new to this,,need help dripping shot

[walkerman]

got a dripper mad up and working fair,,,im cooling with rv antifreeze put I can not get anything that even looks round,,,thanks for any help

[badbob454]

i dont know anything about this, but a picture of what your set up you have , may help some one help you

[rancher1913]

there are several threads on this, with photos even. several have found that fabric softener works better. you need to use soapstone on the lip, a very heavy amount in my case. the distance from lip to coolant is very important, at 1/8 inch I was getting to much splash, went to 1/4 inch and made good shot. the lead makes a difference to, to soft and the ports plug, my set up likes the radiation shield lead.

[Goose18557]

Ive found the controlling the temp of the melted lead to be crucial...too hot and it will run out like a faucet...too cold and your drippers will stop. I've found the 4 to 6 drips per second yields the best results...i also seem to have better luck once the antifreeze heats up

[too many things]

first get rid of the rv ****
only thing that works good is hydraulic oil. anything with a water base {outside of die cutting lube} will leave a dimple
another is you CANNOT use anything but clip on wheel weights with NO--NO zinc
your lip needs to be 1/4 from the oil and oil needs to be at least 8in deep or more the better
temps will need to be about 750. but the drippers will tell you about that too cold and wont flow too hot and you will get a lot of "tag" shot

[walkerman]

that helps me a lot,,thanks

[rancher1913]

never heard about the hydraulic oil, would used oil that was filtered good work?

[GhostHawk]

I made shot last fall using dollar store fabric softener. I started out at roughly half and half softener and water which was too thin. Bailed some out and added roughly half a gallon of softener and all was well.

I agree the lip to coolant height can be crucial. Temp and keeping an even temp is the hard part.

Pure lead is a no go, don't want high tin either. I have made good shot with roughly half wheel weight and half range lead with no issues.

But I am sitting now on 110 lbs of Wheel weight in ingots ready for spring.

Shot size seems to be controlled more by head pressure. How full your pot is, and alloy,and temp than anything else. Lower and cooler for larger shot. But you will get a mix.

Higher temp and higher fill level for smaller.

As to the ramp/lip I cheated.

I used first a layer of Liquid Wrench Dry Lubricant. I use this for my Lee molds, lead does not stick to it.

Then I put over the top of that a layer of Ben's Liquid Lube. Being 60% Alox and 40% Johnson's one step floor wax. (Now discontinued)

I had very few problems with my lip. Anything that did get stuck to it a quick nudge with a stick and it came off and ran again.

[beezapilot]

I, too, use fabric softener. I made a viscosity cup out of one of the caps. Drilled a 1/8th hole in it and timed the NEW softener drain time. Then as I use the softener and the water is evaporated out of it I've a gauge to know how much water to add to try to keep a consistent viscosity...it is an imprecise science at best but better than nothing.

I'm with Ghost too in that I use range lead and scrap and will alloy it with reclaimed shot or WW until the alloy is strong enough to drip consistently. Anything too lead pure drips oversized and I just re-melt and add SuperHard or WW.

[Sitsinhedges]

never heard about the hydraulic oil, would used oil that was filtered good work?

I started using water with a layer of vegetable oil floating on top. It made great shot but every time I have used any type of oil it has been a nightmare trying to get the shot clean. You can wash the shot in solvent but if you remelt it you will still get the stink of burning oil almost as if it gets right inside the pellet and your hands will be filthy from it. I was spending more time trying to clean the shot than I was dripping it.
Discovering fabric conditioner was a game changer for me as after removing the shot from the catch tank all it needs is a quick swill in a bowl of water then be left out to dry. Perfect.
Fabric conditioner has no issues regarding flaming up if it touches the ramp either.

[rancher1913]

had not thought about the cleaning aspect, thanks. I actually have had good luck with rv antifreeze, the fabric softener was more money so I went with the antifreeze and it did fine for me.