements and weights.

[Joeaksa]

Very nice collection Hugh!

Sidney, my Sister and her husband ran a drug store for years and when they closed it I got the mortar and pestal. This thing is huge, at least 20" around and weighs a good 40-50 pounds.

Love old stuff!

[Hugh R]

When I was at UMASS in the 70's they had a bunch of small and HUGE chemists balances, some with glass boxes that had sliding doors to open them, they were in the basement collecting dust, I should have snagged them.

[notmytarga]

Here is a nice one. I found it in my MIL's garage - unused and forgotton for years. Her husband died 25 years ago - he had gotten it from his father who had a soap company in LA at one time.



It is an analytical balance - weighs to 0.0001 gram. Here's the process:
1- Add 1,2,3,5,10,25,50,100 gram weights onto the right patten until close.
2 - Move a weight along the top of the beam using an arm controlled from outside the enclosure into a slot marked 0.0, 0.1, 0.2 ..... 0.9, 1.0
3 - Roll the gold chain to add further weight, this is linked to a black strap marked with the hundreths place. The thouthandths are determined with a venier scale against that strip.

Features include magnetic movement dampers at the ends of the beam. When ready to weigh, the beam is set on cut agate triangles and plates as the three fulcrum points.

I have used this balance to get tenths of a gram accuracy when adding salts (NaCl, CaCl2, MgSO4, CaSO4, CaCl) to beer brewing water. It also came in handy for weighing light random items to maximize a Pinewood Derby car's weight with premeasured tungsten putty.


I found this scale at a flea market - I use it to measure my base grain for brewing, The specialty malts and hops get measured with the gram/ounce postal scale.

[mistertate]

You know if this obesity epidemic goes any further we'll soon be able to buy 1000 pound scales for $35 each to corner balance our cars...