2.5" Concrete Balls
I have always wanted to shoot concrete balls or cans of
concrete, but never really got a chance. There was a discussion on the
spudtech forums, which lead to
this information. It was really strange, because the same day that DR
(from the forums) posted this how-to, A friend showed me about the light bulbs.
What a very strange coincidence!
As you may know, regular light bulbs fit nearly perfectly in a
2.5" sch40 barrel (Tennis Ball Barrel). This method uses that to it's
advantage, providing a cheap mold for making cement slugs. Think about how
many burnt out light bulbs you throw away per year! You could even have
your neighbors or friends save them for you!
It is a good idea to wear protective gloves while doing
this, or at least wrap the light bulb in a towel (light bulbs are glass and
broken glass can cut).
This info was provided by DR from the spudtech forums:
A
friend at work today showed me something VERY interesting. I won't share with
you WHY he knows how to do this, but will share HOW to do it... (WEAR SAFETY
GLASSES AS A PRECAUTION!!!)
The base of the bulb is wrapped tightly with electrical tape. The metal disc is
bent up on each side, and pulled out of the insulation
The
insulating resin is scraped out with the end of a pocketknife.
The
inside edge of the metal base is folded over with a pair of needle nose pliers.
Inside
you will see a long "nipple" of glass. pry it sideways with your
pocketknife (or a small screwdriver. If it doesn't break clean off, don't worry!
just work it back and forth carefully with the needle nose pliers, and pull out
all wires (filament) and glass chunks.
If
you take ordinary table salt (a few tablespoons ) and shake it around in the light bulb, it will remove all of the white powder from the inside of the bulb.
You'll now have a clear bulb with a hole in the end for filling!
Currently
in the garage
"setting up".
As
the cement cures, water will puddle at the top. I dabbed at the excess with a
paper towel, and thought: "Geez, this will suck if I had to do this every
ten minutes!- then it instantly dawned on me to
stick a piece of the paper towel in as a wick.
Capillary action should remove all of the excess water! (And hopefully won't
allow the cement to set up to quickly, which will make it weaker, and more prone
to cracks.)
Only time will tell...
Thanks DR for the great how-to!
A few notes on how I did it: Instead of prying the metal up, I whacked it
with the heavy end of a butter knife... the insulating resin part will crumble
out.
Remember, you are not limited to cement! You could use plaster, sand, Bondo or any number of fillers. I used some Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty
to fill a bulb, and it worked perfectly. Here are a few pics of some ammo
I have made:
