Silk Road forums
Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: watmm on February 18, 2012, 01:02 am
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Curious what scales people use/recommend.
I've got one 1mg scale that looks identical to the AWS Gemini scale on ebay at the moment but cheaper, and another flat 10mg scale that comes in a (probably fake) leather pouch.
Annoyingly, i don't think i can really trust either.
Do you have to spend big money just to get an accuracy of 1mg?
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yep, if you need to weigh out single milligrams then you really need to start looking at spending a couple of hundred on an analytical lab balance.
Those gemini type scales are ok if you want to measure out say 50mg +/- 5mg and then you can liquid dose from there.
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I bought a "jewelry scale" off eBay, but it fucking sucks. It doesn't even have a brand I'm pretty sure, it's just called "Digital Jewelry Scale" or something like that lol. It was pretty cheap so I guess you get what you pay for. I use it to weigh items for shipping so I can print shipping labels at home.
My house mate has a digital "jewelry" scale that she has had for a loooong time, it works alot better than mine. It doesn't have a brand either, but for some reason it's much more sensitive than the one I have.... Lol eBay has everything...
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I went shopping today for scales and couldn't find anything that even measured mg. I guess I'll continue to eyeball the amounts I ingest because I don't have hundreds of $$ to invest.
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I have a Gempro 250 made by My Weigh, measures in milligrams. Just google Gempro 250.
If you take a drug whose dose is measured at several hundred milligrams, you don't need to make a distinction between 4 and 8 mg. Don't bother with a scale that does. Get what you need. In the form of a pure pharmaceutical, a Rx dose of my DOC starts at 15 mg. 80 mg in a non-user would border on a medical emergency. If I want, say, 60mg and throw down 58 or 62 I'm cool with that. 56 or 64 would be OK too. But if I want 60 and take 80, the day will be very different. IMO a scale that reads +/- 10mg would be too spooky.
Many powdered recreational drugs absorb moisture from the air over time. Even if handled very well, their weight will fatten. Every alkaloid I have worked with always fixes water from the air.
A scale like the Gempro is plenty accurate enough for rec use but you have to handle it like a baby. The weak spot is that the weigh pan attaches to the load cell. Anything you do to the weigh pan goes to the load cell, which in a scale at that price is not made for durability. If you pick it up by the weigh pan, put something crazy heavy on it, let something fall on the weigh pan or hit it, esp. at an angle, the scale may stop working. In fact, any impact to the scale even if it's stored in its box can damage the load cell. At that price they will work fine but are not made to withstand any stress.
They can be plenty accurate. Get a real calibration weight, don't rely on the one sent with the scale. Never touch the weigh pan and never touch a calibration weight. Calibration weights should be handled only with clean metal or plastic tools (tongs, tweezer, forceps, whatever works for you). Don't let them touch skin. Wearing surgical gloves is wrong too. Use only tools to handle the calibration weights. Keep the weights sealed between use. (you don't need to calibrate often if the scale is handled well)
Use line power whenever possible, not batteries. Be sure it is level. Do you best to keep it from a draft. Measuring + or - 5 mg, a breeze will affect the weigh pan. Get everything at the same temperature for at least a few hours before you use it.
I have but do not use fancy weigh boats, only wax paper which I zero as the tare. Before use, cut the wax paper to more or less fit on but not over the weigh pan, and fold it however you will need it later to pour out your powdered material. Put it on the pan, tare it, then measure in your powder. NEVER TOUCH THE WEIGH PAN. NEVER TOUCH THE WEIGHT PAN, EVER, for any reason. Just don't do it.
There are scales like the Gempro that are a bit more expensive, like $300, but my gut tells me if I am going to get something better the next higher price/value point is probably around $600. If you think the Gempro is too cheap, I don't think something slightly more spendy will be much better. I have had and used this scale for about a year. For my home use it compares well enough to scales I used in my lab classes.
A minimal feature any scale should have is a one-button zero to tare. You calibrate the scale, then the next time you turn it on, it runs down its self-check startup and finishes at zero. You put your weigh boat on it and of course it gives a reading. Wait for it to stabilize then push the tare function. It converts that weigh boat to zero so any mass you add to the weigh boat reads directly on the scale without any arithmetic to account for the tare.
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Wow. Thanks for the info.