Mitutoyo (Akashi) Hardmatic HH-140

[Bakafish]

I picked up an older, but functioning Akashi HH-140 (bought out and also sold by Mitutoyo) portable hardness tester set made in the late 90's that was complete except for the manual. I was able to get some basic readings from it, it came with two test plates and the reading seemed to be within the ballpark, but either the pressure I exerted/technique is wrong or it needs to be calibrated as it was off about 5%. The menu system is a bit inscrutable due to its primitive display, and before I attempt to reverse engineer it I thought I'd reach out to you guys.

My experience with Mitutoyo in getting information on discontinued items has been poor, I collect a lot of older stuff here in Japan and documenting it is often difficult. I'm hoping for a miracle from you guys. I can provide pictures if it is helpful.

 

[Bakafish]

As an update, I located a PDF manual for the newer HH-441 unit in German. It uses a different method of determining hardness, but the controller itself seems to use similar firmware and so many of the cryptic menus are now defined (in German anyway) which is a good step forward. I'd still love to hear from someone who used this (or the similar HH-120 model) to get some advice on how much pressure to apply. It has a number of firm spring assemblies that seem to regulate the amount of force on the diamond anvil, but it sometimes takes several presses to get a successful reading, and I suspect that is due to poor technique.

 

[Bakafish]

Okay, I found a Polish website that was selling one of these (1000 Euros) and they posted the "Quick Reference" sheet in English covering all the basic operations and usage (I was applying too much pressure.) It even covers setting the calibration. So I am very pleased, $100 well spent I think.

I will read up on the manuals forum about if it is okay to upload it.