Tip Weights

[Crist Rigotti]

What is everybody using for tip weights?  My stash of 1/4 ounce weights are running real low.
Thanks.

[Brett Buck]

What is everybody using for tip weights?  My stash of 1/4 ounce weights are running real low.
Thanks.

   Lead is lead, I went on eBay a while back and got about 10 lb worth of self-adhesive wheel balance weights and cut them with diagonal cutters - because 1/4 ounce is way too coarse an adjustment.

      Brett

[Reptoid]

Simple: Get some lead shot at reloading shop or a friend who reloads shotshells. Size doesn't matter but somewhere between # 12 and # 6 is good (I like number 8 or 9). You can put it in a small zip lock or wrap in the corner of a plastic bag then stuff it in weight box. Infinitely adjustable at the field if needed, just put a small baggie or pill bottle full in your flight box.

[Crist Rigotti]

I ordered some of these.  They appear to be the same size as to what I'm using.  All I have o drill is the hole.
Thanks guys.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHPCTJNY?ref_=pe_125775000_1044873430_fed_asin_title&th=1

[Dan McEntee]

  If there is a hobby shop near you, or anyplace that has a full line of Pinewood Derby Card stuff, there is usually some sort of tungsten weights, and even 1 ounce of tungsten putty that is available. you can't drill it but if your tip weight box is lacking some room, you can add a more course amount weight in a smaller piece and fine tune it with the putty/If you go to Home Depot or any of the big box hardware and building material store, do to the aisle with the roofing supplies and buy the cheapest lead sleeve for a sewer vent stack that they have. it's made of sheet lead about 1/16" to 3/32" thick and very easy to cut to any size you want. You might check any houses in your area getting a new shingled roof installed and see if they changed out that sleeve or not and ask for the old one. I cut it into long strips, they weigh it and mark it. if test flying and trimming a model, you can lay this on the wing tip and hold in place with tape until you test fly again and decided if you need more or less. there are also all sorts of golf club weights made and some are like an adhesive tape for weight down club heads. I saw some stuff on eBay once, that was round, about 1/4" in diameter, and came in a coil. it was for some kind of garden use. The sewer vent sleeve material seem to be the most adaptable for  what we use lead weight for.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Jim Svitko]

I have a supply of bullets for reloading so I can flatten them out and cut them up.  I noticed that when some hobby shops were still in business, the weights they had were no longer the stick-on lead.  Instead, they looked to be zinc.  Maybe some other metal as well but certainly not lead.  I guess these were considered safer, no more lead exposure.  I also saw these at Hobby Lobby.

I heard of some guys cutting pieces of solder for tip weight.

[Dave_Trible]

Walmart has lead fishing sinkers in every size from pea weights to one ounce.    You can beat them with a hammer into any shape you want.    Extremely cheap.

Dave

[doug coursey]

I have a supply of bullets for reloading so I can flatten them out and cut them up.  I noticed that when some hobby shops were still in business, the weights they had were no longer the stick-on lead.  Instead, they looked to be zinc.  Maybe some other metal as well but certainly not lead.  I guess these were considered safer, no more lead exposure.  I also saw these at Hobby Lobby.

I heard of some guys cutting pieces of solder for tip weight.

Wheel weights are no longer made of lead they are a different type of metal now...you can still use them for tip weight....i bought some tip weights from brodak and they dont look like lead

[Ken Culbertson]

These are about as heavy as this URL is long!  They fold into very nice four-sided squares to line a tip weight box.  I usually add enough permanent weight to gently drop the outboard wing outside of the box. 1/2oz or so.

https://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Sinkers-Weights-Accessories-Supplies/dp/B09WDX7HQG/ref=sr_1_5?crid=16NQW2VGSLQXX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._JZFs3FUwzoPdPwvTvICAhMCoMTKLTHoulMw0LVkmcXkZDBb7Cy0NF2CXSdbEmrWUJyEWdZK3UFZRqSByvL62_X87j-CP8KkArIPW31buDOV29FNCPNeuaPfb0IaCAUxCRbRF2r2bFP6ZI3CyKAmDNa9aggcBjAWsr3tYlPRXKBZ5T5XDE0KpZTPm-BNrnQlp49-7FKD0QN2fySqBxeflReGIdoMKdSHErraaEmzuoaBee0VXvJApr380S4VcOsyuLKhzHZK3TZOXaHUaEe2DJJqzQV34msRYeaBUi3YWRVormAJ1g3U4bbTSxaa7Z302ISQyGx4Z6bfBynM7FmXwJ7XBXCQAHrL8hJuFX3SgjYaBGW0hJmWU-593z6xv5QLJ3y-MQ1trtHBtOC4T8tRDcSyGRY0fubAmoAradY3JR6ZwurcueNxmb82dTXlhLJN.E-sFBl9HyHvoeIZYNOASFy6GKzuUaj0aA6yxTjHNx-s&dib_tag=se&keywords=lead%2Bstrips&qid=1739631041&sprefix=lead%2Bstrips%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-5&th=1

Ken

[Rick Campbell]

My friend, a passionate devotee of E power, likes to say he LOVES Fox 35s . . . he cuts 'em up to use for tip weight. I'm pretty sure he actually uses modeling clay, but his clever, amusing and somewhat flippant response is pretty funny.

