I made a shotmaker

[stillwell]

Thanks for the order! I use walmart brand fabric softener in mine. It does smell like a laundrymat when you use it.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Val...a-72f3c1bd0d37

I am using a 30 cal steel ammo can to catch the shot for now.

[15meter]

I'm considering giving shot making a go.

I'm curious if anyone was ever experimented with very long runs for the shot as opposed to the very short and dropping into a coolant tank?

I'm thinking 20 to 30 feet of aluminum at a 10-20 degree angle. I've got an old day sailer mast in the rafters that is just aching to be productive again.

Lots of surface area to radiate heat and the continuous rolling I would think(hope) would keep them round,

If the 20' is insufficient would 30' do it? There are groups of old, basically abandoned 40-50 year old sailboats littering marinas around here. I would think a 40' mast would be fairly easy to acquire.

Should I go away quietly and sulk in my beer because no one else thinks it's a brilliant idea, or is there merit that deserves further research?

[Eddie Southgate]

I research getting the lead out of at least one of those old basically abandoned sail boats if I were you . The mast idea ? I don't know , might just work .

[Barry54]

I'm considering giving shot making a go.

I'm curious if anyone was ever experimented with very long runs for the shot as opposed to the very short and dropping into a coolant tank?

I'm thinking 20 to 30 feet of aluminum at a 10-20 degree angle. I've got an old day sailer mast in the rafters that is just aching to be productive again.

Lots of surface area to radiate heat and the continuous rolling I would think(hope) would keep them round,

If the 20' is insufficient would 30' do it? There are groups of old, basically abandoned 40-50 year old sailboats littering marinas around here. I would think a 40' mast would be fairly easy to acquire.

Should I go away quietly and sulk in my beer because no one else thinks it's a brilliant idea, or is there merit that deserves further research?

In my hillbilly imagination, I think the spheres would gain enough rpm to stretch out like the drive tires on a drag race car.

[Johnch]

If you want to make shot like a Pro

I did it sort of a number of years ago

First get a job where you are working on a roof of a TALL building
The building needs a elevator shaft ( no elevator in the shaft ) that you can get to from the roof

I was demoing AC units and removing ALL the Freon on top of a about 30 story building
I had to suck all the Freon out of every AC unit and then remove the unit from the roof

The elevator shaft had about foot of water in it
So when I started every day
I started my shot maker on the roof to drop the lead drops down the elevator shaft
After I had what I figured was enough shot made and was ready to lower the AC units
I swept up the shot off the bottom of the shaft and took it home
The next day I dropped every one of the junk AC units down the elevator shaft
To be removed by the scrap company

The shot dropping all that way resulted in round shot

Didn't tell the boss I had the demo crane haul the lead and shot maker up to the roof
Along with all my tools LOL
Or he might have wanted some of the shot

John

[15meter]

I research getting the lead out of at least one of those old basically abandoned sail boats if I were you . The mast idea ? I don't know , might just work .

Working on that with a buddy, he's manager at a good sized yacht club that is almost exclusively sailboats. Just waiting for some old member to die and the kids just want the boat gone.

And starting in the 70's a lot of the keels were made out of cast iron. Once the designers moved away from the traditional wineglass hull profile where the ballast was encased in either wood as in traditional boat construction or fiberglass but retaining the wineglass full hull shape with integral rudder lead disappeared

Once they went to the "fin keel, spade rudder" style they have been almost universally cast iron. Easier to mount to the hull and bunches cheaper.

[15meter]

In my hillbilly imagination, I think the spheres would gain enough rpm to stretch out like the drive tires on a drag race car.

I'm thinking angle might be critical. I too was concerned about having millions of miniature lead fly saucers.

Shallower angle equals rounder shot?

A speed bump after a foot or two?

[country gent]

What about an "auger" in a tube for the first foot or two to get it round then a straight drop. Depending on the flights angle 4-5 feet of drop could be fit into the 3' straight distance. Done with a slight down angle shot would roll against 2 edges down into the coolant. A short angle iron tray at a10-20* angle under the nozzles to feed the tube.

[GhostHawk]

^ Not an auger in the tube, a foot of tube that turns, then a drop, short, medium or long.

Just thinking out of the box.

[country gent]

I wasnt thinking the auger turning but fixed and the shot would roll down it around the tube.

[Barry54]

I don’t know about any of the salvaged boat mast ideas…

I do know that a proven manufactured shot maker, with a PID controller purchased from HATCH and 5 gallon pail of molasses purchased from amazon for coolant is where I’ve reached zen!

I bet I can make five tons of shot before the molasses gets all washed away. Not bad for a $60 investment. I’m using a 50 caliber ammo can currently, but may switch to a couple of 30 caliber cans. It’s easy to get 60+ lbs of shot in a 50 caliber can before you realize it.

And so much easier than getting lead to the roof of a 30 story building with an empty elevator shaft. Plus the molasses smells delicious!

[turtlezx]

JOHNCH YOU DA MAN i love it

[Cap'n Morgan]

I'm curious if anyone was ever experimented with very long runs for the shot as opposed to the very short and dropping into a coolant tank?

At one point I tried a longer ramp - about four inches - and the shot ended up looked like flying saucers!

[15meter]

At one point I tried a longer ramp - about four inches - and the shot ended up looked like flying saucers!

Did you try varying the ramp angle?

I'm guessing shallower ramp angle, the slower the speed, the less centrifugal force. But I might be dreaming trying to eliminate the need to wash the shot.

Getting molasses isn't an issue, I can get a gallon to experiment with from the local grain elevator, they buy it by the multiple 55 gallon drum to make sweet feed for horses.

I was one of the founding incorporators of the company, getting a gallon would be simple, but if I can eliminate a step, it sounds like a good thing to me.

[Barry54]

It takes almost two gallons to fill a 50 caliber ammo can. And yes you want it full. Shim everything so the full can is almost touching the ramp. Frothy bubbles sizzle when they contact the hot ramp close.

I’ve taken a slow motion video of the shot forming. They bead up in a teardrop shape and fall off the nozzles. They jiggle, bounce and start to roll on the short ramp. They are very spherical when they go into the coolant.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Did you try varying the ramp angle?

I found that changing the angle to a less steep drop, would stop the drop rolling properly.
I even contemplated a "ski jump ramp" to give the drops more air-time during which it would assume perfect sphere shape.

Lead shot are a thing of the past over here, but if I were to try again, I would probably take the 'Bleimeister' route, and skip the ramp all together.
If the molten droplets (after a very short drop) would enter the coolant without too much disturbance and boiling (and the coolant had at the right temperature)
they should assume sphere shape before solidifying during their descent.

Watch this fascinating little video of what happens when a waterdrop hits the surface:
https://www.tiktok.com/@plutosdestin...87111658114337

[Je13air47]

I don't see a picture but looked at your YouTube. Are you selling yet? Link?

[SSGOldfart]

Very interesting I'm going to have to add this one to the list