Casting your own grinding media

[warthog]

I never said it didn't leave behind lead in the composition. I am simply saying it isn't a big deal for me, the shells are going off WAY UP IN THE AIR. The smoke from the lift is about all that is breathed in and frankly I am still not worried since I don't stand in the smoke and breathe deeply. I actually try to avoid standing in it. I wear gloves when I am casting and of course when I am making my BP or other comps plus usually a dust mask or I work outside up wind.

 

Lead doesn't spark, is good and heavy so it mills very efficiently and it is essentially free for the taking. If you alloy it like what you get fro wheel weights, it is really hard stuff too, especially when it is quench while hot from the mold. I just think it is the most cost efficient way to mill, at least for me.

 

I think it is OK for you to use whatever it is you want to use, for me it is gonna be lead.

Edited November 10, 2011 by warthog

[oldmanbeefjerky]

Ages ago, there were lead based makeups, composed not of lead metal, the safest commonly found form of lead, but rather lead oxides and other compounds.

now people rubbed this lead oxide which is in my opinion over a thousand times more dangerous than metalic lead powder, all over their faces, every day, and how frequent was lead poisioning amongst those people hmm? low, very low! people got it, but still low, and thats with the oxides!

When i think of what the danger is of handling leaded powder, i see it as a thousand times lower than wearing lead based makeup, or standing near a running car with leaded fuel.

 

but given that the likely hood of the mill exploding and shooting potentially shattered ceramic or steel balls in all directions maybe when i walk past it one day, while in use, seems a great deal greater, than the chance of getting lead poisoning because i didnt hold my breath for a few seconds when the smoke cloud came past.

its kinda the same as spear hunting with rake. The pros outweigh the cons.

[Mumbles]

If you can ever be pelted with media or jar material, you're not taking appropriate safety precautions. Some sandbags and an extension cord are cheap safety materials.

 

Stinger, have you ever actually looked at how much lead gets into BP from milling with it? The first few batches with new media will have more if you have soft lead, and even this is on the order of 3% at most. Using hardened lead I wasn't able to really detect beyond the limit of my scale any additional lead. I unfortunately did not have an appropriate scale to weigh the lead itself. If you're seeing "a pile of yellow ash", it's probably because your BP is not all that good, and you're seeing slag and residue from this (which can be yellow). In any case, if it really is as you describe, the majority of the lead is clearly left on the ground and not introduced into the smoke.

 

Shall you like to hear about the decomposition products of the heavy parlon stars you've posted before? I assure you that chlorinated organics are not the healthiest things, and are present in much higher concentrations than lead in smoke.

[Algenco]

doesn't a little lead make the BP hotter?

[oldmanbeefjerky]

I dont think it would have much effect at all, its not reactive like zinc or aluminium, or even iron!

[TheArchitect23]

I dont think it would have much effect at all, its not reactive like zinc or aluminium, or even iron!

 

I believe that was a funny.

 

I cast lead sinkers, bullets, shot and other items. I cast my own milling medium naturally, this was recycled range lead from fired bullets. No idea the ratio, but it is indeed hard once quenched. I have not seen much if any contamination of my bp, nor a significant decrease of my media diameter. Depends on what you have. Purchasing your media you have no idea where the lead has come from or its ratio. Pure lead, air cooled is your worst case media.

 

If you cast your own try range lead, or a 94 / 6 ratio. Quench in cold water immediately. Once cool store for 30+ days in a cardboard box. Your lead will then *age* and become very hard and durable.

 

As for lead poisoning mumbo jumbo, don't eat it in mass quantity and you'll be fine. Contrary to popular belief lead does not stay and build in your system as other metals may. Slow, but does eventually pass through you.

[warthog]

I made some nice new molds for my media casting, well my buddy made them for me in his machine shop.

 

I should have them fairly soon and then I can get to work again because I have a LOT of media to make.

 

I just got a "new" ball mill, one of the new model Hobby Fireworks ons I found used for $50 to FINALLY replace my little double barrel Harbor Freight mdl. This one came with a HUGE 8" ID Sponen-jar that will take some 72.5 # of media and make BP 4 # at a time. I have a tripod with a winch on it to help me pick it up and put it on the mill and also to empty the jar when it is done or I couldn't pick it up with my back and all, I also made some smaller 1# of BP/run jars with 25 # of media myself which are gonna see a LOT more use than the big green monster ever will. I need to make at least another 15# of media just to get one of the smaller jars up and running though. The new molds will have ten cavities each and with my bottom pour melter should really speed things up for me.