[Paul Smith]

In the absence of Testors and Ambroid glue tubes, the next least expensive tip weight is US pennies. 

I have bought or been given old planes with bullets and bird shot as tip weight, but lead and ammunition have also become a controlled substances.  I have save all the old ammo tip weights to sell back to shooters when the time comes.

[Dan McEntee]

These are about as heavy as this URL is long!  They fold into very nice four-sided squares to line a tip weight box.  I usually add enough permanent weight to gently drop the outboard wing outside of the box. 1/2oz or so.

Ken

     That is about what the golf club weight tape looks like. Some automotive wheel weights are steel, I think, as I tested some with a magnet and some older ones are lead. Some are what they call 'white metal" which is a zinc alloy of some kind I think, and some of the weights for pinewood derby cars are also. If you break a piece cleanly and look at the break it will look like it's white. The tungsten weights are the most dense I think, and is usually some sort of scrap in various little bits ranging from small cubes to flat, round dots. It can best be used I think for adding the bulk of the tip weight if you need it and then fine tune with the balance using modeling clay or lead shot.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[Paul Van Dort]

What is everybody using for tip weights?  My stash of 1/4 ounce weights are running real low.
Thanks.

I use washers in the tipweigth box. To avoid rattling I mount them with some silicone tube. For more precise adjustment I use smaller versions.
https://www.amazon.de/Topnorm-24-High-Quality-Stainless-Rustproof/dp/B0CKF4WXNK/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=101S0TL8HA4DP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UnlPiaRRQ-RC20OuoKVvC-yu5eWgRmW28A4gVE0xTKoPdNFMwGobfFZLtlkMSR_cb1jOGO6bbch5CBR_WS-JiE9-RqutpXhQHETaiaVH5RIhAE-9H0-z_PvL_R44WqoTPDLZcv1h3JEP_q-T16KL2n28op-qYR7Jjx0pYxmeOI4ZoHyg8rv5g2aViS9XTsyj0RdSDnKDfZTbuD-RMiK-_v8PMsqguTY8JG7pWoShnw41WGlZfR8lefQYQDpACPqzdzHsX_7rUBPe3vnFA_otddowKa7Q2WLE5usWKfddeIc.IlpTp8jHbv-yv17CY1Tn6uCEe_VYBty_cxHWUfzmp9Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=washers%2Bm4%2B20mm&qid=1739739637&s=industrial&sprefix=washers%2Bm4%2B20mm%2Cindustrial%2C100&sr=1-3-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

[Steve Helmick]

Lead wire (3/16" > 1/4" diameter, I think) is commonly available in fishing tackle shops around here, I think for salmon, steelhead, or bottom fish. I don't fish for any of those.   

They tie a piece of surgical tubing to their line and shove an appropriate length of the lead wire in it, letting most of the lead dangle. The idea is that if the lead wire gets snagged up, it'll pull out and the rest of the rig will not break off.

I have used it for tipweight, in an aluminum tube built into the wingtip with a socket head set screw or pipe plug to cap it off. I'd suggest having the tube oriented chordwise with the plug facing the LE. If you want to make it pretty, you could make a balsa/plywood or plastic cover held on with tape or a screw.  Steve

[Dave_Trible]

I use lead weights for general setup weighting- usually a little under.    I then use coins,   dimes, nickles,   for fine tuning.     You make the airplane a little more valuable that way...I built a couple airplanes where that was the ONLY weights in the tip.   I made coin slots in the tip and taped over the slots where there was a coin in.   Most always had pocket change to make adjustments.


Dave

[M Spencer]

Wheel Balane Weights .

The stick on flat ones, tho the shiny ones arnt lead .If you must have new ones .
But bludgeing the scrap from a tyre shos balancer , and throwing them in a tin can , then on the stove .
If you pour it into a damp container , youll get lead in the eye , and elsewhere .

Some Thing FLAT  . Custom , one can bend up a bit of alumn. scap . as a mould .
Oven Tray ish thing from a op - shop . But you gotta scraper the slag off . Or
get rid of it , in the pot before pouring , preferably . Lead melts easy , the std weights
you drag the steel claw out after its melting . normally theyre glad to get rid of it .







Drill a hole for the tip weight box lid bolt , Ive put a fuel tube spacer on it to stop the rattle , and save weight . 

[Howard Rush]

The Jive Combat Team uses gold.

