How to Make Round Balls from Lead?

What is the application for the balls? How round do they need to be? What is your stock material shape?

Plus or minus 5 thousands of an inch is good. Feed stock could be wire or ?

Have you tried contacting an ammunition manufacturer (as in lead shot)?

We own the littleton shotmaker. We are looking for a different technology. We want a progressive cavity or similar type device. We are looking for something that operates like the machines that make rough ball bearings.

Drop melted drops through chilled air. That's how they make bb's, buckshot and all that kind of stuff.

Has to be a pretty good drop if your making cannon balls, though.

This is not the technology we are looking for.

Well if you're not interested in a Shot Tower - used to make bird shot - look up ball bearings in the dictionary. A tumbling process can be used to make ball bearings. Or call Small Parts in Miami and buy them.

Still not a good technology. I am seeking the equipment that would be used to make the rough steel ball bearings. Looking in a dicionary does not assist me. I do not wish to purchase the balls, I wish to manufacture them. Sizes would go up to .75 inches, but most would be much smaller.

How about something as simple as cutting wire into sections, then using a die set with hemispherical halves to form the balls? Lead is notoriously soft, and should form easily in a die set. Dies of a decent grade of tool steel should last a long time, but you may need to lubricate the stock as it may tend to stick in the dies. Don't forget the extractor pins to remove the balls from the dies. 8^)

Too slow of a technology. We have been looking for a progressive cavity unit that may accept lead wire or? I once saw a picture of a machine that uses steel wire to make steel ball bearings in a progressive cavity unit. The ball bearings were then put into a different unit to mak them roune to within 1,000,000 th of an inch. I only need to within 5 thousand's of an inch.

Have you tried centrifical casting?

Spray dry or cool in your case.

Is it a Kinefac machine you are looking for?

website states 4000 per minute (1/8" dia)

http://www.kinefac.com/Thrufeed_cutoff.htm

your opening one big can of enviormental worms working with lead. Molds are the fastest form of production with lead any cutting will cause heat and change the shape unless you want to cool it , expensive.