Low Cost DIY Rod Weighing Setup
Weighing a rod:
The next pix’s show actual weighing of both end and the rod total. Note that a spacer plate is always under the big end of the rod to keep the rod level. For each weight:
· Place the spacer plate, tap the work surface to relieve the side loads if a cheapo scale is used, and re-zero the scale.
· Then place the rod, using the registration circles around the scale pin to locate the weighed end of the rod as precisely as you can, and the center hole at the unweighed end to align that end of the rod.
· Then tap the work surface to relieve the side loads if a cheapo scale is used, and once ‘settled in’, take the weight reading.
· As check on your work, take off the jig, re-zero the scale, and take a total weight reading. (Note that even a cheapo scale will NOT suffer from side-load or tilt errors when just the rod is placed on the scale by itself.)
The BIG test of how well this set-up works is to weigh both ends, and then check to see if those 2 weights add up to the total rod weight. I usually get up anywhere from 0 to +/-2 grams error in this check. If it exceeds +/- 3 grams error in the check, then I re-weigh. And if I want ‘final’ numbers, I’ll take each weight 3 times and average the readings.
Weighing a rod:
The next pix’s show actual weighing of both end and the rod total. Note that a spacer plate is always under the big end of the rod to keep the rod level. For each weight:
· Place the spacer plate, tap the work surface to relieve the side loads if a cheapo scale is used, and re-zero the scale.
· Then place the rod, using the registration circles around the scale pin to locate the weighed end of the rod as precisely as you can, and the center hole at the unweighed end to align that end of the rod.
· Then tap the work surface to relieve the side loads if a cheapo scale is used, and once ‘settled in’, take the weight reading.
· As check on your work, take off the jig, re-zero the scale, and take a total weight reading. (Note that even a cheapo scale will NOT suffer from side-load or tilt errors when just the rod is placed on the scale by itself.)
The BIG test of how well this set-up works is to weigh both ends, and then check to see if those 2 weights add up to the total rod weight. I usually get up anywhere from 0 to +/-2 grams error in this check. If it exceeds +/- 3 grams error in the check, then I re-weigh. And if I want ‘final’ numbers, I’ll take each weight 3 times and average the readings.
