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Leadshot - where do you get it?

post #1 of 12
1/4/04 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
I'm going to buy some speakers stands, but before I do I'd like to figure out where I can buy some leadshot to fill 'em up with.

Would BB's work? It would take a butt load of them, but BB's aren't that expensive, are they?

Thanks.
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post #2 of 12
1/4/04 at 10:35pm
Check around at local gun shops (not chains like WalMart, KMart, Galyans). More than likely if they do have it, it will be Lawrence brand chilled lead shot. It comes in 25 pound bags. But, keep in mind, a 25 lb bag of lead shot is about the size of a bag of baby carrots you would get at the grocery store. The price will be anywhere from $15 to $25 per bag depending on how much they mark it up. You may also find that many stores only have a bag or two in stock. It took me 7 bags to fill my stands. I cleaned out 3 stores.

Also, lead is a carcinogen. Handle it safely. Avoid breathing any dust and wash your hands after handling it. My speaker stands seal air tight, so its presence in the room is not a hazard. If your stands do not seal well, I would consider a safer alternative (sand, kitty litter, BB's).
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post #3 of 12
1/5/04 at 4:50am
Go with sand. MUCH cheaper. If you were worried about it seaping out of the stand, you could always get some largish sandwich bags, fill those with the sand and seal them then place the bags in the stands. Plus you don't run the risk of getting poisoned.
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post #4 of 12
1/5/04 at 10:50am
Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think you can actually buy leadshot anymore. Since it's a carcinogen and bad for the environment, most if not all states have mandated the use of non-lead birdshot. The birdshot you can buy at gun stores should be lead free. I agree with Topher though, sand is much cheaper and easier to handle. To handle the seapage issue, I cut some gaskets out of inner tubes to use at the top and bottom of the tubes on my speaker stands. I've never had an issue with the sand leaking out.
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post #5 of 12
1/5/04 at 2:51pm
Try here:

http://www.gamaliel.com/reloading/shot/index.htm#top
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post #6 of 12
1/5/04 at 5:38pm
Sand is a better/cheaper solution. Something like $4 for a 50 lb bag.

Note: In California, playground sand has a big warning label: "This substance has been known to cause cancer".

This is because Silicon - when melted, does produce a cancer-causing gas.

However, you dont usually find playground sand hot enough to melt. As long as you keep your room temperature below 1410 C you should be safe.
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post #7 of 12
1/5/04 at 9:08pm
Ron, while that is a good price, I'm pretty sure the price of shipping something as heavy as lead shot would drive the price back on par with what Shane would find locally.

Bob, technically I believe the more likely danger with sand is breathing in the (silica) dust. Causes a disease called Silicosis.

Sand is definitely cheaper, but may not be the better solution depending on the goal. If you are just trying to dampen the hollow cavity that is the speaker stand, then sand/kitty litter will be fine.

On the other hand, if you are looking to add serious mass to the stands, you can't beat the heavy metals. It took less than one bag of sand to fill all 3 of my stands (say 30 lbs total?). With lead, I've got 50 lbs of mass in each main speaker stand and 75 lbs of lead in the center. They went from being top heavy and wobbly to rock steady and anchored to the floor.
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post #8 of 12
1/6/04 at 7:35am
I went thru this exact same dilemma when I was building my speaker stands. I even posted a thread here in "Tweaking" with a similar title!

Steel shot is way expensive and not worth the expense and trouble of finding/shipping it.

I went to Home Depot and bought a 50lb back of Play Sand for $3. It even says "50 Pounds of Fun!" on the bag.

The bag says "sand is screened, washed and rinsed." It looked clean and bug-free to me. I filled my stands with it. The PVC pipes in my stands are 3" diameter and 21" long. I used about 1/4th of the bag...or less than $1 worth of "quality washed sand". Hahahaha! I crack me up.

Anyway, use sand. When I knock on the stands it's like knocking on a brick wall. They be dead. (sic).

Hope this helps.
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post #9 of 12
1/6/04 at 7:35am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I'm looking to add serious mass to these things. But I certainly don't want to get poisoned. Did enough of that in high school.

I looked into BB's at Walmart. They sell a 6000 count box for $10. I'm not really sure how many BB's I'll need, though.

These are the stands:


They're 24". I'm guesstimating it'll take 10 of those 6000 count BB cartons do fill them up. What do y'all think?
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post #10 of 12
1/6/04 at 7:49am
6K BBs isn't as much as it sounds. I'm guessing the box of 6K BBs is about the size of a BOX of stick matches, right?

You'll probably need 10 boxes PER STAND to fill, or 20 boxes. $200. It's entirely up to you and your wallet.

There's really no sonic difference b/t sand/steel shot/concrete. Dead is dead.

$200 worth of BBs VS. $3 bag of sand. Hmmmmmmm.

"Psssst!" ------>sand
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post #11 of 12
1/6/04 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, $3 bag of sand sounds good to me.
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post #12 of 12
2/17/09 at 5:44pm

Re: Leadshot - where do you get it?

Don't discount the BBs yet. I didn't want the mess of sand, the risk of lead, or the psychological issue of putting kitty litter in my HT (!), so I bought 6 cartons of Daisy BBs (steel shot) with 4000 per carton for $4.97 each. Total cost about $30. It took exactly 3 to fill each stand (24 inches each). Clean, easy, nontoxic, and a lot heavier than you would think!
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