Foundrax

16/10/2026

THE BEST algorithm in the business just got better: 800 indentation readings; hardness results in a second.

The BRINtronic-RIVO cordless automatic Brinell indentation microscope.

05/10/2026

Proving…

Alex Austin on some vintage kit:

One of the joys of working in a company with a pedigree as considerable as ours is looking through the archives. Not just the document archives (my grandfather’s patents, including the CO² casting process, the old trademark certificates and so on) but also the equipment archive, with wonderful examples of engineering from the days of Imperial measurements, wooden cases with brass locks, and paper records filled in with a fountain pen.
Here are a couple. The first is one of our old 2BM manual Brinell microscopes dating from the early 1970s. It’s still reading with absolute accuracy (not a surprise to me, frankly, we build these things to cope with a steelworks environment after all).
The second is a ‘proving ring’; the precursor to the load cells we use today. This was the tool that people used to Directly Verify the force applied by a hardness testing machine – the dial measured the deflection in the ring as the force was applied.

14/09/2026

Sentinel heavy-duty production Brinell hardness tester awaiting despatch

23/07/2026

14/07/2026

Reference indentation reading blocks and stage micrometers are just two of the Foundrax range of hardness testing accessories.

Reference indentation reading blocks for the training and assessment of operators and stage micrometers for verification of manual Brinell indentation microscopes.

16/06/2026

We custom design and build Brinell hardness testers for any industrial environment, and the challenge of sourcing components that meet our exacting standards has led us to on-board more production at Workshop No1. You could call it vertical integration. We call it guaranteeing quality. Please see the comments section for more on our bespoke machines.

11/06/2026

Every portable hydraulic Brinell hardness tester we receive is thoroughly examined on arrival. The examination includes performance tests.

Then, depending on customer information, test results and number of years since the last service, the unit will be given either a standard service or full service (the latter includes a complete strip down).

Where there is any doubt, the complete strip down is performed and all consumable components (gaskets, seals, O rings, etc) are replaced. Obviously we replace the oil on any service.

The sound of the air gun blowing components clear in a portable tester service is one of the 'signature sounds' in Workshop No1!

We can service and repair all types of portable hydraulic Brinell tester, sometimes custom making parts if they are unavailable.

See first comment for more details!

26/05/2026

This is a Brinell indentation, showing the 'pile up' created by lateral material displacement and, more interestingly, the slip bands created by the steel shearing along particular planes as the stress built up (rather than deforming in a smooth, uniform manner). These lines give some indication of the plastic deformation field at the surface of the steel block. The second photo is revealing in a very different way. It is exactly the same indentation, simply lit and viewed from the other side of the block. See first comment for more information.

21/05/2026

Every so often a job comes in that's a little out of the ordinary. This portable Brinell tester was made by a French manufacturer and isn't something you see often in the UK. The gauge had failed and, despite our best efforts, we couldn't source a like-for-like replacement (the original manufacturer, for reasons of their own, couldn't help either). An unusual thread and a tapered fitting didn't make life any easier.

No matter — we machined a new fitting to take one of our own gauges and then completed the service and calibration in the usual way.

I realise it's hardly major engineering news, but it would have been easy to tell the customer we couldn't help and move on to something else. I doubt it made much sense for us financially, but we take our commitment to service seriously and we don't like letting people down.

If there's ever anything we can do for you, please do get in touch.

23/04/2026

Recently, we received these three machines for service and calibration. I couldn’t help noticing them, as the colour of the bases is a good indicator of their age and we haven’t used this colour for a very long time indeed.

I did a bit of digging at that point, and it turns out that one is from 1982, one is from 1985 and one from 1987. There’s actually a very good chance that I painted at least one or two of them when I was a boy, earning a bit of pocket money in the holidays.

I am not writing this out of a sense of nostalgia, more that it is testament to how we work at Foundrax – we do our best do build things properly, so that they will last. That’s my philosophy anyway, as it was my Father’s philosophy and my Grandfather’s before him.
It’s nice to see that, after all these years, these three units are still in service, that we are right to go the extra mile, then as now, and to be proud that we build things to last.