Help with quality of testing equipment...

[calibrator20]

The reason I'm writing is to ask you if you know how reputable a company called Gilson is in the compression testing community. My customer is planning on buying another cylinder compression machine. I've been researching prices and Gilson is incredibly less expensive than Forney, Humboldt, ect... So if anybody has any input please let me know so we can make the right decision on this new equipment.

 

[StyngRay]

I've never used a Gilson compression machine before, I have a Forney and I love it (worth every penny). I use many of Gilson's other products, though and they make some of the best materials testing equipment.

Ray Carrasco
Licon Engineering Co., Inc.
El Paso, TX

 

[concreteguru]

Gilson is a distributor of testing equipment and a manufacturer of some specific, specialized test equipment such as a "Gilson Shaker" used to perform sieve analysis of fine and or coarse aggregates. They most likely also make other similar equipment. They do not make compression machines but they do distribute most of the popular brands. Over the years I have used Tinious Olson and Forney and a few others. In my opinion you will be hard pressed to find a testing machine that will outperform Forney on a cost/performance basis. It is also very possible that Gilson is having someone private label a testing machine for them. In any case, rest assured the machine was not made by Gilson. Forney makes available special platens for testing masonry units, for testing cylinders and/or cubes and for flexural testing of beams and they come with both a digital or analog readouts.