Does anyone know of a supply of lead shot no more than, say, 3/32" diameter pse?
Sounds a little odd, but I want to fill old "sparklets" type bulbs with lead to make weights for driving clocks.
A fishing tackle shop was suggested, but when I called at one I was told that lead is banned for angling, and their only "shot" was much too big to fit into the hole in the bulb.
Solder would be a possibility, but a large proportion of it would be tin.
TIA -
You can make your own easily enough, especially as the size isn't critical. Drip molten lead into cold water. Not from a height as they come out as disks. Wear every sort of protection.
Bill
why not just fill with molten lead,drill out if adjustment needed.
Or from sufficient height that they are at least crusted before they hit the water. Google 'shot tower'
A good source of lead is either roofing material or car tyre balancing weights.
But for clock weights why not cast your own bobs?
make plaster moulds or clay (slightly tapered) cylindrical moulds with an open top.
The lead can be sawn filed drilled and sanded easily enough to put a suspension tag in the top once cast.
Shotgun cartridges
The lead weights poisoned water fowl, hence The Control of Pollution (Angler's Lead weights) Regulations 1986.
That depends which solder you buy. Eutectic lead tin solder will be 63% tin and 37% lead, but EN ISO 9453:2006 Alloy No 123, such as Johnson Matthey JM595, is 95% lead and 5% tin.
Colin Bignell
In message , Frank Erskine writes
A sear for "lead shot" on Ebay produces a few results that may be worth a look at, not sure about the size though. Another idea, prompted by Ebay is a diving shop, apparently it is used for ballast, although again, size maybe an issue.
It's easier to climb on a church roof than get the weights off a speeding car.
Confession: as a 13 year old me and my mate were always nicking lead. It was disgraceful really.
Bill
Besides have you not heard most solder is not lead free. Brian
Buy a copy of Gun Mart magazine, and see the ads in there. Loads of sellers do it for home loading of shotgun cartridges, all sizes from around half a mm to 6mm or so.
Model train enthusiasts use similar for ballast in wagons. Search for "Liquid lead wagon" or "Liquid ballast wagon"
like
Darren
Or how about mercury? Hard to get these days I suppose.
It sounds a dangerous mix, an ex lead thief and an aerial fitter. Do you still get the urge to indulge?
I melted down my dad's toy lead soldiers in a baked bean tin. Aaargh...
Used to melt down plumbing scrap from work done in the house. A kid of my age then (around 9 or 10) playing with a blowtorch and lead...
Never actually managed to do anything useful with it. :-(
powdered lead ok?
Lead shot isn't used generally in fishing but non-toxic shot is. Smaller size shot (dust shot) can, I believe, still be lead.
No. 8 shot (the higher the number the smaller the shot) is about 2.3mm in diameter (3.32"=2.38mm) and should be readily available from a decent tackle shop or on-line.
For example,
PS. I haven't been fishing for years.
An ebay search for "lead shot" gets 317 hits ...
I suppose sand is not heavy enough?
Brian
Depleted uranium would be...
If you had some lead sheet, it would be rather easy and considerably safer, just to roll it up into a nice scroll shape and make a hole in the top to hang it from.
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