Slinging.org Forum - Clay Glandes, are they worth it?

Curious Aardvark

Forum Moderation

Offline

Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male

Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it?
Reply #15 - Apr 6^th, 2021 at 5:24pm

many years ago I made this:

https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1206889228/0

It worked =- I just didn't make very good cement.

Not poly fibre jargoor. Shredded newspaoer - it's not for strength but to help make the cement more malleable. The pva mixes with the sand and paper and makes the whole thing more durable and less brittle.

That stuff would have been great with the pill roller.

It was pretty easy to make.

It's still around somewhere.

Back to top

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One - works for me

IP Logged

Archaic Arms

Funditor

Offline

Testing and inventing
"Archaic" weapons.

Posts: 729

Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it?
Reply #16 - Apr 6^th, 2021 at 8:04pm

Morphy wrote on Apr 6^th, 2021 at 12:51pm:

Make several hundred. Set them outside to dry and in a few days fire

Be very careful to not get any air bubbles in them, and heat them slowly until up to temperature (putting them in the oven just before firing is a good idea). I have blown up many a clay glande in a fire pit...
I've been thinking of soaking fired glandes in molted beeswax to make them stronger and increase weight, but epoxy might be better.

Back to top

Regards,
Lewis

IP Logged

Morphy

Slinging.org Moderator

Offline

Checkmate

Posts: 8102

Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it?
Reply #17 - Apr 7^th, 2021 at 8:48am

Archaic Arms wrote on Apr 6^th, 2021 at 8:04pm:

Morphy wrote on Apr 6^th, 2021 at 12:51pm:

Make several hundred. Set them outside to dry and in a few days fire

Be very careful to not get any air bubbles in them, and heat them slowly until up to temperature (putting them in the oven just before firing is a good idea). I have blown up many a clay glande in a fire pit...
I've been thinking of soaking fired glandes in molted beeswax to make them stronger and increase weight, but epoxy might be better.

Yes, thanks for that. I keep reading thats the big thing to watch out for. I am thinking let them air dry, then slowly heat them up in an oven over a few hours, then move to inside the fire pit though not in the coals and finally in the coals. Im not really sure if all thats necessary but time will tell.

Part of it depends on how crazy I get with the fire pit itself. It’s big enough that I might just end up making a large enclosed kiln in there. Well...large for me. Which is small for anyone else’s uses. Not much use for batches of large clay pots, but plenty big for a 100-200 clay glandes.

Back to top

IP Logged

Duckhands

Descens

Offline

Making Some Sick New Slings!

Posts: 236
Idaho
Gender: male

Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it?
Reply #18 - Apr 8^th, 2021 at 12:22am

Morphy wrote on Apr 4^th, 2021 at 10:47am:

So I have a very large fire pit in my backyard. Being something of a weirdo, the first thing I said when seeing it was “Now I can make lots and lots of clay projectiles!” My question is this.... Is it even worth it?

My very little experience with clay is that it’s not nearly as dense as I would like. I know there is always the trick of soaking baked clay glandes in water but not sure if I want to do that.

I’ve also considered diluting something like epoxy in a solvent then soaking the clay in it. Theoretically it should seep into the pores and add more mass. Who really knows though? Perhaps many small dunks in extremely diluted solution as opposed to one long one would be best.

I would like biodegradable ammo that will not destroy someones lawn mower when running over it also. Also here in Texas we are long on clay and short on stones. So that’s an issue as well. What say you guys?

So I guess it all comes down to is it worth the trouble? If it’s super light I’m not interested. But is there some clay that is denser than others? Are there some clays that shrink when fired, thereby upping the density? All questions I’m hoping you all can answer.

I was thinking add a few fishing weights, then an epoxy coating to help avoid exploding. Idk much about clay either, other than it is way light density to me too.

Back to top

Hands dirty from throwing dead ducks I eat my lunch and earn my title.

IP Logged

Morphy

Slinging.org Moderator

Offline

Checkmate

Posts: 8102

Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it?
Reply #19 - Apr 8^th, 2021 at 4:26am

Ive considered making a mix of epoxy, perhaps like a JB weld, with steel bbs. Saves on epoxy and makes a decent weight ammo. Also would be tough as nails.

As for clay...After some additional research I think one of the problems i had with the low density of mine is too much porosity due to a too low temperature for true vitrification.

So now im thinking have my little homemade kiln with wood coals but have a side door that can be opened and at the right time put a propane torch in there to increase the temp to the correct level. All I need is to get it hot enough to vitrify. Most of the heating time can come from cheap wood/coal.

Anyways obviously im excited by the idea here. Cheesy

Back to top

IP Logged

czechslinger1.0 Descens Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 193 Gender:	Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it? Reply #20 - Apr 8^th, 2021 at 5:11am Just made a patch of glandes out of clay I harvested from a corn field. It is little denser than my normal clay thanks to fertilizers (some of it made by local cattle) and other stuff mixed in. They also smell like poopy, when you get them wet. Stinky glandes, aim for the nose!
Back to top	IP Logged

hubert

Senior Member

Offline

Posts: 312
Oschersleben
Gender: male

Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it?
Reply #21 - Apr 8^th, 2021 at 11:02am

I would like to use more stones, but there aren't any around here. That's why I use clay, a brick clay that burns very hard and also has a good density. The secret is my safety net, which saves a lot of time and money on the projectiles. As a goal I use a 1 square meter calf skin naturally light and in the middle the Diana made of black cowhide leather. My losses are therefore limited.

Back to top

IP Logged

Jaegoor Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 2811 Gender:	Re: Clay Glandes, are they worth it? Reply #22 - Apr 8^th, 2021 at 11:47am Yes. It makes sense. Glandes are made quickly with clay. I can do it under a minute each.
Back to top	Bono Mellius IP Logged