anyone with experience with portable rockwell testers 3

[BMKR]

I am looking into getting a portable Rockwell tester (some of our forgings are too large to put on a tabletop and would be more convenient as far as batch sizes go) any suggestions as far as brand or style? Also, any insights to the ASTM E110 spec would be helpful.

Thanks Y'all,

JC

 

[metengr]

Yes, we have two Equotip hardness testers. They work very well for general portable hardness testing.

http://www.equotip.com/

 

[BMKR]

I do like the Leeb hardness scale, but I am not too sure how our "set in their ways"(lots of frozen processes) customers would feel about deviating from HRC and ASTM E110. I will look into the Leeb route further though. Thanks Metengr.

PS: Do you find issues with surface roughness with the Equotip HTs

JC

 

[redpicker]

For E110 portable Rockwell Testers, I am most familar with Wilson's M-1. Often referred to as a "C-clamp" tester, it uses a full 150KG major load using a spring-laoded load cell (for the 'C' scale) and a diamond braile indentor. It is capable of producing results nearly as accurate as a bench tester, but it is a bit more complicated than a bench tester and more difficult to use. I had to calibrate them myself on a daily basis (I couldn't even get my technicians able to calibrate them). They are good instruments, but you really have to know how they work and be willing to work on them to get reliable results. Even the metallurgical equipment calibration services we used couldn't calibrate them (all they could do is punch a block and slap a sitcker on them; if they couldn't get a good reading, they had to send them back to the factory).

If you are dealing large forgings, why aren't you using a Brinell tester? The King Portable Brinell tester is a mainstay in the forging business and I would generally trust a King Brinell result more than a Portable Rockwell. True, even a King tester is operator dependent (and I have seen more people mis-use portable testers more than I've seen them use them correctly), but it is much easier to train someone to use one over a Wilson M-1. With Brinell, you have to have a good surface, or you can't read the impression, which makes it a bit more fool-proof. Of course, having to read the impression is more difficult than reading a dial (or, I guess, perhaps digital readouts with today's technology), but it isn't that difficult to do.

I've used the Equitip testers quite a bit, too. They are good for letting you know if a material is hard or soft, but if you needed to know if a part is 30-36 HRC, I'm not sure I'd trust them. Either the M-1 or King tester can give you that confidence.

rp

 

[blacksmith37]

You mean portable hardness testers.
I agree Equotips are good .Going back to basics there is the Telebrinell.
I think you are going to try several yourself to find what works in your appication.

 

[BMKR]

A couple of our customers are insistent on HRC for their forgings/rough machined parts. The 50% of the parts that could be placed on a bench mount would be fine, but I am trying to incorporate the other 50% that would take nothing less than handling a forklift around a bench mounted model. Thanks for all of your help. let me know if there is any more info I can provide

 

[mrfailure]

We use a Phase II Leeb tester. Some of the advantages include a standard ASTM test procedure (A956; Leeb and Equotip are synonomous), use of the test probe from different angles including underneath, and a broad range of material choices (including gray iron, brass/bronzes, and cast aluminum) using a Type D probe. This has worked well for us whenever we could not use benchtop Rockwell or Brinell.

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com

 

[Quimicobrujo]

I am using the EQUOTIP on forged parts (prior to normalizing or after) with closely data to laboratory values.

I recommend you that kind of tester.

Regards from Queretaro, Mexico.

 

[BMKR]

We are currently looking at HRC because we need to take hardness on rough turned forgings post heat treat, and our customers' "contracts" requires HRC.

 

[mrfailure]

You should be fine for your hardness range using a standard Leeb or Equotip probe. The Leeb Type D probe handles haredness ranges in steel from 59.6 HRB through 68.5 HRC.

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com