Shot coolant?

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lpel

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New to making my own shot. Borrowed a Littleton shot maker from buddy who bought it used. He has not even used it yet. I have lots of melted wheel weights in ingots from years of collecting. I have been research what to use for coolant to drip the shot in to.

I am not really wanting to use anything that is potentially flammable. Long story here. So I am considering two options. One is water and the other is Fabric Softener. I have PMd a couple guys over on Cast Boolits and am waiting to hear back from them on any info/advice/experience. Have looked at other sites as well, but all are a bit short on detail and I would like more information before I proceed.

So I thought I would post here as well. Anyone have any words of wisdom they want to share. Thanks for your time.
 
I just use water. Might not make the greatest shot but no clean up just dry it and u are good to go.
I've heard that brake fluid works good. But I have not tried it.
 
My buddy used to make his own shot - he doesn't anymore due to limited lead and time. But essentially he got frustrated with using various types of oil due to cleaning needs. He basically built himself a water tank out of a plastic barrel and attached his own hose mechanism near the bottom, sealed it, and hooked up to his garden hose and cut a hole near the top with a drainage tube for overflowing water. Allows cold water to enter the bottom and force the warmer water up (convection) and out the overflow. He had the hose on a light setting so water loss is moderate, although i wouldn't have a clue if it was environmentally safe to discharge the excess water into his grass :)
 
Would soapy water work? That way the surface tension of the water should mess with the shape of the shot to much. Or just build a shot tower :)
 
I used a cheap liquid fabric softener for my setup. It made nice round shot, smelled good, and washed off easily with water. Good stuff to word with. Gord
 
GR can you please provide more detail? How much did you use? How big was the container? Any other experience/ info you can provide would be great.

This is the kind of info I am looking for. Thanks again.
 
Ipel I have made thousands of pounds of shot using all different types of coolant the softener does work well but you need to watch how hot it gets, and you never want to use cold liquid it will make the shot popcorn. You need to use slightly warmer the room temperature coolant to produce the best results. My suggest to you is to get a 50 cal ammo can fill it with the softener and start from there making sure the level of the liquid is 1/8" away from the end of the litteton machine.
 
Sounds good. Roughly how big is the 50 cal container. I think I have one tucked away in the garage. What did you use to catch the spill off?

I think I am getting brave enough with with info to give things a try. Sorry for all the questions.
 
Just go with water to start. If your not happy try something different
I just use a coffee can with a slow trickle running while I'm dripping.
It's cheap and easier then cleaning anything off after. You just have to be
careful mixing molten lead and water can be violent. So don't accidentally spill
a large amount of water in your dropper pot or vice versa.
 
Try water soluble oil used as coolant in machining operations. You can buy it at most lubricant suppliers. To keep it from separating when mixing remember O-I-L (oil in last). Comes in 5 gallon pails so you will have lots to keep the coolant from warming up too quickly.
 
ted_dent said:
Try water soluble oil used as coolant in machining operations. You can buy it at most lubricant suppliers. To keep it from separating when mixing remember O-I-L (oil in last). Comes in 5 gallon pails so you will have lots to keep the coolant from warming up too quickly.
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This coolant is suggested in many places. Cooling is its purpose. We found it to be quite expensive, so when starting out and not knowing how the whole shot making process was going to turn out, we looked for a cheaper option.
 
Littleton recommends Sierra antifreeze (it's less toxic than regular antifreeze) and it works great. Adding water to antifreeze will make the shot not round and rough like a golf ball. The liquid you decide to use is about the consistency, it needs to be thick like antifreeze or fabric softener or water soluble oil. My buddy and I have made thousands of pounds of shot with Sierra antifreeze in a mortar ammo can that holds about 8 gallons of Sierra, that way we can make around 300 pounds at a time before the coolant gets too hot. I have never tried water but I'm sure it wont work, molten lead dropping into water will tend to splatter and make blobs of lead. If you want blobs of lead you can use any liquid you want, if you want lead shot that is round and all the same size use Sierra antifreeze.
 
6.5x55iswonderful said:
Littleton recommends Sierra antifreeze (it's less toxic than regular antifreeze) and it works great. Adding water to antifreeze will make the shot not round and rough like a golf ball. The liquid you decide to use is about the consistency, it needs to be thick like antifreeze or fabric softener or water soluble oil. My buddy and I have made thousands of pounds of shot with Sierra antifreeze in a mortar ammo can that holds about 8 gallons of Sierra, that way we can make around 300 pounds at a time before the coolant gets too hot. I have never tried water but I'm sure it wont work, molten lead dropping into water will tend to splatter and make blobs of lead. If you want blobs of lead you can use any liquid you want, if you want lead shot that is round and all the same size use Sierra antifreeze.
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Maybe you should try water before you are so sure!
 
Tried straight water today. Both warm and cool water. Got nothing but popcorn.

So I guess I will try fabric softener next. Wish I knew how deep I need to drop in to. Ie how many inches? I don't want to buy 5 gallons just to try it out.
 
lpel said:
Tried straight water today. Both warm and cool water. Got nothing but popcorn.

So I guess I will try fabric softener next. Wish I knew how deep I need to drop in to. Ie how many inches? I don't want to buy 5 gallons just to try it out.
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I think that the distance from the liquid is more important than the depth of the liquid. As I understand it the closer you can get to the liquid surface the better to obtain round shot. The greater the depth of the liquid the longer it will take to overheat, which is good but not as critical to shot roundness.
 
ted_dent said:
I think that the distance from the liquid is more important than the depth of the liquid. As I understand it the closer you can get to the liquid surface the better to obtain round shot. The greater the depth of the liquid the longer it will take to overheat, which is good but not as critical to shot roundness.
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I agree with Ted. 1/8 to 1/4 inch max drop to the coolant is the key.
 
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