[Steve Helmick]

Us'n po' folk use tungsten, even though it's very slightly less dense than gold. 19.24g vs. 19.32g/cc. Hardly worth spending the extra money for gold. Save the $ for the gold leaf bling (AMA Numbers?) on your next ImpAct. Steve 

[Tom Luciano]

Next time I do a project in one of the older cities in NJ I'm sure I'll run into a Lead water line. I'll cut up pieces and keep in my car. I'll let you know when I get it. Believe it, or not, some of these cities still use lead water pipes from 100+ years ago. I usually come across 2" lead water pipe. I'll give you a one-foot piece that will last a lifetime.  Jersey City library built in 1928, I found a 2" line in service and gave them a quote to replace it with copper. A hard NO, we're good!

Tom

[Paul Smith]

If lead pipes killed people we would all be dead.
Except, of course, when a murder in the Club game uses it as a weapon.  Even then, the killer would have a better chance of finding another blunt object or a semi-automatic hand gun.

[Lauri Malila]

Maybe doesn't kill all but it certainly affects IQ. Romans used so much lead in so many ways with such effect in Europe. L

[Paul Smith]

Maybe doesn't kill all but it certainly affects IQ. Romans used so much lead in so many ways with such effect in Europe. L

The Roman Empire didn't seem too retarded to me.

As a GM engineer who spent five years in Flint, it seemed like a lot of people did one Hell of a lot good work with lead pipe water.

[Lauri Malila]

The Roman Empire didn't seem too retarded to me.

As a GM engineer who spent five years in Flint, it seemed like a lot of people did one Hell of a lot good work with lead pipe water.

Difficult to compare, but 2,5 to 3 points.

[Ken Culbertson]

As a GM engineer who spent five years in Flint, it seemed like a lot of people did one Hell of a lot good work with lead pipe water.

My uncle retired from GM and owned a small convenience store in Flint.  He died from lead poisoning.

Ken

Sorry, I forgot to add that it was from a bullet when his store was robbed the day before he was to retire.

[Tom Luciano]

Amazing an argument can start over an anecdotal story about tip weight, Jeesh!  Anyway, drink all you want out of lead pipes I, however wear gloves when handling the stuff.

Tom

[Dave Rigotti]

Sheesh! All the OP guy wanted to know is where to get tip weights! He didn't even mention lead!

[BYU]

The Jive Combat Team uses gold.

The Buttafuoco Stunt team uses Platinum

[Motorman]

I've never seen a pipe made out of lead. I've seen sewer pipes with lead joints. I always thought what they call lead pipes were made from mild steel and usually galvanized. Is it leaded steel? Is there a lead coating inside? Trying to understand.

MM

[Dave Hull]

Lead pipe is...lead pipe. You can read the US Commercial Standard CS95-41. It is more than 99% pure lead. So if they are tearing it out somewhere, and you don't mind knocking the scale off of it, it would be exactly as heavy as....lead. That turn-of-the-century apartment that just fell down in Boston might have had lead pipe in it, for example. And some construction might have copper repipe, but the old lead might be abandoned inside.

If you want lead that has less creep and stays bolted down better, you want some antimony alloyed into it. Much more rigid.

[Dan McEntee]

I've never seen a pipe made out of lead. I've seen sewer pipes with lead joints. I always thought what they call lead pipes were made from mild steel and usually galvanized. Is it leaded steel? Is there a lead coating inside? Trying to understand.

MM

     I have removed lead drain lines from old construction in the buildings I have worked at, and naturally kept it!! It's easier to form it to get it to fit from urinals, toilets and such to a main drain line which has always been cast iron. here in my area, especially in old construction going back 100 years or more, it was used to run from a water supply main to the dwelling. Sometimes it is  galvanized coming from the main, and then stops short and may be lead to make the final connection for the same reason they used it in drains, easier to make it match to make the hook up. When we redid the kitchen sink and cabinets in my Mom's last house, it had lead drains connecting the sink drain to the big vertical cast iron stack that all the drains ran to. ( I kept those also!) There is a big push in the St. Louis area to at least locate and identify as much original installation lead supply lines and drains as they can and as far as I can remember these may include houses and other structures built up into the early 60's. A lot of industrial supply water lines may be in lead pipe so it handles vibration better. Back when there wasn't hardly any oversight on this stuff, it could be used almost anywhere.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Steve Thompson]

Plenty of room in a wing, so high density shouldn't be a big concern.  Wouldn't most any metal work fine?  Is lead typically used as it is easy to cut and form?

Considering we use Dope paint that is full of nasty chemicals, CA glue, Ambroid, Methanol, etc., tiny amounts of Lead seems like a small risk.

I understood that lead water supply pipe forms a coating inside that prevents lead from leaching out.  Flint MI had a problem because the water treatment plant made changes that removed that formed coating.  Is that not the case?

I talked to an old (80s) newspaper printer who had lead poisoning problems from a career of casting lead type for presses.  His son worked with him and also had big lead problems.  Fumes, handling and ingestion.  It accumulates and is very difficult to remove from body.  A lot less exposure in the modern day.  When casting lead bullets, best to use negative ventilation and not breathe fumes or eat when handling.  Many risks in life.  At least we are informed on most of them now.