Heaviest Material?

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panamag8or

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So, this is actually about a set of darts that I want to try, but the question goes for pens, too, for people that like beefy pens.
The biggest PITA I see in making darts is getting enough weight, so I thought I would use the heaviest material, and not have to stuff so much lead down the tube, or stuff the same amount, and have heavier darts.

So, what is the heaviest, tru-stone?
 
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crabcreekind

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Trustone I would not recommend for darts because it is brittle and would shatter if someone missed the board. Lignum vitae is a heavy wood. ebonite might be anther, since it just hard rubber..I have never held it, but i am going to assume it is somewhat dense.
 

plantman

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:rolleyes::rolleyes: One of the hardest and heaviest woods I have used is Japanese Live Oak. It is used by "Japanese Masters" to make their hand planes and other handeled tools. It is strait grained and very dence. Compaired to standard Oak it is at least twice as heavy. The story is that the wood is cut and stored for 100 years before it is used, so the original cutter never gets to use it and passes it on to the next genaration. Only a "Master" was allowed to use this wood. I am lucky enough to own a "Masters" plane in my collection along with several other types of Japanese planes. These all work of the pull stroke and offer much better controll of the cut. Jim S
 
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panamag8or

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I've thought about the M3 blanks, but don't know how much they weigh. If I turn from brass, they are just like every other dart out there... I really want something interesting, that an alternative can give, with coloring and whatnot. I don't want to use wood, most darters will consider that cheap (and light).

Once I decide on a material, I will make a couple of "house dart" sets for my local pub, and put another set in their case, to either direct them to me, or to the house sets, to try them out.
 

Andrew_K99

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Trustone I would not recommend for darts because it is brittle and would shatter if someone missed the board. Lignum vitae is a heavy wood. ebonite might be anther, since it just hard rubber..I have never held it, but i am going to assume it is somewhat dense.
FWIW ebonite is quite light, lighter than acrylic IMO.

AK
 

PTsideshow

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Pewter, low melting temp. Easy to cast you can cast it a aluminum foil mold, make pen blank molds out out wood strip and line with the aluminum foil, cast some pen blank sized pieces. Melt it in a steel can with a plumbing torch. It is easy to turn, you can slice it and make disc and layer with copper or brass washers, or stack with wood and the metals along with the Faux ivory or real ivory or antler on the upper end and then attach the flights( I think that's what they are called).
With a hole in the center you can even solder the disks to brass tube with a little practice as the pewter solder temp is just under the melting temp of the pewter 450°F solder for pewter anywhere about 375°F to 400°F.
That way they wont break if they hit the floor and every thing was just glued with out the tube, you can cut a slug of bronze gas rod for added weight!
:clown:
 

darrin1200

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What weight of dart are you looking for. These are a set of Pau Ferro darts I made. They weigh in at a balanced 21 grams each and I didn't use all the fill material.

1_Darts__640x480_.jpg
 

Sylvanite

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A dart enthusiast looks at two things in a dart barrel, weight and diameter. Weight is somewhat a matter of preference (different people like differenet weights). The smaller the barrel diameter, the tighter the groups can be. High-end dart barrels are typically made of tungsten, which is denser than lead. Tungsten barrels yield slimmer darts.

The dart kits I'm familiar with use 7mm barrels, and the fittings are slimline diameter. They come with some lead wool, but often not enough to achieve the desired weight. Sometimes, it can be difficult to compact it sufficiently. I have, at times, slipped a lead bullet into the tube along with the lead wool.

The barrel material weight is a small portion of the total, so pretty much anything works. Go for something durable, as the darts will scratch each other when thrown.

Oddly enough, every dart player I've seen has reversed the barrel (swapped the tip and flights) from the kit orientation. If you balance the barrel off center, you might want to check which way the user wants the darts assembled before weighting them.

If anybody needs more lead wool, let me know. I have pounds of lead shavings left over from drilling bullets.

I hope that helps,
Eric
 
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If you're looking for wood, you might look into hickory. I've used it for non-pen stuff and it's got some pretty good heft plus it's (relatively) inexpensive and domestic
 

panamag8or

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Oddly enough, every dart player I've seen has reversed the barrel (swapped the tip and flights) from the kit orientation. If you balance the barrel off center, you might want to check which way the user wants the darts assembled before weighting them.

I hope that helps,
Eric

I'd read that in another thread, and someone posted pics. They kinda look sharp, with the barrel reversed.
 

Jim Smith

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If you want to stick with wood, then the world's most dense wood is black ironwood (Olea laurifolia), also called South African ironwood. Found in the West Indies, it has a specific gravity of 1.49 and weighs up to 93 pounds (42.18 kilograms) per foot. Lignum Vitae is fairly close with a specific gravity of around 1.37.

Jim Smith
 

plantman

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I was looking for some info on Japanese Live Oak, and came up with this.

Interestingly enough, from what it says, Lignum Vitea Argentine, (or the actual Lignum Vitea) just might suit your purpose.

Wood for Weaponry | Toda-ha Buk?-ry? Naginatajutsu

ETA:
It doesn't get much heavier than those two. 82, and 81 lbs/cubic foot.

Very interesting web site. Thank you for sharing. Japanese Live Oak is a little different than Live Oak found in the USA. I believe it grows under much harsher conditions making it much denser. I have never seen this wood for sale on the open market. Jim S
 

dankc908

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rebar might work but I wouldn't want to try it with MY lathe tools! :eek:

Can I try it with your lathe tools?:biggrin:

I might be able to get around the weight issue by using tungsten powder instead of lead. That way, I can tell the darters "the tungsten is inside".

LOL panamag8or! Actually, I'd use Ipe (Brazilian Ironwood) since I do have a lot of it. I have, yet, to turn Lignum Vitae but I do have a piece I'm going to use for a bottle stopper. Anxious to turn it.

Dan
 

ghostrider

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I was looking for some info on Japanese Live Oak, and came up with this.

Interestingly enough, from what it says, Lignum Vitea Argentine, (or the actual Lignum Vitea) just might suit your purpose.

Wood for Weaponry | Toda-ha Buk?-ry? Naginatajutsu

ETA:
It doesn't get much heavier than those two. 82, and 81 lbs/cubic foot.

Very interesting web site. Thank you for sharing. Japanese Live Oak is a little different than Live Oak found in the USA. I believe it grows under much harsher conditions making it much denser. I have never seen this wood for sale on the open market. Jim S
Yeah, I didn't find anything on the Japanese Live Oak, and didn't spend much time looking for it after posting. I probably should have mentioned it in my post. Just thought the cite might be helpful or at least interesting.
 
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