Some 29 years ago I used to watch the neighbor make lead shot since he was a professional skeet shooter. I somehow remember the lead dropping into an oil tank. But do not remember the details of how it was put together. I think it was a commercially produced unit. But that's really neat gives me some great ideas for making my own soft weight for diving. Definitely did a great job on this.
Philip Teasell Essentially that's how all lead shot is made. However, lead shot for ammunition is not flash cooled in water. Instead it is dropped down a three story shaft before hitting water. The fall allows the shot to uniform its shape before cooling.
Jason McKinney Bigger the shot taller the tower. Shot towers were often the tallest buildings in ye oldy times villages and towns. Must have been a pain to haul all that lead up a crickety wooden tower...
Up the road from me is a tower known as the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower. It is were they made lead balls for shotguns and muzzle loaders. The melted the lead at the top of this 75 foot tower and let it fall through a shaft underground another 75 feet. The 150 foot drop was the perfect height to allow the lead to form a ball shape. It was caught at the bottom using a large kettle full of water then retrieve through an access tunnel at a river's edge.
That device is a work of art, the guys down at my local trap and skeet range just use a bean can with a nail hole in the bottom and roofing torch. By rights the drop isn't high enough, but for your purposes I don't suppose you care if the shot comes out round or not.
I think with some tweeking it might work a lot better. I had about 120 lbs of lead scrap and I needed a little over 100 lbs for the rigid weights so I just decided to bite the bullet, so to speak....
@Gary Elderman you want the lead to fall a certain distance to form a spherical droplet then freeze in the cooling liquid. There's probably a way to calculate the ideal drop height, or just trial and error.
I was thinking of making some homemade zinc/tin solder for soldering aluminum, and casting it into rods, but after seeing it in shot form, it would work just as well and gives me a ton of ideas. Thanks for the ideas
thats really cool, brings back mwmoriea of the foundey toys where you melted the pewter to make little figures, thia would be a nice way to make your own refills lol
That is a very nice lead shot maker. I agree you probably should have used some commercially made drippers but other than that I give it a A+ Plus. If I had a welder I would attempt this myself. I think I'm going to try and make my own LEAD shot dripper, but rather than create the ramp and everything I'm just going to use my Lee lead pot and create some type of adapter for it. I have a couple ideas in mind. Thank you for your video and also very good job on your welds. They look fantastic from the video.
I've seen shot drippers before, I like yours it's very simple and works well. The only suggestion I would make is to have a longer drop before the lead hits the water. That gives the molten lead more time to round it's self and your shot will be more uniform in size and especially shape.
just a tip when your mig welding you should push the weld pool along rather than drag it like you docreats a stronger weld as it forces it down rather than it just sit on top
This setup inspired me to make my own shot maker, hopefully have it finished soon. With the burner where is the mig tip in relation to the air hole, im guessing its slightly forward of the hole so it draws the air from behind the gas?
Might be a good approach! Getting it hot wouldn’t be an issue. I did like the gradient of heat up the ramp. It made it so you could tune how much lead was melted/melting. This might be more pronounced with thicker steel.
+Vatsek Very limited variety of metal with an extremely low melting point... Lead was the first thing I cast when I was young. I found out you could melt it on the kitchen stove... I was a latch-key kid BTW.
They go into a bag to be used as a flexible weight, likely to hold parts in place for welding or to keep mold flasks from floating apart. They are also very useful in leather shot pouches for doing sheet metal work, they are a pliable backer to hammer against for doing cold forming and dishing.
To second a previous poster, could you share your source for cheaper shot? I would like the bag weights but shot prices are relatively high. Chances are you would not be giving the seller too much of a boost as shipping rates for such heavy items are prohibitive and only people in your immediate area might benefit. The type of source rather than the actual one might be more helpful to the online community. I see the keywords commercial electronics mentioned but that doesn't help very much as I am not involved in that field and there are quite a few uses within that realm that I could think of as possible sources. Google search for 'commercial electronics lead shot' yields a bunch of unrelated leads and a few high end wholesalers.
+Keith Green When I first priced the project, I went to my local Bass Pro. They wanted $54/ 25lb bag ($2/lb). I think the bags I bought were from rotometals.com. I looked everywhere... the bags I got were closer to $1 a lb ($28/25lb bag). This means $18 per leather shot bag. This is worth it to not have to melt lead for hours... So relatively cheap considering all aspects of the job.
Thanks. That was a good deal. They are a lot more now but I suspect the price fluctuates with the price of lead. At this time they are $40 for 25lbs of reclaimed shot, USD, free shipping if you buy enough (I think). This makes your lead melter a viable alternative again and the link is good to keep an eye on the prices. I guess a better search term would be 'reclaimed shot'. I had no idea they were able to reclaim shot; I immediately have images of scuba divers sifting duck-pond silt and people combing through grass at skeet ranges :)
+skeets skeets When it was was tuned okay it did. I have no idea about the size. As I mention in the video, I would buy legit drippers if I did it again....
