Troubleshooting Shotmaker

[chrisx1]

I have a home made shotmaker. After an abysmal first try at dropping shot, I read a couple of the threads on this forum....

I got some things changed, and tried again this afternoon. I did pretty well, but I had two drippers that just would not work. Possibly need cleaned? These two "bad" drippers caused me to end up with 55 lbs of good shot and 25 lbs of huge pea sized droplets. Anyway, my first question is:

1 - What is an easy, quick, heat proof way to temporarily plug a dripper that you can't get working? My thought was that since the other 5/7 drippers were working properly, I could have just quickly plugged the two bad ones and had a lot less bad product to sort out later.

Also, I had quite a few tear drop shaped droplets that turned up after sorting. My second question is:

2 - What am I doing wrong if I get tear drop shaped droplets that are the correct diameter (in this case #8)?


Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to the various shotmaker threads here, they were very helpful.

Chris

[Red River Rick]

chrisx1:

Common blackboard chalk should be used on the ramp portion of your shotmaker, this helps prevent the lead droplets from sticking and becoming "Tear-drop" shaped. It should also be a smooth as possible, polishing with various grits of emery cloth will make a big difference.

Since you already have the chalk in hand, those problem nozzles can be plugged with the chalk. And can be easily cleaned out after with "Tip Cleaners" used for cleaning Oxy-Acet cutting tips.

RRR

[chrisx1]

Rick,
Thanks for the tip on using chalk for an emergency plug. I was using both chalk and soapstone on the ramp, with the best results seeming to come from the soapstone. However, I think that my ramp needs some additional polishing, because now that everything has cooled off, I can see a couple of rough spots on the areas under those problem drippers. Are we talking mirror finish here, or do I want to stick to emery cloth? Buffing wheel and compound are coming to mind.

Chris

[Red River Rick]

Chrisx1:

Mirror polished would be best. Get out the buffing wheel and some good compound.

Good Luck.
RRR

[heathydee]

Rough spots on the bib will cause problems. I usually give mine a quick polish with an orbital sander using 80 or 100 grit emery. Another cause of blobbing is too high a lead level . I tend to get a bit of this as I run mine at the highest level possible in order to get the shot as small and uniform as possible . The blobs are easily screened out . I have best results with blackboard chalk.
Persevere and I am sure you will overcome all of these teething troubles.

[manleyjt]

What are you using for coolant? The coolant can also cause tails, dimples, etc...

Also put up a picture of your homeade pot.

[chrisx1]

I'm using crop oil for coolant. I have an ammo can that I fill with oil and let it overflow into a larger catch can. The oil was getting pretty hot by the time I quit, could temperature of the coolant effect droplet shape?

I will get a picture up soon.

[manleyjt]

I think the temperature is not the issue with you having tails on the shot, rather a quality of of the coolant itself (maybe an issue with it's viscosity or temperature of turning to vapor at the shot interface. We had the same issue when using diesel fuel, we had pits (likea golf ball) when using water. Much better round shot when using antifreeze.

You will figure this out. And yes pictures woudl be great.

[chrisx1]

Here's a couple of pictures. Please excuse the clutter in the background, I have it shoved back in a corner for storage right now.

We made the main pot out of an old pressure cooker....cut out a notch in the bottom with a plasma cutter and welded a piece of angle back in. Then bolted another piece of angle to the bottom to get the angle.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/shotmaker1.jpg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/shotmaker2.jpg

The main overflow tank holds it all together. It supports the burner, and a support inside the overflow tank holds up the ammo can.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/shotmaker3.jpg

[chrisx1]

Here's another pic or two:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/shotmaker4.jpg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/shotmaker5.jpg

[Ricky P]

I have found if the lead level is to low or to high it will effect the shot tails size and so on. also i use greese for my shot lip applied with a radiator style brush while shot maker is running it burns and leaves a surface for the lead to roll on instead of sticking. Note my shot maker is made out of castiron. Also try transmission fluid as a coolant you can get it used from a transmission shop free i was using hyl fluid but i was buying it. Dont know how thick the crop oil is but that may be a problem. Noticed that one of the pics there was snow cold coolant will cause problems. Also if you have runs instead of drips the lead my be to hot or to much lead (causing presure ) one other thing the drop to coolant should be 1/4 of a inch. Something else I noticed which may have been for the pic is keep your nozzles under lead at all times even when you shut down this keeps the lead scum out of the nozzles.

[chrisx1]

I have been tinkering some more. I have found that if I keep the lead temp low (about 550-600 degrees), everything seems to work better. No tails on the shot, and much less scrap/oversize. Also, keeping a consistent lead level, about 1/2" over the nozzles seemed to keep the beads forming well. This slowed production a little, but the end product seems to be better overall. Also, the crop oil seems to be working well, but the last two times I have used it, it has been over 60F. The cold weather could have been effecting it this past winter. Time will tell on this, but I like the crop oil - it is very easy to wash off with a garden hose, and not hazardous.

Chris

[chrisx1]

I'm getting better results now, here is a video. As you can see, I have about 4 that run well all the time, and 3 that kick out oversize about every 4th or 5th drop...any suggestions/comments? The last ammo can I filled up yielded only 10 lbs oversize and about 50 lbs good shot, very few tails or teardrops.

Just click on the picture below and it will take you to photobucket to view the video.........

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/th_Shotmakervideo.jpg (http://s264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/chrisx1/?action=view&current=Shotmakervideo.flv)

[duke76]

I would put some soapstone on the lip, increase the temp to 700 if possible and lower the lead level in the pot, If a dripper seems slower, tap on it a little, try all this and let us know if it is better, Todd

[Ricky P]

First I would like to say thats a very nice homemade shotmaker. I have been making some shot my self and I have found everytime you see a stall in your drips is when you get a larger shot watching your vidio you can see what iam talking about not just the one that hangs for a while but any stall. And I beleive Duke is right run you lead hotter this will increase the speed of your drops and help with the size the lead wont be so sticky. The shot comes out of mine so fast its hard to see the spacing with vidio its more visisible. Also like Duke said tapping the nozzles will help remove some dirt that is slowing the flow. One other thing the lead itself will have a effect on the shot been tweaking on mine have had some big systoms changes by changing how far the lead fall before it reaches the ramp.

[Shotgun Luckey]

Great video

[manleyjt]

You might also have a n issue with that portion of your pot not getting hot enough. sometimes when we startup up we get large blobs that do not drip that small stream. also when you start seeing those big drops try tapping the area near the nozzle and see if you jsut have a little crude in the nozzle.

Looks like it is beginnning to be a very nice shotmaker.

[greybeard]

Hi: What size hole do you drill for the different shot sizes? Is there a list somewhere of the sizes? Thank's Dan

[chrisx1]

I just bought my nozzles from Magma/Littleton - it's $50 well spent unless you have the ability to drill a verrrrry small hole. Someone here used Tweeco tips with good luck also.

[Ricky P]

Dont know about different sizes of nozzles but I can tell you for 9s the holes are 20 thousands about the size of a wire out of a wire brush.

[encoreman]

Greybeard, That is the exact thing I want to know. What size hole for # shot. Thanks for any comments. Mac