 

I use pure wheel weights that are immediately dropped from mold to a bucket of water to quench them. I also store the media for a few weeks before using so the proper structures build in the lead. This makes the media really hard and so far I haven't noticed any wear or deposited lead of any measurable amount in a comp either.

Edited November 17, 2011 by warthog

[oldmanbeefjerky]

Speaking of lead balls,

Anyone ever make lead balls by dropping molten lead into water? i would very much like to learn how to make shots without the use of a mould, for both stars, and for media in my new project, the micromill (holds about 100-200g at a time), a sub hobby mill/ tumbler more intended for tumbling.

Anyway greek friend of mine does it, but i dont understand how. he claims he just drops it into water, but ive tried and just wound up with a wet piece of lead splatter.

[Algenco]

Speaking of lead balls,

Anyone ever make lead balls by dropping molten lead into water? i would very much like to learn how to make shots without the use of a mould, for both stars, and for media in my new project, the micromill (holds about 100-200g at a time), a sub hobby mill/ tumbler more intended for tumbling.

Anyway greek friend of mine does it, but i dont understand how. he claims he just drops it into water, but ive tried and just wound up with a wet piece of lead splatter.

 

 

that's how lead shot is made, however the drop tower is 20 stories, the height is needed for the shot to form and solidify before impact the water below

I have freinds that have made their own shot for skeet & trap shooting but is was tear drop shaped, didn't fall long enough to become sperical

All large shot sizes are molded, dropping will not work for anything except small sizes.

[Col]

I used a fishing mold, you can knock out 1000 x 1/2" balls at a leisurely pace over a weekend. I hardened them after casting and it made quite a big difference.

 

http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx341/colinspyro/leadmedia.jpg

http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx341/colinspyro/hardenedleadmedia.jpg

[TheArchitect23]

Lead shot is easy. I may make a tut if anyone is interested.

$65 is all you need to make a system. No mold required.

 

not always the best round shot. but with height adjustments over your water trough you can get dang close to 90% perfect shot.

screening required.

 

pretty much a hot plate, welded steel pan, drilled and tapped holes with brass *secret* fittings, milled at a percentage angle to drop a selected size teardrop. this rolls down the angled soap stone step, into a trough of 60% anti-freeze / 30% water / 10% dish soap. trough / trash can, whatever. should be as tall as you can get it. i use a square 3 3/4 ft trashcan with sponge hot glued to the bottom.

distance from the top of the water to the step should be no more than 1/4'' , ideal distance depending on size varies. have a cheep-o fish pump on a regulator to keep the water circulating and level as the trough fills with shot.

 

once full of lead, or your out of lead , you can then spread on a party table in the sun, or wash and spread. pick out the droplets and exploded shots the best you can, screen to size. you end with around 65-75% usable correctly sized shot. the rest are imperfect, hollow, exploded or what have you from anything like a small gust of wind as it was rolling, to spike / drop in plate temp as you add lead. re-use this next time or make some diving belts for ebay =]

Edited November 18, 2011 by TheArchitect23

[warthog]

Back when lead was cheap and I shot Registered Skeet all year I had a shot dribbler. When I stopped shooting Skeet as much though I sold it. I do admit that when you first start using it you just sit there and watch it work for hours. It is pretty cool to watch the lead dribble out of the melter and into the water (HISSSSS) and then see the drops turn into little balls.

 

I often wondered since I started doing this if there was a way to make a dribbler make 1/2" dia shot. Then you could just keep it full of lead until you had what you needed. No muss no fuss!

Edited November 18, 2011 by warthog

[TheArchitect23]

well, that would be a tough one. BUT! i believe you could. use a long enough piece U Bar, coat this with soap stone. you get the idea.

 

if anyone happens on a good quality large quantity media mold. send me a PM, looking for .500-.525

[FrankRizzo]

Architect,

 

Richard Wolter makes a nice mold. Wolter Pyro Tools

 

http://www.wolterpyrotools.com/image/pyrotool_125.jpg?1321675403021

[warthog]

Bad enough, thats why I - personally - never use dichromates or other toxic components to make pyrotechnic devices.

