The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I recently purchased an old Avon scales and an old Salter too. Does anyone have advice on the most accurate way to assess their accuracy? There was a time (I'm a very old man...) when one could drop into the local Trading Standards Weights & Measures Office and do the testing with high precision. These days the Office's inspectors seem to have been whittled down by repeated spending-reviews so that visiting them is out of the question.

3 X 4oz leads in plastic bag = 12oz.
Or 4 x 4oz = 1lb = 16oz.

Weigh a bag of sugar,a kilo bag of sugar weighs 2lbs and 3-1/4 ounces( within a few dramms) or should do if the conversion tables are correct.

I have a lump of cast iron that I took to the post office, they weighed it on their scales and it weighs 6lbs 7oz, that is what I check my Avons and battery scales against… the Avons are always within an ounce or two , which is near enough for me.

David.

For a start you could hook them together and see if they both give the same reading when you pull. At least that would show any discrepancy between them although of course it wouldn't check their accuracy.

My local greengrocer uses scales for pricing. They have to be tested for accuracy because they are charging by weight. The receipts they print, gives the weight of every item. I use these weights to test mine. Interestingly, our Salter kitchen scales are accurate to 1g in 2kg. (they also weigh in pounds). My brass 4lb salter spring balance is accurate to 1/4oz. My modern digital ones are OK up to about 10lb, after that, they drift a lot.

I'm sure your local butcher or greengrocer, if you are on good terms, would weigh a sample weight for you.

I tare off a suitable container and use various measurements of water. My Avons are OK but my Ruben Heatons were found to go way out under large loads, so they got moved on. I carry a set of Fox digitals on the boat . I do have are a very accutate and expensive digital set but they're 'too good' to live in my tackle bag! They stay in their case in the car to be brought out on only the most special of occasions

I have a set of scales that weighed a record Golden Orfe. When checked for accuracy they were 1/2oz out!

Great - but they are the size of Match Scales, a nightmare to carry about regularly!

Unless it is a record - - I am not too worried about an ounce or so!

I find lead weights too variable. Two methods: use something (bag of sugar, rice, pasta etc) preweighed on eectronic kitchen scales or tare on a contaoner and add water to it (1 litre = 1 kilo).

Or , a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter as my mother taught me .

David

I use water as 1 litre = 1kg or 1 pint = 1lb 4oz
I have used an old 5L bottle with a handle and weighed it full on kitchen scales at about 11lb then weighed it on my fishing scales.
Then do multiple weighings at a range of weights.
Another way is full food cans. Weigh them individually and stacked on kitchen scales and use a light weight supermarket plastic bag to hold various numbers of them.