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All About Guns What's your weapon of choice, and why? Discuss the beloved speargun here!

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Old 12-16-2012, 03:59 PM   #1
wyatt youngs
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gun ballasting

so im almost done with my gun and have a few questions about ballasting

1 should I epoxy befor or after ballasting

2 how much lead should i buy in advance how much do u guys normaly use
thanks
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Old 12-16-2012, 04:08 PM   #2
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Re: gun ballasting

After. How much lead depends on the size of the gun. I've always scavenged for my lead, but it's pretty cheap.. doubt you'll need over 10 ounces or so unless you're building a cannon.
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Old 12-16-2012, 04:12 PM   #3
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Re: gun ballasting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Putmeincoach View Post
After. How much lead depends on the size of the gun. I've always scavenged for my lead, but it's pretty cheap.. doubt you'll need over 10 ounces or so unless you're building a cannon.
thanks and one more question? where do you get your lead i was just gunna buy some fishing weights but if i can get it free then im happy to
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Old 12-16-2012, 04:24 PM   #4
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Re: gun ballasting

Fishing weights will work just fine. I use lead shot for reloading shotgun shells just because I've got a ton of it sitting around, in the past I've scavenged old wheel weights, cast net weights, decoy weights... anything that was in the shop that I knew nobody would miss. Wear a mask and stand upwind when you're melting it, make sure your mold is dry and don't burn yourself.
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Old 12-17-2012, 07:02 AM   #5
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Re: gun ballasting

In the past, I used lead shot from scuba diver soft weights but didn't bother melting it (lead fumes are a b).

These are expensive to ship, but make life simpler. They're going into my next build. I bought 5/8" diameter and 3/4".

Lead Cast Rods 5/8"diameter X 12" Long: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific Lead Cast Rods 5/8"diameter X 12" Long: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
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Old 12-17-2012, 05:32 PM   #6
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Re: gun ballasting

I used ball sinkers, and hit them with hammers until they were roughly cylindrical.

Drilled a hole about the right size, then used a vice to press the lead into the hole.
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Old 12-17-2012, 06:24 PM   #7
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Re: gun ballasting

I sometimes drill a large hole in the back and fill it with shot lead and epoxy you can do the rear ballast this way and it wont show cause the pad goes over. just make sure you over pour alot so it doesnt shrink under cause u want the pad to have a flat surface.
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Old 12-17-2012, 06:31 PM   #8
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Re: gun ballasting

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Old 12-17-2012, 06:38 PM   #9
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Re: gun ballasting

Seal gun before starting to ballast.

Once you have the correct weight and position (to make the point just a tiny bit heavy) mark the spot.

Back at bench, chop hole with drill, chisel or router.

Remember that you are removing some ballast too - the wood has weight, so you may need to add ten or twenty grams more ballast to compensate.

Lead fishing sinkers for ballast - there is a massive resource of these about 20 to 30 metres off shore of any areas where people line fish. Find a rock wall that hooks or sinkers can snag on, then wave away any sand on the seaward side. There should be lots of sinkers.

Use a hammer on a flat surface (concrete floor?) to forge sinkers into a square shape. Wear gloves and wash hands later as the dust falling off would contain lots of lead.

Wheel balance weights work well as ballast, but you need to cast the shape you want, and cut off excess to get the amount right. Wheel balance weight metal is harder than lead, and much more troublesome to forge with a hammer.

Lead shot (as used in shot gun shells) works well, and its easy to get the correct weight. It fits into any shape holes. But because there is air between the shot balls, its not as dense as solid lead. I calculate its about 1/3 less dense. So a bigger hole is needed for ballast. You can calculate the size of the hole needed by putting shot into a medicine measuring glass.

Its easiest if you put some liquid epoxy in the hole before putting in the lead. Then top up after lead inserted.

Make sure the gun surface is level when putting in liquid epoxy. I use a spirit level to check. Otherwise, the surface of the epoxy wont be flat, and may even dribble.

The level of epoxy will fall after ten or so minutes. Some is absorbed into the wood, and some volume loss is due to bubbles of air rising out of the interstices. Top up. To keep the top flat, burst bubbles with a match or something similar.

If you are careful when you chop the hole, and careful about the amount of epoxy you pour in, and if you are not a completely anal perfectionist, you may not need to re-finish the surface. Sometimes the surface looks good enough to me to leave, but sometimes there are bubbles, or it sits up too high. Then I sand down and brush over with varnish. If I want to make a gun that has a really perfect finish (which will be scratched the first time the gun is used), I sand down the entire gun and varnish the lot - but that's getting extreme.

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Old 12-17-2012, 09:47 PM   #10
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Re: gun ballasting

These help hide the lead. Neptonics.
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:07 PM   #11
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Re: gun ballasting

are those on josh's site... how did you make such cool colors on that gun its amazing
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:27 PM   #12
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Re: gun ballasting

Hey Wyatt,
I have quite a few long line anchors made up. I also have the pre-shaped lead that you could hide underneath the line anchor as well. They are not on the website so give me a call when you get a moment 650-868-4211
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Old 12-18-2012, 11:44 AM   #13
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Re: gun ballasting

Josh, you've been holding out on me with the pre shaped lead. Here I am getting toxic fumes in my system having to melt my own. Lol. Good to know you have those. I wonder what else isn't on the web site.

Wyatt, here's the post on the gun.
http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=150108
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Old 12-19-2012, 06:42 PM   #14
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Re: gun ballasting

If I am going overboard on a particular gun, I will make the ballast hole a little deeper, and after epoxying the ballast, insert a plate of wood - which looks like an intentional inlay.

But having ballast in clear epoxy can be a feature too - especially shot. It looks good and I don't think it really needs to be covered.

Why make more work when it doesn't make the gun shoot better?

Ric
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Old 12-19-2012, 09:15 PM   #15
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Re: gun ballasting

cool thanks for the tip ric

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