6 ms·

Casting Silver Bullets (2013)

57 points by tjalfi 5y ago

a5withtrrs 5y ago
Is there a reason these couldn't be turned more accurately on a lathe? Never seen anyone do lathe work to make bullets, but it seems like it'd be fairly well suited, especially since silver isn't as soft as lead.
1MachineElf 5y ago
I'm sure this information will be useful as I've just purchased Bloodborne for the PS4 and shall be firing many silver bullets.
mikewarot 5y ago
I think it would be easier to cast a cylinder bigger than the required round, and machine it down to size. This would remove the surface imperfections, and let you make any arbitrary outer diameter. Keep all the chips for the next casting run.
cryptonector 5y ago
> If the silver had actually filled the mold it would have been a perfect pour. So call it a hollow-point and deem it a success.
cambo 5y ago
This was the hobby project of Patricia Briggs' Husband Michael, who sadly passed a few years ago.
convolvatron 5y ago
she should have talked a jeweler. for this size its most convenient to cast in a centrifuge. that a-voids the issue.
- nanomonkey 5y ago
  As a former goldsmith by trade, I agree. We mostly use vacuum casters or centrifugal casters and vestment casting. I've often wondered if there were a market for silver bullets on say Etsy. Minus the gun powder and primer of course.
  - throwaway81523 5y ago
    Yeah I was surprised by the article. I had thought silver bullets were fairly common, at least as novelty items for shooters, rather than for actual werewolf hunting. I guess not, though: the ones I see now all seem to be replicas unsuitable for actual shooting. I also don't understand the casting headaches: I've seen some videos of Alec Steele making gold rings by lost wax casting and not having such trouble. Is the difference that he was willing to do a lot of hand finishing of the cast rings? Here is one of Alec Steele's videos showing him making a ring. It's a very romantic vid for the right kind of nerd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2ZCoiOe3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2ZCoiOe3k
    - cryptonector 5y ago
      https://www.google.com/search?&q=buy+silver+bullets https://www.google.com/search?&q=buy+silver+bullets https://www.google.com/search?q=buy+gold+bullets https://www.google.com/search?q=buy+gold+bullets Evidently there are people who know how to make them. And they look pretty good, too.
      - throwaway81523 5y ago
        Yeah I tried some searches like that, and couldn't find any silver bullets that were actually be made to be fired from a gun. What I saw was many chunks of silver shaped to look like cartridges, nice for display or as conversational novelties, but not usable as projectiles. I didn't look at every single search hit, so if you have a link to any silver bullet being sold as usable in ammo, I'd certainly look at it.
        cryptonector 5y ago
qorrect 5y ago
> However, prior to the industrial revolution, there was insufficient sulfur in the atmosphere to tarnish silver.
- blamazon 5y ago
  Note, this is a contested idea: https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/236275/a-tarnished-history/ https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/236275/a-tarnished-h...

57 points by tjalfi 5y ago

Is there a reason these couldn't be turned more accurately on a lathe? Never seen anyone do lathe work to make bullets, but it seems like it'd be fairly well suited, especially since silver isn't as soft as lead.

1MachineElf 5y ago

I'm sure this information will be useful as I've just purchased Bloodborne for the PS4 and shall be firing many silver bullets.

mikewarot 5y ago

I think it would be easier to cast a cylinder bigger than the required round, and machine it down to size. This would remove the surface imperfections, and let you make any arbitrary outer diameter. Keep all the chips for the next casting run.

cryptonector 5y ago

> If the silver had actually filled the mold it would have been a perfect pour. So call it a hollow-point and deem it a success.

cambo 5y ago

This was the hobby project of Patricia Briggs' Husband Michael, who sadly passed a few years ago.

convolvatron 5y ago

she should have talked a jeweler. for this size its most convenient to cast in a centrifuge. that a-voids the issue.

nanomonkey 5y ago
As a former goldsmith by trade, I agree. We mostly use vacuum casters or centrifugal casters and vestment casting. I've often wondered if there were a market for silver bullets on say Etsy. Minus the gun powder and primer of course.
- throwaway81523 5y ago
  Yeah I was surprised by the article. I had thought silver bullets were fairly common, at least as novelty items for shooters, rather than for actual werewolf hunting. I guess not, though: the ones I see now all seem to be replicas unsuitable for actual shooting. I also don't understand the casting headaches: I've seen some videos of Alec Steele making gold rings by lost wax casting and not having such trouble. Is the difference that he was willing to do a lot of hand finishing of the cast rings? Here is one of Alec Steele's videos showing him making a ring. It's a very romantic vid for the right kind of nerd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2ZCoiOe3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2ZCoiOe3k
  - cryptonector 5y ago
    https://www.google.com/search?&q=buy+silver+bullets https://www.google.com/search?&q=buy+silver+bullets https://www.google.com/search?q=buy+gold+bullets https://www.google.com/search?q=buy+gold+bullets Evidently there are people who know how to make them. And they look pretty good, too.
    - throwaway81523 5y ago
      Yeah I tried some searches like that, and couldn't find any silver bullets that were actually be made to be fired from a gun. What I saw was many chunks of silver shaped to look like cartridges, nice for display or as conversational novelties, but not usable as projectiles. I didn't look at every single search hit, so if you have a link to any silver bullet being sold as usable in ammo, I'd certainly look at it.
      - cryptonector 5y ago

qorrect 5y ago

> However, prior to the industrial revolution, there was insufficient sulfur in the atmosphere to tarnish silver.

blamazon 5y ago
Note, this is a contested idea: https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/236275/a-tarnished-history/ https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/236275/a-tarnished-h...