shot making

[Spot1540553049]

Hello to all,
4 bore has a good thread started with home made shot. I have visited the shot tower on the New River. It has a very interesting history. It was still in use up until the end of WW II. Another piece of information is that the US still had a shot tower that produced shot all the way through the Southeast Asian conflict into the time that I visited the tower in the 80's. The tour guide stated that the size of shot was determined by the size of the screen used. The lager the screen the longer the cooling rate and therefore the larger shot such as grape and cannister required mor heighth, The molten lead was not poured straight through the screen but cast across it which allowed it to drip through. One reason for the elevation was also to allow the lead forge or foundry to breath like in a bloomery for refining metals and generating more heat without the use of a forced draft (bellows). The vent to the fire being below the actual level of the fire and the longer the vent the hotter it burns thereby making the process less labor intensive.
as usual,
Spot

 

[robinghewitt]

Easier to draw than explain :grin:

But would it work? :thumbsup:

 

[aloyalistdawg]

:bow:
Wow does this work guys, have you done it?
Enquiring minds want to know...
my best regards just a loyalist Dawg

 

[robinghewitt]

:bow:
Wow does this work guys, have you done it?
Enquiring minds want to know...
my best regards just a loyalist Dawg

It's been done using a tank of oil with the flames pointing down onto the surface.

Obviously you have to get the top of the oil hotter than molten lead while the bottom stays relatively cool. I just added a vertical pipe to simplify the heating.

It could be much simpler, how about a big pipe tilted over with a small vertical pipe welded on near the bottom :thumbsup:

 

[benvenuto]

I'd go simpler still....this is how a jeweller makes silver shot - should work with lead too

1) buy a nice smooth charcoal block
2) dimple the surface with 1-3 mm depressions using a punch or round jewellers burr
3) cut square pieces of lead sheet and put a piece over each dimple
4) heat with blowtorch
5)if you judged the size of your dimples right, surface tension will make spheres for you