Victor Sack > wrote:

>axlq > wrote:

>> For the past 40 years my mother had (from Germany) this incredibly
>> useful kitchen scale. It needed no batteries, had no moving
>> mechanism (just a couple parts you move yourself), simple to
>> operate, fool-proof, etc.

>Is this anything like what you are looking for?

I get the impression the OP is describing a balance with no
base, in which the knife-edge lay directly upon a surface such
as a counter.

Steve