28.4 grams to an ounce, mate. (454 g /16 oz.)
Ians idea looks real good to me.Long bulbs will work well in this class I belive so this makes a ideal solution.
So happens I have some old IOM masts laying around.Perhaps I will make a bulb this way to try it.
Don’t forget Fishing weights! they’re perfect. Just shape, drill holes, screw to fin. Voila! Solid lead bulb.
Three cheers!
Do you think the boyancy of the graphite will do any good? For something like ballast, I’d think you’d want only things that will definitely sink in the water; to ballast the boat, and yet have minimal surface area or frontal area.
You’re welcome to use the graphite tube, of course…
I was just at my local hobby shop and there are the plastic nose cones for model rockets there, how about filling two of them up with lead shot and epoxy then epoxy together? Just another idea.
You mean two put back-to-back?
Yes back to back, they have them with sharp ends as well as more rounded ends, so you could put the more rounded end at the front with the sharp one at the back. Like I said just another idea.
fishing weights?
I made the keel weight for my footy today and it really was a no brainer. Here is what I did. I started with four two ounce egg sinkers. Lined them up on piece of wire and measured them, end to end they measured four inches and they were about .75 in diameter at the center. So, I drew the shape I wanted in my CAD program, printed it out and glued it to a piece of plywood .625 thick. Cut it out with my sabre saw and clamped a thin piece to one side. Melted the sinkers on the stove in a can. (Got that familiar phrase “What’s Burning?). Once the lead melted, I poured into the mold (I did this outside). Pulled the back off the mold and banged and it fell out in the snow and cooled it off. I used my Makita 4” grinder to shape it, but a file actually worked better. I cut the slot on my Sherline mill, but I think I would rather just insert a piece of U shaped brass in the mold after I pour it. Start to finish I don’t think this took me more than an hour and a half.
Bob
It’s about as simple as the sculpy clay idea. I’ve done that myself, making thin rectangular plates 1 and 2 lbs. I lined the ‘mold’ with aluminum foil, and poured it on a cutting block, to protect the nice workbench underneath.
Since it’s a hobby, and I do it for fun, as I get time, I’ll probably whittle a wood plug and make a mold from plaster.