Our fun new doctor’s office scale

I’ve always liked those “balance beam” scales they have in doctors’ offices. You know, the kind where you stand on the scale and push little weights back and forth until it tells you how much you weigh. (Technically, it tells you how much you mass, since that’s how a balance scale works.)

After a recent routine checkup, during which the nurse practitioner weighed me, I decided to investigate getting one of those balance beam scales for our home. To make a long story short, the scale was less expensive than I had expected, so we got one. We’ve been enjoying the new scale for a week now.

Our doctor has a “Health o Meter Physician Balance Beam Scale” model 402KL. You can view the data about it here on the manufacturer’s site. List price is $349.95. It measures both in pounds and kilograms, and includes a height scale.

We were delighted to find it for a whole lot less — currently $140.43 — from Amazon.com. We ordered it with second-day shipping, but it arrived the next day. Setup took about ten minutes; there are four bolts that have to be connected to hook the base to the vertical beam. Calibration took another minute — just had to turn a screw about 1/10 of a rotation to zero out the measurement. Voilà! Instant doctor’s scale. Loads of fun.