 

Regards,

 

Stinger

 

Do you just not make things that burn green then? Barium is some pretty toxic stuff, I think it is worse than everyone's most feared chemical, the Dichromates. Every time someone posts that they would never use such a thing as this it makes me wonder if you really know how bad some of the stuff we use routinely really is? Yet most folks will put n a pair of gloves and MAYBE a dust mask and scoop out Barium compounds like it was sugar.

 

Mind you, Barium is hardly the ONLY thing that is really toxic that is used in pyro, it is just the one that comes to mod for me.

 

===============================

 

The Wolter media molds are pretty nice but they are also expensive. You can find molds for "Cannon Ball Sinkers" made by a company called "Do-it" online on many fishing tackle websites. The smallest ones, 1/2 oz - 3/4 oz molds make ten balls per pour, 5 of each size. Both size out to just a skosh under 1/2" and hair over 1/2. So I just pour all ten cavities and use both sizes for media. It goes really fast with a ten cavity mold too.

Edited November 19, 2011 by warthog

[TheArchitect23]

i have been using the cannon ball molds

works great!

 

however i have a 1 1/4 - 4 oz so i have to do them 1X at a time.

 

Wolter will make me a cylinder mold, but im almost out of a few chems. maybe the wife will give me a early Christmas present

[oldmanbeefjerky]

Lead shot is easy. I may make a tut if anyone is interested.

$65 is all you need to make a system. No mold required.

 

not always the best round shot. but with height adjustments over your water trough you can get dang close to 90% perfect shot.

screening required.

 

pretty much a hot plate, welded steel pan, drilled and tapped holes with brass *secret* fittings, milled at a percentage angle to drop a selected size teardrop. this rolls down the angled soap stone step, into a trough of 60% anti-freeze / 30% water / 10% dish soap. trough / trash can, whatever. should be as tall as you can get it. i use a square 3 3/4 ft trashcan with sponge hot glued to the bottom.

distance from the top of the water to the step should be no more than 1/4'' , ideal distance depending on size varies. have a cheep-o fish pump on a regulator to keep the water circulating and level as the trough fills with shot.

 

once full of lead, or your out of lead , you can then spread on a party table in the sun, or wash and spread. pick out the droplets and exploded shots the best you can, screen to size. you end with around 65-75% usable correctly sized shot. the rest are imperfect, hollow, exploded or what have you from anything like a small gust of wind as it was rolling, to spike / drop in plate temp as you add lead. re-use this next time or make some diving belts for ebay =]

 

 

I am both amazed that you can get hot plates that get hot enough to melt lead AND that you can roll the lead droplets over soap stone ( i would imagine that this would just be a soapy stone) to help cool them off enough so they dont explode / splatter in the water as well as forming the sphere shape.

About my greek friend making lead shots, he has told me that he simply drips lead droplets into a water barrel which has about 1.7m water in it, the lead, dripping only about 10cm through the air, possibly less.

is there any validity to this method? He told me that he just uses regular water.

[dagabu]

About my greek friend making lead shots, he has told me that he simply drips lead droplets into a water barrel which has about 1.7m water in it, the lead, dripping only about 10cm through the air, possibly less.

is there any validity to this method? He told me that he just uses regular water.

 

It will work but you get a lot of teardrop shaped balls that close to the water. I have never had good luck making good shot, mine always fractures and that may be just too much heat...

 

-dag

[TheArchitect23]

You need your set up just right. But a normal hot plate gets well into the 700's. The lowest temp and still get it to flow through your droplets. When the weather improves ill make a video.

 

 

As for normal water the surface tention is to high, the minerals also will make your shot dark grey and brittle. Not saying it wouldn't work, just you would need alot of trial and error of drip height, lead temp, Ect.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

I see. i think this means i must build a lead dripper since i dont want to use flame , and ill need to lower the surface tension of water with soaps and oils .

I already want to make a hotplate, any idea though how i can build one , small obviously, only needing to heat a surface area of maximum 3cm2, to a tempurature of 400celcius or higher? prefferenbly using electricity from an ATX power supply? mine can output 5v @ 40A or 12V @ 20A. Im not comfortable with AC yet. I would either make a hotplate, or a heated crucible of 50ml capacity. any ideas?

 

 

[hillbillyreefer]

1321810492[/url]' post='87660']

It will work but you get a lot of teardrop shaped balls that close to the water. I have never had good luck making good shot, mine always fractures and that may be just too much heat...

