Make Your Own Ammo

How do you turn molten metal into perfect spheres? Just pour it off the roof

By Theodore Gray Posted 09.04.2008 at 12:39 pm 6 Comments

This method isn’t used to make ammo anymore, but a modern variation lives on to create the pellets that provide light-emitting sodium in common sodium-vapor streetlamps. In place of the sieve, a vibrating nozzle causes a stream of sodium-mercury alloy to break into uniform drops. Just for fun, I built what Watts never thought of: a vibrating molten-lead nozzle. It gave me much more consistent shot (though I could still use those extra stories).

H2Whoa! Don’t try this at home without employing proper lab-safety procedures and equipment. For more of Theodore Gray’s scientific pursuits, go to periodictable.com.

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6 Comments

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andrewl

09/05/08 at 8:40 am

How is it not obvious to you that what readers will want most after reading your article is photos of the final product?

How spherical are they? How uniform are they?

What a letdown!

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DiGMEH

from Montreal, Quebec

09/05/08 at 2:07 pm

Hah, nevermind the final product.. What worries me is people actually trying it out. Get on a tall building and try it. But then you have another idea: what do you do with the already made "ammo"... A use needs to be found...
Trouble ahead :P
- DiGGY

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Schlomoe99

09/06/08 at 12:21 pm

Incidentally, this is the technique used to make Dippin' Dots, the expensive ice cream that comes in tiny, frozen pea-sized spheres. When making it they allow the ice cream to freefall as tiny liquid droplets through a super-cooled (probably -30^F) air chamber. They freeze on the way down and reach the bottom almost perfectly round.

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jsnbr80

09/18/08 at 10:52 am

What's obvious is that andrewl did not read the article. He could get high enough for the shot to cool properly, thus when it hit the water it deformed.

As for a use, sling shot ammo.

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mit_geek

10/02/08 at 2:29 pm

what is suggested is what is possible only in space.when it comes to earth,the results are unpredictable as dealt with various metals,at varying lab conditions.well it's not a mass production at all as described.none is a fool to invest huge on "virtual space creation"to form perfect metal spheres.also i feel that's impossible also.so far,latest casting techniques have produced the most perfect spheres in mass production.i find the technique a triffle needless in terms of money and feasibility.

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romaniamac1

10/21/09 at 4:30 am

wow, that is briliant

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