A buddy and I made V weights tonight in my garage - our first attempt, and a fun project for a snowy December evening. He had a form made by a metal worker friend of his, based on a sample V weight. The form includes an optional aluminum block that can slide to any spot to make custom lengths (we used a C clamp to hold the block in place).
The set-up included a long sturdy work table with plywood on top to protect it. We had sets of work gloves, eye shields, breathing masks, a propane torch, extra propane, stirring spoon, straining spoon, work towel, a fan to blow the fumes out the garage door, a fire extinguisher, plywood on the floor for protection, Pam cooking spray sprayed inside the form to prevent sticking, a slag bucket for disposing the slag and miscellaneous junk metal pieces, a BBQ for melting the lead, a bucket of tire lead from the local tire shop, a bucket of cold water and a cast iron pan for melting the lead in. We also had extra lighting for good seeing and a heat lamp pointed at us because it was 24 degrees outside.
We melted the lead, poured it into the Pam-sprayed form with the torch waved over the lead while pouring. After a minute for cooling, we dropped the form into the bucket of cold water. The lead fell right out of the form. After adding more lead into the pan between pours (don't want to melt too much lead at once or the pan is too heavy to safely handle), and while waiting for the lead to melt, we dried the inside of the form with the torch. Molten lead must not touch any water!
(Note: The red on the above picture is reflection from the heat lamp, not the color of the hot lead.)
From set-up to clean-up we spent 4 hours making the fifteen V Weights for ourselves and three other divers. Weights weighed from 2 pounds to 10 pounds. Total cost including lead and form was about $100.00.
We still have the finish work to do, but that's for another night.
Only one injury: I dropped one of the weights on my toe. Ouch!!
The set-up included a long sturdy work table with plywood on top to protect it. We had sets of work gloves, eye shields, breathing masks, a propane torch, extra propane, stirring spoon, straining spoon, work towel, a fan to blow the fumes out the garage door, a fire extinguisher, plywood on the floor for protection, Pam cooking spray sprayed inside the form to prevent sticking, a slag bucket for disposing the slag and miscellaneous junk metal pieces, a BBQ for melting the lead, a bucket of tire lead from the local tire shop, a bucket of cold water and a cast iron pan for melting the lead in. We also had extra lighting for good seeing and a heat lamp pointed at us because it was 24 degrees outside.
We melted the lead, poured it into the Pam-sprayed form with the torch waved over the lead while pouring. After a minute for cooling, we dropped the form into the bucket of cold water. The lead fell right out of the form. After adding more lead into the pan between pours (don't want to melt too much lead at once or the pan is too heavy to safely handle), and while waiting for the lead to melt, we dried the inside of the form with the torch. Molten lead must not touch any water!
(Note: The red on the above picture is reflection from the heat lamp, not the color of the hot lead.)
From set-up to clean-up we spent 4 hours making the fifteen V Weights for ourselves and three other divers. Weights weighed from 2 pounds to 10 pounds. Total cost including lead and form was about $100.00.
We still have the finish work to do, but that's for another night.
Only one injury: I dropped one of the weights on my toe. Ouch!!
