These balances with capacities of 50 lb, 10 lb, and 1 lb were received by the states from the Office of Weights and Measures (OWM). They were made in a workshop adjoining OWM under the supervision of Joseph Saxton and from designs by him and by Hassler. Hassler's successor as Superintendent of Weights and Measures, Alexander D. Bache, described the manufacture of the balances as follows:

In the work upon the balances, the castings are made, and the rough filing of the different pieces executed, as far as practicable, by the laborers, after which the pieces for a number of balances (say three at a time, with the present force of five mechanics) are taken up and carried through the different processes of smooth filing, or turning, fitting, grinding, polishing & c., until they are finished and ready to put together. Several instruments are thus in progress at once; and when the parts are complete, they are assembled, and each instrument is placed in its case and adjusted.