A scale small enough and light enough to be carried in a person's pocket by virtue of the fact that most of its components are formed of lightweight molded plastic material. The fulcrum for the beam of the scale is provided by a pair of pointed, metal fulcrum posts adapted to cooperate with a pair of metal bearing inserts in the beam. A sliding weight which is movable along the beam has a metal insert to increase its weight and the metal insert is positioned in the plane of the fulcrum when the sliding weight is in its zero position.