On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 03:19:03 +0000, DoN. Nichols wrote:
On 2013-03-07, Bill Dobbins ... wrote:
I have a couple of hundred lbs of lead in sheet and block form that I
would like to turn into shot. I'm looking for either a cheap
commercially available device that will do this or something easy I
could make myself that can do it. I have come across a few commercial
devices, but so far price is too prohibitive (I was hoping to find
something in the $50-100 range).

Ever hear of a shot tower?
The molten lead is poured into a container with a bunch of holes
in the bottom.

The lead pours out in a shower of small particles.

They fall some distance (perhaps 20-40 feet -- I don't know for
sure.

In the Sparks Shot Tower in South Philadelphia, the fall is (or
was) around 140 feet. The following webpage includes detailed
plans: http://www.workshopoftheworld.com/south_phila/sparks.html
(click on pictures about 2/3 thru the page). Plans are dated 1880;
tower was built in 1808. I went inside it once on a trip to Philly,
but the stairs up were closed off.

In the fall -- they drop and assume a spherical shape.

Then they fall into a pool of water at the bottom which cools
them quickly and locks in the spherical shape.

I'm not sure how consistent the size is, nor how close to round
they are -- but it might be a cheap way to do this, if you have a high
balcony to work from.
....
--
jiw