Seeking Metallurgical Lab Equipment

[Guest102023]

Hi all,

I'm being pushed to build my own home met lab by sharply rising costs and increasing turnaround times of the labs I occasionally use. Most of my work involves carbon steel, often with welds, to support my failure investigations. Nothing that requires specialized tools or techniques.

I am looking for low-priced sources, used or new, for the following:
[ol 1]
[li]- Metallograph with digital camera. I don't require anything fancy like imaging software or even a live link to a monitor. Just a small consumer-sized camera sitting on top of the eyepiece tube.[/li]
[li]- Vickers microindentation hardness tester. 1,000g maximum load but I’ll settle for 500g.[/li]
[/ol]

I already have most of the grinding and polishing necessities including a mounting press (thanks to a lab clear-out at the local community college). I have a machine shop partner for breaking down the big samples.

I've set a budget of C$3,000, which is the cost of two to three small lab subcontracts. I'm happier to buy used Western-made equipment than new Eastern stuff, even though it might cost more.

Any and all suggestions are welcomed. One limitation is the essentially closed US/Canada border, making importation more expensive than pre-Covid.

Thanks in advance.



"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[Dhurjati Sen]

Think of the places where you could get such instruments.

One is obviously engineering institutes and universities offering courses in metallurgy or mechanical.

Integrated automobile industries do have a QA Lab.

Do not spare foundries, forging units and heat-treatment shops also.

All of the above would have such instruments which they replace say after 10 / 15 years.

You could have a chance to buy cheaply from them if you are lucky.

DHURJATI SEN

 

[EdStainless]

Find a rep in your area that sells new equipment. He may know of people that are looking to upgrade and having you buy the used stuff might even help him make a sale.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[Guest102023]

I don't have industries near me that are likely to use much relevant lab equipment or be planning to dispose of it. Travel to find equipment was not time-effective before Covid; now it is practically a non-starter.

What I have learned in the past and again with recent googling:
[ul]
[li]Used equipment dealers want ridiculous money for hardness testers in uncertain condition. Auctions are worse.[/li]
[li]A new metallograph with digital camera can be had for reasonable cost, ~US$1500. Chinese made of course, but probably acceptable for the simple tasks I require.[/li]
[/ul]

"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"