I am looking to buy a set of Jewellery scales. There a heaps on ebay for for not much money. Do any of you out there have any recommendations? Also what weight range would you buy. If so then please let me know.
$10 scales on ebay are generally accurate enough....the higher their capacity the less accurate they will be. I would recommend 300g max capacity...you can still weigh 10oz items using the tare function. 100-200g capacity provide high accuracy....accurate on gold nuggets weighing less than 0.10g and used by many meth dealers. 500g and higher usually only read out 1 decimal point.
Didn't your post till now. As Eureka said, generally the higher the limit the less accurate. At least for 'budget' scales. Am I safe in assuming you don't need laboratory grade scales accurate to .ooo1? I got a scale off ebay that I'm very happy with and is nicely sized. 200g/0.01 Won't do 10oz's but if you're specifically looking for jewellry ones, it's pretty good bang for your buck Not sure if I can post links to ebay, but I'll pm you the link
I use lab .01 mg scales with internal calibration and the ability to reset calibration with an external class 1 weight. A good reliable scale is made by Adam equipment and A & D scales for your needs. Magnetic force restoration scales are the ducks nuts and come in various forms according to manufacturer but come at a cost but repeatability and resolution is unbeatable. Static balances are the lower end of the market and have drift, repeatability and resolution issues when weighing small amounts like powders or granules that are small in mass and weight and you are doing additions of these substances. So you can clearly see why Laboratory scales use magnetic force restoration. The majority of the jewellery trade uses the type of static balance, the brands I quoted are of decent quality and reputation without going to brands like Ohaus and Sartorius.
I bought an eBay cheapie years ago for weighing coffee beans, so only needed 1g precision even though it was rated to 0.01g. I took it to work and tested it with calibration weights and it was surprising spot on to within 0.02g or so. I think that it pretty good for $10 scales as compared to $500 lab scales.
I would be looking at spending $300-$500 on an good quality static balance, lab scales run from around $1300.00 and over $3000.00 for magnetic force restoration of a reputable brand. If you are a seller looking to buy and then flip scrap you are doing yourself a dis service by using low resolution scales, you are not buying accurately according to weight, nor are you re selling accurately according to weight. .02 of a gram might not sound like much, but like me over the course of years with platinum, gold etc you have spent big coin on nothing but air and probably pissed off a few buyers along the way. I advise you to re think if you are headed down the path of $10 scales for precious metal purposes.
Yes, it definitely depends on your intended use and whether the scale are fit for that purpose. I would not recommend $10 scales for commercial use, but for a hobbyist's occasional use it might be fine.
