Source for lead plates/washers (or other heavy metal)?

[majordude]

I want to add weight to a nosecone. I want to use 1/4" rod to hold everything together. Starting at 1.5" and maybe going up, is there a source for round lead weights/plates? Like 1.5" diameter and 1/4-1" thick (preferably with a 1/4" hole in the center)?

 

[krusty]

A quick google seems to indicate that lead washers are used to balance guns -

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/859739/100-straight-lead-washers-33-oz-each-package-of-12

Hope that helps!

Krusty

 

[goldlizard]

Have you tried a tire shop? They have stick-on weights for some of those fancy wheels that people put on their boom-boom stereo cars. They come in a strip with break-off sections that are I believe 1/4oz increments, also they have adhesive on one side to stick them to the wheels. It might be worth a try!
Good luck and fly 'em straight and high!

 

[WillMarchant]

Well, you can buy lead shot at a gun shop and then epoxy it into "doughnuts" for installation on the all-thread in the noe cone...

 

[majordude]

Well, you can buy lead shot at a gun shop and then epoxy it into "doughnuts" for installation on the all-thread in the noe cone...

Well, I am leaning that way as I can't source a slug of this stuff but I am sure it is out there. I don't know how much brass I'd need for 1/2# but this company sells rods: https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=1270&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1117&top_cat=79

 

[krusty]

If you can get lead weights from a tire shop, you can always melt and cast what you need.

Pour molten lead into the bottom of cupcake pans to give you disks and when cool drill the central hole.

Krusty

 

[dixontj93060]

Search "lead muffin weights" on eBay--I use them all the time. Just drill a hole right through them and put them on a length of all-thread in the nosecone. They come in different sizes, but the most common size gives you 8 to 9 ounces per piece.

 

[johnnwwa]

This is what I use BB shot all thread and epoxy and some times depending on the manufacture of the NC wood screws into the NC and nipped off later.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crosman-Copperhead-BBs-6000-count/9222903?findingMethod=rr

 

[majordude]

Search "lead muffin weights" on eBay--I use them all the time. Just drill a hole right through them and put them on a length of all-thread in the nosecone. They come in different sizes, but the most common size gives you 8 to 9 ounces per piece.

Nada.

 

[fyrwrxz]

Brian-FWIW- I have taken Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty and made impressions of centering rings and fender washers. Melt some tire weights with a propane torch in a cast iron ladle ( a little hard to find, try thrift stores) and poured my own using welder's gloves. Make sure the mold is fully cured and DRY. Get the mold really warm. Don't use golf tees in the holes- they burn up. D'oh! I also consolidated a bunch in a small cast iron fry pan. Don't use the pan again-except to make more. Hurts like the devil when you drop it on your foot. I made like 8 of 'em and they are a pain to move around. Be safe and wear PP gear.

 

[majordude]

I thought breathing lead vapors was akin to being a kid living in a 1952 house with a penchant for tan paint chips.

 

[fyrwrxz]

I thought breathing lead vapors was akin to being a kid living in a 1952 house with a penchant for tan paint chips.

And I thought all this time my humour was an innate talent....MOOOOMMM? What colour was our house????.......

 

[powderburner]

Lead certainly works, but if you want something really easy and fast-----

Modeling clay is on sale right now, pretty much coast-to-coast with the back-to-school supplies. You can find these in pretty colors (as if that mattered) and the stuff is very easy to work with, especially if you are packing it into plastic NCs.

And I haven't heard anyone warning about "clay poisoning".....yet.

 

[Onebadhawk]

Brian,
I used to make my own fishing sinkers years ago.........
I still have the pot I used to use......

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Hot...+melting+pot&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products

100% for sure,,,,
the best place to buy lead is a junk yard that buys and sells scrap metal.........

For $5 or maybe nowadays $10 he'll give you all the raw lead you'll ever need...........

Teddy

 

[Onebadhawk]

By the way Brian,,,,,,,
why don't you just use crossman steel copper plated BB's and epoxy,,,,,,,
Quick,,,easy,,,,and it works...........

Teddy

 

[majordude]

Let me show you. I need to add 0.5 to 1.0# to the tip of this cone. The thinner and more dense the better. Or a ring around the base instead of the tip.

 

[krusty]

Unless you have a need to remove the weight, mix lead shot with epoxy and pour in.

Krusty

 

[majordude]

Unless you have a need to remove the weight, mix lead shot with epoxy and pour in.

I have never used a metal tipped cone so I have no idea if I need to make the tip removable or not.

 

[krusty]

I have never used a metal tipped cone so I have no idea if I need to make the tip removable or not.

That's a good question. Hmm.. I can't answer that, I've never used a metal tipped cone either!