+gus bisbal I have so many fittings left over from the torch build I considered opening a hardware store! The needle valve was extra intended for the oil leg of the torch. Most everything including the regulator, hose and Camco coupler are torch hold overs. But yeah, I thought I had $140 to spend to break even... I think the propane MIG tip jet is a technology I'll keep for the future!
+Andrew Delashaw Not a waste. I have a burner setup I didn't before. I am out the time and about 6' of 3" steel strap unless someone finds inspiration in this project. Then it was worth it.
Another excellent project. Wish you had more videos though. I enjoy the way you present narrate and edit the videos together. (easy to follow project)
true. Plus this could have easily been a longer video and would have still enjoyed it.
Some 29 years ago I used to watch the neighbor make lead shot since he was a professional skeet shooter. I somehow remember the lead dropping into an oil tank. But do not remember the details of how it was put together. I think it was a commercially produced unit. But that's really neat gives me some great ideas for making my own soft weight for diving. Definitely did a great job on this.
Just a cool project in general. I did not know that was a way to make lead shot. Thanks
Philip Teasell
Essentially that's how all lead shot is made. However, lead shot for ammunition is not flash cooled in water. Instead it is dropped down a three story shaft before hitting water. The fall allows the shot to uniform its shape before cooling.
Thanks
Jason McKinney Bigger the shot taller the tower. Shot towers were often the tallest buildings in ye oldy times villages and towns. Must have been a pain to haul all that lead up a crickety wooden tower...
volvo245 ropes and pulleys my dude 😊
Here's on tower from my hometown www.pispalanmoreeni.fi/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Pispalan-torni-600-Hjorthin-kirjasta.jpg
Up the road from me is a tower known as the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower. It is were they made lead balls for shotguns and muzzle loaders. The melted the lead at the top of this 75 foot tower and let it fall through a shaft underground another 75 feet. The 150 foot drop was the perfect height to allow the lead to form a ball shape. It was caught at the bottom using a large kettle full of water then retrieve through an access tunnel at a river's edge.
This is the coolest thing! Glad you uploaded it!
Love your videos! Your ideas and craftsmanship are amazing! Thanks for bringing us along. Thanks for taking the time to make and share as well.
+Jim J You bet! Thanks for watching!
Buff NICE JOB!! Congratulations 👍
What a beautiful and thoughtfully designed device!
Been missing your videos, thanks for putting this one together. Cool project.
Love your videos Brian. Always feel like I'm learning. Thank you so
Much for sharing.
That device is a work of art, the guys down at my local trap and skeet range just use a bean can with a nail hole in the bottom and roofing torch. By rights the drop isn't high enough, but for your purposes I don't suppose you care if the shot comes out round or not.
I think with some tweeking it might work a lot better. I had about 120 lbs of lead scrap and I needed a little over 100 lbs for the rigid weights so I just decided to bite the bullet, so to speak....
When you use he term"drop" does that mean the liquid lead freezes in mid air then hits the short ramp to the cooling liquid?
@Gary Elderman you want the lead to fall a certain distance to form a spherical droplet then freeze in the cooling liquid. There's probably a way to calculate the ideal drop height, or just trial and error.
I like the burner and the lead shot maker, good job.
This is a path towards more gravity clamps!
I was thinking of making some homemade zinc/tin solder for soldering aluminum, and casting it into rods, but after seeing it in shot form, it would work just as well and gives me a ton of ideas. Thanks for the ideas
wow i didn't even know you could make your own lead shot this way, this is mind boggling!
Extremely skilled welder
Not really. He covered his ass with that anglegrinder tho!
Simple yet effective. Nice job
Damn it. I knew someone else was living my dream.
Yes ! Thank you.
thats really cool, brings back mwmoriea of the foundey toys where you melted the pewter to make little figures, thia would be a nice way to make your own refills lol
Excellent build!
Great video after seeing how much a Shop maker cost I’m definitely going to make my own.the welder and everything else I need to give it a try
That was awesome.
So your a hot shot now, making it yourself! LOL! As always, I love you videos.
+Tom's Dreamshop Worx Ha, Thanks!
Can you point me in the direction of the cheap lead shot? Even the "reclaimed" stuff I find on ebay is expensive.
keyword: consumer electronics
@AsHalt I'm not sure about that since we have RoHS now (no more 60/40 lead solder, but lead free solder instead).
That is a very nice lead shot maker. I agree you probably should have used some commercially made drippers but other than that I give it a A+ Plus. If I had a welder I would attempt this myself. I think I'm going to try and make my own LEAD shot dripper, but rather than create the ramp and everything I'm just going to use my Lee lead pot and create some type of adapter for it. I have a couple ideas in mind. Thank you for your video and also very good job on your welds. They look fantastic from the video.
That's some nice fab work!
I've seen shot drippers before, I like yours it's very simple and works well. The only suggestion I would make is to have a longer drop before the lead hits the water. That gives the molten lead more time to round it's self and your shot will be more uniform in size and especially shape.
I might have to try this in the future... Probably have my lifetime share of lead in my system, however...
great build, thanks.
That is freaking cool!
