Shopsmith Forums

So I want to make a paper weight.
Thinking that..... i have to turn it. Drill a hole..enlarge the hole. Melt fishing weights with blow touch..pour melted lead in hole. Turn and glue a cap.

That about it?

Farley

I'll be watching to see what happens when you do that.

Hmmmm, molten lead and a wooden vessel.

I would use lead shot and fill the voids with some casting resin
Bill V

using resin and lead is a good idea, safer, easier.
Just trying to get as much weight in the space as possible.

Why not use thin walled copper tubing to be your vessel and when cooled "slip" it into the wood ....

Fill it with gold dust!

Seriously something not hot would be better than molten lead(mercury ).

Lead shot is likely the cost effective approach.

The molten lead will char the wood slightly, but unless you have a large hole it will cool fast enough to not be a problem. Think of a tobacco pipe.
The problem is melting the lead. Lead fumes are very dangerous. Make sure you have plenty of fresh air.

Rather than deal with all the issues involving molten lead, heat and vapors, just get some lead shot (the smallest diameter you can get) and mix it with epoxy and put it in the paperweight. A lot safer and will probably be more than heavy enough.
Paul

OK
Here is what I did with the paperweight

Instead of dealing with a cap and all, I just turned a recess to accept a glued in Turkish coin that was laying around.

I got the smallest lead sinkers, 120 total, as I put them in I added some inlace that I had that I didn't like the color. It was thinner than resin so I thought it would seep better. worked out well. thanks for the comments.

The little "ring" cup on the left is something I was playing with when I wanted to do an offset item using 2 of the 4 jaws of a chuck.

Glad you got it done safely.
And, I love that offset turning.