Balance Scales & Weights > Spring Scales

18th Century Mancur Scales: V-Spring Type for Heavy Weights.

Item#: SBS163

SOLD

 

This scale is made of hard iron without screws and was used for weighing hide or meat. The Mancur sector, or V-spring scale is probably the first type of Mancur scales to have been in production from around 1750. The production of the elaborate more common type, the c-scale, started some 25 years later. The spring mechanism of the sector type is ingenious in its simplicity: A load was put onto the hook, when the spring was pulled open by the load, the indicator moved upwards by the separation of the two ends of the spring. The indicator is a crescent-shaped plate. The weight of the load is read on the indicator as it passes through a slot. Overall length is 22cm (8.6 inches).