Mig tips is a great idea. Did you use fabric softener for coolant? Water doesn't work.
great idea thank you
That is awesome 👏🏻
красавчик ты наталкнул меня на одну идею спасибо огромное
just a tip when your mig welding you should push the weld pool along rather than drag it like you docreats a stronger weld as it forces it down rather than it just sit on top
It wouldn't be hard to size the shot after you drop it, with a suitable range of sieves, if you can get screen of the right sizes ..
Thank you :) I love this channel
This setup inspired me to make my own shot maker, hopefully have it finished soon.
With the burner where is the mig tip in relation to the air hole, im guessing its slightly forward of the hole so it draws the air from behind the gas?
Awesome...you can make your won propain stove this way
Didn't see the plans for it on your site.
More videos please, i love you vids
+Stephen Kurniawan Thanks! Soon...
Brilliant
where did you find that shut off valve for the burner. I have been looking for one for 2 weeks.
+Danylo66 Here is one! amzn.to/2pATQaC
Hello, what is the name and brand of the coolant in which the birds fall?
it appears your pan is 1/4" steel. any reason 3/8" wouldn't work. I would assume it will take longer to warm up and then of course retain heat longer.
Might be a good approach! Getting it hot wouldn’t be an issue. I did like the gradient of heat up the ramp. It made it so you could tune how much lead was melted/melting. This might be more pronounced with thicker steel.
Where did you find cheaper lead shot????
Would this work with other metals? Those with much higher melting temperature than lead?
+Vatsek Very limited variety of metal with an extremely low melting point... Lead was the first thing I cast when I was young. I found out you could melt it on the kitchen stove... I was a latch-key kid BTW.
Would you be willing to sell this? Probably with the threaten holes for the Oasis lug nuts?
Nice,need all dimensions please
Do you have blue prints or rough Sketches of this design? I'm just getting into reloading I would like to make one
No, not really. The dimensions are not critical but I think the steel strap was ~4” by about 16” so overall was 8”W x 16”L x 3”H…
simple is best
I liked it a lot but, brian, what are those lead particles good for?
They go into a bag to be used as a flexible weight, likely to hold parts in place for welding or to keep mold flasks from floating apart. They are also very useful in leather shot pouches for doing sheet metal work, they are a pliable backer to hammer against for doing cold forming and dishing.
Handy for reloading during the Zompocalypse.
Where's the best place to buy lead scrap?
Hi Brian, what CNC software do you use or programs for generating the 3d model and and then tool paths.
+Robert Ely Rhino3D for modeling, RhinoCAM for paths.
Cheers Buddy
Thanks Buddy
sweet
Where is the cheaper source of the shot????????
To second a previous poster, could you share your source for cheaper shot? I would like the bag weights but shot prices are relatively high. Chances are you would not be giving the seller too much of a boost as shipping rates for such heavy items are prohibitive and only people in your immediate area might benefit. The type of source rather than the actual one might be more helpful to the online community. I see the keywords commercial electronics mentioned but that doesn't help very much as I am not involved in that field and there are quite a few uses within that realm that I could think of as possible sources. Google search for 'commercial electronics lead shot' yields a bunch of unrelated leads and a few high end wholesalers.
+Keith Green When I first priced the project, I went to my local Bass Pro. They wanted $54/ 25lb bag ($2/lb). I think the bags I bought were from rotometals.com. I looked everywhere... the bags I got were closer to $1 a lb ($28/25lb bag). This means $18 per leather shot bag. This is worth it to not have to melt lead for hours... So relatively cheap considering all aspects of the job.
Thanks. That was a good deal. They are a lot more now but I suspect the price fluctuates with the price of lead. At this time they are $40 for 25lbs of reclaimed shot, USD, free shipping if you buy enough (I think).
This makes your lead melter a viable alternative again and the link is good to keep an eye on the prices.
I guess a better search term would be 'reclaimed shot'. I had no idea they were able to reclaim shot; I immediately have images of scuba divers sifting duck-pond silt and people combing through grass at skeet ranges :)
was the shot a uniform size and what was the size?
+skeets skeets When it was was tuned okay it did. I have no idea about the size. As I mention in the video, I would buy legit drippers if I did it again....
How do you keep the lead vapor down?
+Ethan M Don't let the lead get too hot! Keep some good ventilation going... garage door and sliding side door was open while melting down the lead...
Just on your gas fittings purchase, you have ruined your ROI, you know that right?
+gus bisbal I have so many fittings left over from the torch build I considered opening a hardware store! The needle valve was extra intended for the oil leg of the torch. Most everything including the regulator, hose and Camco coupler are torch hold overs. But yeah, I thought I had $140 to spend to break even... I think the propane MIG tip jet is a technology I'll keep for the future!
So you're saying all that time, effort, and money was a waste? That sucks.
+Andrew Delashaw Not a waste. I have a burner setup I didn't before. I am out the time and about 6' of 3" steel strap unless someone finds inspiration in this project. Then it was worth it.
Open corners when u fit metal it's not plywood
Lol! Thanks!
It makes me uneasy to see this in imperial measurements.