The instrument is designed to determine the hardness of coatings by pencil leads in compliance with: ASTM D 3363, ECCA T4, EN 13523-4, ISO 15184:2012, JIS K 5600-5-4.
Application
The instrument is widely used for hardness testing of powder and liquid paint coatings. For high accuracy of the results, the lead of pencil should be sharpen under 90 ° angle. The tests begin with the softest pencil leads. If after applying there is no any signs of damage on the tested coating, user will have to repeat the test with one grade harder pencil leads. The MAX hardness value of pencil leads, that leaves no any traces of destruction on the coating, is hardness value of tested coating (for example: 3H, 2H, H, HB, B, 2B, etc.).
Design
The instrument is made of steel, has rectangular shape. There are two castors for movement on the surface of tested object. There is a port through the instrument and thumbscrew for fixation of the pencil at an angle of 45 ° to the tested surface. The design of the device provides a constant load 7,5N (750g) of the pencil lead on the tested coating.