Ball bag...wet molded

[Macon Due]

Hi all
I'm wanting to make me a ball bag and have it wet molded. My question is....do I soak the bag and then pack it full of 'wet' sand or soak it and pack it full of 'dry' sand or...? Either way.......after it is packed full do I just let it dry on it's own, dry it in the oven, heat gun??? Next question......how hard is it to get all the sand out? Final question [sure...] after it is completely done should it have beeswax melted into it and then heated?
Thanks.........Macon

 

[rabjr]

I just soak the bag and then pack rice into it and let it set aside to dry before removing the rice. I'm sure if you want it faster you could use an oven to help speed drying, I just never did it that way.

 

[LRB]

IF, your oven control is trustworthy, you can bake it at around 130° to 140° until dry and hard. To get the sand out, dig out what you can, then put some small screws, nuts, ect. in it, and shake, rattle, and roll it for a while. Geez, that sounds like a good title for a song. :grin: You could wax it if you want using a hair drier to melt it in.

 

[BrownBear]

Same as Swampy, and my only complaint is that some of the rice tends to stick to the inside. Not an issue but you'll be shaking out rice grains for a while after. I've used lead shot the last few times and I think I like it better.

Coupla three or four fine points-

You don't have to soak the leather a long time. Up to 4-5 ounce is wet enough after about 5 minutes in the water, so long as you get it inside too.

Use a pencil or something to force the rice/shot down inside, kinda like a plunger, then add more and plunge again till you have it the size you want.

I wipe mine off real good once the shot is inside, then wrap them in paper towels for a couple of hours. Take off the towels and let the bag dry overnight, then dump the rice/shot and stand it upside down to finish drying.

I know guys who get all wrapped up sealing them inside and out, but I've found they keep their shape just fine with only the outside coated, whether a beeswax concoction or regular leather finish.

 

[Macon Due]

Swampy/Wick/Brown Bear.....
Thanks for the info,I believe I needed thinner leather.....I used 9oz. I soaked it for an hour in warm water and used sand,I poured it in, packed with a small stick, poured, packed ect. till I could get no more in.Then I put a larger dowel in the neck to keep it the size I want. It has expanded quite a bit but not as much as I hoped, guess I 'did' need 4-5oz. leather. Oh well.......always another day.
Macon

 

[Deadeye]

Dump out the sand and wet it again. Take that large dowel and a hammer and pound it in til it expands to the way you want it. Put the plug you intend to use in it to let it dry.Let it dry naturally. Coat the outside with olive oil when it's dry, it'll soak it up and darken the leather a little. After you dump out the sand, put a small lead ball or two in and shake it til it breaks all the sand loose.
Deadeye

 

[BrownBear]

...guess I 'did' need 4-5oz. leather. Oh well....

I agree that 9 will take longer to soak, but follow Deadeye's lead on that because I haven't tried it so heavy. I will say that I keep mine pretty small, fist-sized and smaller, and I've come to prefer 2 1/2-3 oz to the 4-5 oz.

One thing I will say, with just a few balls in one, they're a lot quieter rolling around with the 4-5 than the thinner. You might be onto something good with the 9 oz if you can make it work for you, so keep up posted. And give it a good shake with some balls in it to see if it's noisy. I need an excuse to try some 9 oz leather! :grin:

 

[Macon Due]

HaHa........will do Sir!
Macon

 

[shortbow]

I've used heavy leather in the past and it worked fine.

After it's dry if you follow the advice about using beeswax and heat you'll get a nice hard leather. I've made powder flasks that way. There's actually a thread or two around here someplace about "boiled" leather which talks about hardening this way.

 

[Macon Due]

Ok everyone, it's finished. Brown Bear...I put a few balls in it and shook it ,it makes a little noise...mainly I think though from the balls hitting the wooden stopper? Here are a couple of pix.
Macon

 

[paulvallandigham]

Getting the sand or rice out after the bag is formed and dried is not that big a problem. I have used Lead balls- but given a choice, I would save some of the wrinkled balls that were going back into the pot to be recast for this work. If you cast balls, then use the cut off sprues- irregular in shape- to knock loose the sand or rice. And, as suggested, some different sized nuts throw in and swirled around the inside of the bag will do the trick quickly for you, too.

Use neatsfoot oil to recondition the leather and soften it( from the outside) after you have formed the pouch.

 

[Macon Due]

Paul
Getting the sand out was no problem. I did use some old nuts to rattle around in the bag to dislodge and remaining grains of sand,I also put Neatsfoot oil on the outside. I like the way it turned out.It's 9oz. leather and sewn with hemp.Seam waxed/greased with my Deer tallow/beeswax/olive oil mix.
Macon

 

[rabjr]

Did a good job and it came out nice but I think you will find the thinner leather will make it even better. :thumbsup:

 

[Macon Due]

swampy
I think you are right. I'd like to try one with about 4-5oz. leather.
Macon

 

[shortbow]

You did a real nice job on that. :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

Brown Bear...I put a few balls in it and shook it ,it makes a little noise...mainly I think though from the balls hitting the wooden stopper?

I think thicker leather is the right track. I can tell you that a few loose balls in a 2-3 oz leather flask sound like ball bearings in a hub cap. I'm guessing you might be right about the stopper. I'm using corks, and at least that part is quiet in my flasks! :surrender:

 

[chance]

Great looking bag!!!

 

[Macon Due]

Thanks guys, it holds about 32 -35 balls in cal. .36.I think the neck area should be a little more 'gentle' lead in to the actual bag as the balls tend to jam up just a bit and sometimes I need to shake the bag a bit to get em to come out. Next time I'll make it that way. Otherwise it seems great.
Macon

 

[BrownBear]

...as the balls tend to jam up just a bit and sometimes I need to shake the bag a bit to get em to come out.

Here's a skyoose to make more: I find the jams vary with the ball size relative to the neck. Try larger balls in that one, probably 45 or maybe even 50 if they'll fit one at a time. If it works, then the road is clear for making another for your 36! :grin: I'm betting a little smaller neck will solve your problem for 36 with no other change in the "slope."

 

[Macon Due]

I'll try .45's and .50's in it Sir.
Thanks.......Macon :thumbsup: