# Clay Ammo



## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

So I was watching a video on youtube about making clay ammo for slingshots, and that got me to wondering if there was a quicker way to mold them into perfect spheres. So I whipped up this little clay ball mold tonight out of some clear acrylic thinking that what I could do was pinch off two bits of clay, put them in the lower half of the mold, then using the alignment pins line up the to parts and press them together in my little benchtop arbor press. The idea being that it would form to nice spheres and squeeze out the excess. However I'm not sure how well they will release from the little mold, and I'm not sure the best way to lubricate the mold, possibly cooking spray.

Chris


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

That's a good idea, but if you're pinching, one or both sides should be close to the edge so it can push the clay out.


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## BaneofSmallGame (Sep 22, 2010)

Make a slingshot out of that stuff!!!

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/4577-first-perspex-frame/page__p__46740__hl__acrylic__fromsearch__1#entry46740

It looks great but you cannot stop there!









Cheers - John


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

ZDP-189 said:


> That's a good idea, but if you're pinching, one or both sides should be close to the edge so it can push the clay out.


I don't think it's going to work out very well to be honest. I mean I won't really know until I do a realistic test with it, but I tried it with some modeling clay (granted it's much stickier) and it didn't work very well.

Chris


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

BaneofSmallGame said:


> Make a slingshot out of that stuff!!!
> 
> http://slingshotforu...h__1#entry46740
> 
> ...


I could, but would 1/2" thick be strong enough? I also have a ton of 1/2" thick corian since I make chromatic harmonica combs from it, but not sure it would be strong enough either http://builderofstuff.com/270combs.html#Corian_270_Comb

Chris


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

I'll tell you what I might do though is order up some 1/2" thick aluminum plate and use the same process to machine a lead mold, that way I could pour my own lead balls of different diameters. Of course I'm always leery about messing with lead because of it's toxicity. It's only $10.18 for a 1/2" thick 2" wide 1 foot long piece of aluminum plate.

Chris


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

builderofstuff said:


> That's a good idea, but if you're pinching, one or both sides should be close to the edge so it can push the clay out.


I don't think it's going to work out very well to be honest. I mean I won't really know until I do a realistic test with it, but I tried it with some modeling clay (granted it's much stickier) and it didn't work very well.

Chris
[/quote]

If you cut back outside from the edge, it should be OK. Look at the way all Playdoh moulds are made. http://www.google.com/images?q=playdoh+mould


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

builderofstuff said:


> I'll tell you what I might do though is order up some 1/2" thick aluminum plate and use the same process to machine a lead mold, that way I could pour my own lead balls of different diameters. Of course I'm always leery about messing with lead because of it's toxicity. It's only $10.18 for a 1/2" thick 2" wide 1 foot long piece of aluminum plate.
> 
> Chris


Yes, lead would be great, as long as you read up on how to avoid the risks of toxicity and burning. I presume you're an adult, if not get some supervision.


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

[/quote]

Yes, lead would be great, as long as you read up on how to avoid the risks of toxicity and burning. I presume you're an adult, if not get some supervision.
[/quote]

Yep, 39 to be exact, but I should still probably have adult supervision. hahaha

Chris


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

Picked up some air drying clay at Hobby Lobby the other day and tonight I made up some clay balls. I started by weighing out just simple lumps of clay each around 5 or 6 grams. Then after I had a bunch I just rolled them up by hand, the mold thing just didn't work. Anyway after getting the formed into really nice spheres I put them in my little toaster oven in the shop and baked them for a while to speed up the drying process. They are rock hard and fly pretty quick. As for how durable they are I can say if shot against something like a concrete wall they don't ricochet they disintegrate into dust, I also hit a piece of 22 guage sheet steel with one (angled so that if it did ricochet it wouldn't come my way) and again it disintegrated, but not before leaving a nice little dent. Not sure if they would be useful for hunting or anything like that, but for plinking and target practice they work great. The 10 pound box of clay was $7.50, which should make an awful lot of clay ammo.

Chris


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

quick calculation 10 pounds should make about 907 clay balls at 5 grams each.

Chris


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I love the idea of clay ... i just wish there were a faster way ..


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

Off topic---
The harmonica site is very cool! I had no idea what went into making those.


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

RecurveMaster said:


> I love the idea of clay ... i just wish there were a faster way ..


I had been giving that some thought as well and some of the ideas that came up where, make a simple extruder from PVC pipe that would extrude the clay in a set diameter, once you weighed pieces of different lengths to find out the length per grams you could make up a cutting guide to quickly cut up the extruded "rod" of clay into specific lengths. What I was thinking after that would be to use something like what is called a star roller in the fireworks community. The trick would be to use something like the star roller but keeping the clay balls from sticking to one another. I'm not sure if dusting with something like talc would work or not.

Chris


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

aamj50 said:


> Off topic---
> The harmonica site is very cool! I had no idea what went into making those.


Thanks, they can definitely be a lot of work depending on how you are setting them up. When I work on the reeds I do most all of the work using a stereo microscope at 60x magnification.

Chris


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

aamj50 said:


> Off topic---
> The harmonica site is very cool! I had no idea what went into making those.


My dog loves the sound of a Harmonica, he sings when he hears it but my big dog is deaf so she no longer enjoys the pleasent sound my Seydel produces.


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## SickPythons (Jan 4, 2011)

I have been shooting clay all winter. It is tedious rolling them but the payout it awesome. I've got a big ol' bag full of them and I don't have to worry about clean up or cost. The biggest problems are that they don't really weigh a ton and they aren't consistent. 
I also like to use the clay as an excuse when I'm missing by a 1/2 inch every shot.


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

I like the non-ricochet aspect of them when I'm shooting in my basement. LOL If they hit the concrete wall they just turn into a dust cloud. I've had pretty good luck with mine so far, and they really didn't take to long to make. Even though I got air hardening clay from Hobby Lobby I still used my shop toaster oven to dry them out really good.

Chris


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## wilbanba (Dec 31, 2009)

http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-Ceramic-Weights-11-Ounce/dp/B0000CFMSN

http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Andersons-Ceramic-Pie-Weights/dp/B00004S1BT

why not just buy them?
maybe you could make them heavier by soaking in cooking oil or water.


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

those are $6 per pound, making them from the clay I have would be over 900 of them from the 10 pound box and it was only $7


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