Excuse my English.

This is a very inexpensive, simple and easy to make precision scale.
You have to obtain miligram weights to compare in that units.
Or cut small squares of paper and declare that to be your new unit (1cm^2 of paper ~ 7.5mg).
Can compare two weights and tell even only 1mg differences.
With aditional vertical part marked like a ruler to a mg scale it could weigh even directly.

Ingredients:
-1 wooden skewer
-VERY thin, hard to tear string
-a little bit of hard paper
-some legos or an equivalent to make a similar shape to hold the construct.

This is it:


It is very simple. It begins with the wooden skewer, which is cut a bit on 3 places with same distances from the middle one.
With reef knot there is a thin string secured in the middle cut.
Have the knot on the top on the skewer for negative feedback that is easy and intuitive to work with.
Make dishes of the paper and knot it like on the close-up.
Do it well so it hangs straight. Make two paper "spoons" for loading/reloading.
These two spoons should be the same weight so accidental switching of them wouldn't affect arm positions.
The best shape for these spoons seems to be that brilliant shape you can see on photos. It is easy to grab and take in/out while still having enough space for spice.
The top string should be thin to minimalize random tare disturbing.
With two weighing dishes connected to the other two cuts the core is done.
Now make the outer shell somehow (made of legos in the pic) and attach the middle string.
Now check which side is heavier and cut some wood of the skewer to tare that.



This is close-up of the main part, the knot from the drawing will ensure right direction of the skewer.


And this is "the locker". It will lock these arms so one can manipulate with dishes freely.

This scale works very well, just needs no airflow (do not breathe directly at it during weighing) and few seconds to let it stop oscilating and point the answer. 1mg seems to move the pointing end of the arm over 1mm. The scale on the pictures has been giving great results, with an accuracy equvalent of a 0.0005g digital scale.

Wow. Never seen anything like that. True inginuity.

However i did laugh out loud when i first saw the pic.

Im sure its not anywhere as accurate as a mg scale, however it probably beats a gram scale

Nice design. In theory, you could calculate the weight of your paper bits, as they tell you the weight on the packet of the printer paper (80g/sqm or 100g/sqm etc.)

Very true! I think i will be trying this sometime soon.

Great post, and a great idea!

This is awesome. I don't see why it would necessarily be less accurate or precise than a digital scale if used carefully. How it compares is easily testable with a digital scale, of course (though you would be assuming that the digital scale is very accurate, which is not a given in my opinion).

I should have kept my old lego!! Ingenious

Results of this scale beat a 0.01g scale in accuracy. 0.01g digital scale can't weigh such small weights as this one. The key is the string knotted on the skewer must be as thin as possible. Thinner is more accurate.
It's different from digital for sure. If you put 15mg in one dish you can easily weigh 14-16mg on the other one in a minute or two. That is imo accuracy of a mg scale. 0.01g digital has no chance weighing that.
It will take a bit more time to weigh anything because it takes more time to stabilize on the correct reading. Digital ones stabilize very quickly. Also even breathing can make it oscilate more and for longer than with a digital. It can be resolved by building some cover over the scale to stop airflow, then it stabilizes and points the answer in 10 secs.
This scale could handle drops better than a digital and if it were damaged it can be repaired easily.
So in short this is much more accurate than a regular 0.01g digital scale, but needs some more time and creativity to successfuly weigh with it. Also if its modified to weigh directly it could probably weigh only on a range of 0-50mg. Comparing can handle much heavier weights.

I know it looks laughable, like a baby's creation. Looks don't say anything, this IS functional and weighs accurately (at least in the spice range).

This is great, very nice, and your English is fine! Nice post what ade you think to build it with legos? Was it a sober idea or a high/tripping idea? Sometimes when I'm high or on low doses of psychedelics I get very creative I even invented a pollen press out of household materials with things you can get for less than 10 cents basically.

Again very nice 1st post! Thanks for the submission.

Also nice test results in your second post, is it safe too assume you did perform a test with both a .01 AND a .001 Scale? Also this is like a stealth scale not many people would assume you were using this to weigh drugs at least, can you remove the papers to make it even less conspicuous?

I've been wondering if a comparing scale tiny enough could compare miligrams.
And then sober or stoned, got the idea of skewer balancing on a thin string.
When that was complete I needed some case for it. After a while I got an idea to use legos for that. They are imo ideal for that. But could be made of anything else just not easily like with legos. Also that "locker" is probably only easy to make with legos.


I've made it because I don't have any mg scale, so no comparison with that right now.
What I know is that the scale is successfully comparing weights which a 0.01g scale doesn't have a change to differentiate. It is just my guess it's 10 to 20 times more accurate than a 0.01g digital. It was made to beat a 0.01g scale in accuracy and it succeeded.


Each dish is made of two papers. The bigger one is fixed, the smaller brilliant-shaped "spoon" is removable for easy reloading. It definitely looks like a scale, but more like a child-made toy than a scale for spice.

EDIT: Recently I've google a bit if someone had a similar idea and actually found one very similar homemade scale report: http://www.pvri.com/sp/BalBuild.htm
It's basically the same thing, just different in all details as it was "invented" independently. It also reports high precision.

Yeah that's the reason I mentioned stealth it would be semi safe to have around a child as they would just assume it as a toy and any outside onlooker would do the same I feel, and if you could remove the paper would be even better but if the "spoons" can be removed good enough that way you don't need to leave any residue directly on the scale in case a child or someone else sees it. As with Digital scales, they hold things in them and on them like powder gets stuck on it weed gets under it eventually this knocks it off balance, and I can for sure see it being more accurate than a .01 Scale and definitely better than a hand scale I would never try to dose MG with a hand scale but for DMT i got pretty good at eye balling doses most other MG things I still measure though like caffeine and things of a finer powder than DMT. Its fluffy so its easy to eye it out.

Very true!
You convinced me.

I also like the fact that its almost completley changeable and one could build addons, like the breath blocker, for instance

I hope you did not get offended by me saying i laughed the first time i saw this. Its truly a great and creative, "i should have thought of that" idea. The best part is, i didnt expect this one bit when i cli ked on the link, so it came as a surprise (with the legos) and i laughed

Good job! I will be using this idea, thanks too you!!

And the 'longer' you have the Skewer/Pointer...the more accurate it will get...

And lighter/thinner skewer will also increase accuracy (also easier to break). Because the negative feedback gets weaker. Negative feedback because the balancing knot is on top of the skewer cutting. If it would be on the bottom, the feedback would be positive and behaviour of the scale very different and unpleasant to use.

Knot on the top:
When right arm goes down, mass in the center of the skewer goes from right to left - negative feedback.