 

-dag

 

Try placing the bottom of your runner as close to the coolant as possible. Try using the cheapest fabric softener you can find for coolant. A buddy of mine makes a couple tons of shot per year and the best coolant he has tried is the fabric softener. I still use water.

[TheArchitect23]

I see. i think this means i must build a lead dripper since i dont want to use flame , and ill need to lower the surface tension of water with soaps and oils .

I already want to make a hotplate, any idea though how i can build one , small obviously, only needing to heat a surface area of maximum 3cm2, to a tempurature of 400celcius or higher? prefferenbly using electricity from an ATX power supply? mine can output 5v @ 40A or 12V @ 20A. Im not comfortable with AC yet. I would either make a hotplate, or a heated crucible of 50ml capacity. any ideas?

 

 

 

well, a DC hotplate would be a new one to me. you are looking for 650-700 deg ( 700 being about max, as zinc and other crud will want to melt with your lead destroying your dipper, or shot.

AC hot plates can be had for 20.00 USD easy. cheaper if used or at a 2nd hand store. you want the heating coil type, not the flat non-stick style.

 

you can either make, find, or buy a steel plate. preferably rectangular. then find some BRASS bolts, and nuts. 3-5 works well for the size.

drill out 90% of the bolt from the threads towards the head. STOP before hitting the head of the bolt. now take a very fine end mill, ( size depends on shot size, and lead type, purity. ect. )

drill from the side of the head inwards until you reach your drilled out cavity. 90 Deg angle. angle your mill hole downward, securing to your drilled out plate with a nut or 2.

repeat as necessary. you can drip directly into your fluids, but if you can make a ledge / step. it should be at a 45 Deg angle downwards no more than 1/4'' from your dipper.

 

my plate just fits on my heating coil. about 6 inches by 8 inches on a 30-35 deg angle. it can actually get tooooo hot. your main challenge would be your dippers. however you can purchase those if you dont have the tools to make them.

[oldmanbeefjerky]

Thankyou that will be very helpful,

but i was actually inferring more towards what kind of nichrome i should use, or would i just be fine using a hairdryer element? i plan on replicating a soldering / desoldering pot, but i both do not want to pay for it, and its shape makes adding a dripper very tedious.

 

I dont plan to use the same crucible with zinc, so i dont need to go all the way to 700 celcius. or were you talking Fahrenheit? in which case that wont be nearly sufficient! i need 420 Celsius to melt zinc, prefferebly 500 Celsius.

 

I intent to almost completely seal up the heating element, so very little energy is lost due to exposure to air directly contacting the element.

Anyway, i can use many different lengths and resistance nichrome, but i dont know what kind to use on this one. short or long, thin or thick, which would correspondingly have high or low resistance.

[TheArchitect23]

I dont plan to use the same crucible with zinc, so i dont need to go all the way to 700 celcius. or were you talking Fahrenheit? in which case that wont be nearly sufficient! i need 420 Celsius to melt zinc, prefferebly 500 Celsius.

 

i was referring to Fahrenheit, zinc melts around 750 F = 400 C, lead will melt in the low 650's F = 345 C

its your enemy if you use car wheel weights. one zinc weight your pot is toast. your dripper would be clogged and a pain to clean out.

 

my main reasoning for pointing out the 2 are that they melt at very close temp ranges, and are common in scraps paired in. cheep ebay lead, and unknown ingots can have zinc in them. you would want temp readout or control to keep your pot under 725 F for optimum purity of the lead melt. scrape out the dross or chunkys then flux with paraffin wax a few times.

 

I intent to almost completely seal up the heating element, so very little energy is lost due to exposure to air directly contacting the element.

Anyway, i can use many different lengths and resistance nichrome, but i dont know what kind to use on this one. short or long, thin or thick, which would correspondingly have high or low resistance.

 

on that note, would someone else like to chime in, i dont do nichrome or DC elements. i would imagine since a toaster has nichrome wire bare, you could achieve the same.

Edited November 21, 2011 by TheArchitect23

[oldmanbeefjerky]

Dc elements would work the same as AC, but DC wouldnt be used for wire over a meter or so.

for AC i would need to take many precautions to ensure i dont get electrocuted or short the thing out as it would have catastrophic effects. also AC tends to blow out the resistance wire, last time i was experimenting with it.

I get the idea though about zinc, i wont use it for making shots, or even use it in the same pot.