Using lead washers on a length of all-thread will give you the ability to add & remove weight as you need (bigger/smaller motors etc). Lead & epoxy is quick and easy (but permanent!)

Krusty

 

[majordude]

That's a good question. Hmm.. I can't answer that, I've never used a metal tipped cone either!

Using lead washers on a length of all-thread will give you the ability to add & remove weight as you need (bigger/smaller motors etc). Lead & epoxy is quick and easy (but permanent!)

Krusty

That's why I was thinking that if I could find plates I could optimize weights for motors and conditions. So if I could find 1.5", 1.75", 2.0" lead rings it would fit into the tip of the cone and be adjustable.

 

[AlexK]

Lead vapors aren't a huge risk; lead boils at 1,750 C (melts at 330 C) so the vapor pressure at any reasonable temperature will be pretty ludicrously low. I wouldn't worry unless it's glowing white-hot, and you'll have much bigger problems than lead poisoning if you do that. Remember, also, that most electrical solder is lead-based (until recently, anyway), and I know plenty of electrical techs who are no crazier than your average HPR type. :wink:

If toxicity is still a worry you can go get some Bismuth. It's far more expensive than lead (quickie search showed lead shot about $2 a pound, bismuth more like $25 per pound), but it's nontoxic, melts at a lower temperature, and makes really awesome square crystalline patterns with blue and purple iridescence when it solidifies.

 

[Onebadhawk]

Brian,
I agree with you and your Krusty buddy,,,,,,,,,,,,
It would really be cool if you could add and remove as necessary..........

Years ago I scrounged up a roll of lead......
4 ft tall and about 1/8 or 3/16 thick........

Got an idea,,,,,,
when you go to the junkie,,, the most common form of lead is 50 to 80 year old waste pipe,,,,,,,
thats what it was used for,,,,,
the lead is rather soft and easy to work,,,,,,,,
make a slit in a piece of pipe,,,,open it up flat,,,,,,,
put whatever size hole saw you'd like on it and drill out your lead washers..........

Teddy

 

[Onebadhawk]

Brian,
lead is quite soft and malleable,,,,,
If you got a 8, a 12 and a 14 oz fishing sinkers from a bait shop,,,,,,,,
and put them on a heavy steel vise or anvil one at a time,,,,
and tapped it a few times with a hammer they would flatten easily.......
Then drill a hole in them and you have a set of interchangeable weights........

Teddy

 

[chadrog]

Fender washers. They come in many common sizes with a 1/4" hole, and you'll find that they come in varying thicknesses. They live in bulk bins at my local HS, so I always take a little time to dig out the thicker ones.

 

[dixontj93060]

Nada.

Sorry, I guess it depends on what each particular seller calls it. Here is an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/12-lbs-Scr...629?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item258121101d. It was found using the search term "lead ingot" which brings up 6 pages of all shapes and sizes.

 

[RodRocket]

The pine car derby cars have a small tungsten clay weight available. But I think it was quite pricey!

The larger suppliers of fishing gear will have a huge assortment of sinkers in all weights. Bass Pro, Cabelas, Gander Mountain

 

[dixontj93060]

Sorry, I guess it depends on what each particular seller calls it. Here is an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/12-lbs-Scr...629?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item258121101d. It was found using the search term "lead ingot" which brings up 6 pages of all shapes and sizes.

Or this may be more what you are looking for: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2oz-lead-C...285?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33840f77ad. This seller has a variety of smaller lead disks used as sinkers. You can easily snip off the brass eyelet and drill a hole through them and call them "fat washers."

 

[GregGleason]

One of the most efficient materials for weight is tungsten. Lead has a density of 11.34 g/cm3, whereas tungsten has a density of 19.25 g/cm3 (~70% more mass per volume). The downside is that it tends to be pricey.

Greg

 

[Peartree]

I tend to use buckshot. It's probably steel and not lead, but it comes in a range of sizes and I keep it in empty/repurposed prescription bottles in my range box. Ten buck worth has lasted me years of model rockets. I just weigh out what I need, mix up a bit of epoxy, mix 'em together a bit, pour them in, tamp them down and call it done.

A word of warning though, if you use very much at all and the recovery doesn't work, that thing becomes a seriously heavy tipped lawn dart. People and automobiles do NOT want to be under that.

The advantage to this method is that the weight can be any shape you want and conforms to the nosecone or whatever space is available.

 

[fyrwrxz]

Brian-duhh! we used to use an alloy called 'cerrobend' a low temp alloy, in our tooling dept. I'd forgotten I'd made an eccentric weight for a shaker table for my fireworks lab years ago until I just saw it. Easy to work with and I just looked on e-bay-they have a bunch of different ingot sizes. I try not to mail lead these days.....