I know there has been some discussion on the forum about the extremely cheap milligram scales. I ordered this one and didn't receive it. The seller sent a second one immediately and it also hasn't arrived in weeks. I've proposed paying for a new one
($11) if he pays for shipping with a tracking number. Just thought I'd warn anyone who's thinking about it.
i.e. insist on a tracking number outright, or better yet wait for me get it and I'll let post how well it works.
[Edited on 21-8-2012 by DoctorOfPhilosophy]m1tanker78 - 21-8-2012 at 14:03
I assume the scales are being shipped from China. I bet they're either being held up or confiscated by customs. In the States, customs sends you a
nastygram if they confiscate something that's not allowed or is questionable.
TankPyro - 21-8-2012 at 17:44
it says it can take 5-25 working days, that is 5 weeks. you should wait longer plante1999 - 21-8-2012 at 17:54
Buy a cheap one, but in the USA or CAN, shipping is faster and you almost always get it, but its costly compared to china seller.DoctorOfPhilosophy - 21-8-2012 at 21:38
The shipping's from Hong Kong. Customs here would send me a letter but the seller said Hong Kong customs doesn't do the same. There shouldn't be
anything seedy about a scale unless the seller is marking it as a gift.
Pyro, you have a good point. It's only been 22 business days since it was shipped. However, the second attempt was expedited delivery and was supposed
to take 2-3 days, which its now been a week. I didn't love the idea (since customs will be checking all parcels headed to my address now) but I'm not
paying for it so I thought I'd let him do whatever.
Anyway I'll go for local if I don't end up getting it. Not worth loosing sleep over 10 bucks.MyNameIsUnnecessarilyLong - 21-8-2012 at 22:56
I don't think digital scales would get confiscated by customs. It's more likely the chinese people forgot about or misplaced your order. I've had this
happen to me twice when dealing with the high throughput chinese sellers on eBay. So for those products I prefer going through dealextreme whenever I
can.
If you're patient and can afford it, you can actually find slightly to moderately used name brand .001g scales on eBay for around $100 or so at
auction. It is much less frustrating and reliable to weigh in the milligram range if you have an actual glass side-loading draft shield.DoctorOfPhilosophy - 24-8-2012 at 17:07
Thanks for the tip, I'm hoping to make a DIY microgram scale (as published on Scientific American) so for now I stick to my 0.1g scale, which I also bought from a high sales volume Chinese vendor without a
hitch.watson.fawkes - 25-8-2012 at 08:32
I might recommend, if you're serious about this, mounting such a
scale on a big piece of rock to reduce vibration. Specifically, get a cheap surface plate, which is just a big flat piece of granite, from a mail
order house like Enco. It's much easier to get a reading with these kind of scales by software averaging, but you'll get better ultimate accuracy by
reducing mechanical noise to begin with. Look at techniques used for making holographic light tables for more vibration-reducing techniques.DoctorOfPhilosophy - 27-8-2012 at 19:40
I was going to get more involved with this micro balance, but then I discovered a facile method of measuring mass directly (without gravity or a
scale) I don't want to reveal the idea quite yet, but anyone hellbent on beating me to it will find Google to be their friend.
Since I have to pay 8 bucks shipping from Digikey I'll make both, but I'm focusing my energy on the novel idea.
Nevertheless, a sound piece of advice for anyone interested in making the micro balance. I especially recommend the Canadian Shield as an anchor.
