For this video I’m going to show you how to convert a few fistfuls of empty bullet
casings, into a decorative set of multi-purpose paperweights. Using a bit of styrofoam, a
little ingenuity, and a whole lot of fire power.
To start this project, you might want to check the legalities of making these “artfully
disguised” paperweights, where you are.
Brass Knuckles are banned in quite a few places. And if that’s the case where you live, then
don’t make your knuckles, out of brass.
Alright, let’s kick things off, with few handfuls of bullet shells.
I salvaged these brass casings from a local shooting range, so there aren’t any bullets
in them, and you can tell the primer’s been fired as well, which is important.
Now let’s fire up the “Mini Metal Foundry” I showed you how to make in a previous project,
and toss the empty shells inside, to get them warming up.
Now a lot of people have asked whether this improvised backyard foundry can actually get
hot enough to melt brass, and the answer, is yeah, it’ll melt brass no problem.
In-fact you can melt copper, silver, and even gold without any trouble at all. And the best
part is, you can do it on propane.
Propane burns clean, costs less, and melts metal way faster than charcoal does. But you
do need a specially designed jet-torch, to balance the fuel-to-air ratios, and make it work properly.
This is the design I came up with, and I’ll show you how to make this “Gas Blaster”
torch, in another project video.
Now it’s only been about 8 minutes, but peeking inside the foundry, you can see that
amazingly, the brass casings have already melted down, and liquified completely.
That’s really impressive, considering the melting point of brass is around 1,700ºF,
and the foundry was cold, when we started less than 10 minutes ago.
The liquid metal is bubbling because brass is a mixture of copper and zinc. And at these
temperatures, the zinc is starting to boil, and vaporize right out of the mix.
We don’t really want that to happen, but luckily, there’s an easy way to stop it.
I went to the dollar store and picked up a bottle of cockroach killer, which you can
see is actually just 100% boric acid.
If we sprinkle a generous amount of the white powder into the soup of molten metal, we can
sit back, and watch it do the dirty work for us.
Boric acid helps clean the metals by absorbing impurities, and helping prevent new oxide
layers from forming on the surface.
And if you put it in before you fire up the foundry, it’ll melt your metal even faster,
and help keep the zinc from boiling off as well.
Ok the crucible’s full and everything’s completely liquified, but before we pour the
metal, it’s a good idea to scrape any gunk off the top, and clean it up a bit.
I typically use a pair of old steel tongs, for skimming the slag, but you can use anything
you want as long as it’s made of steel, and you don’t ever plan on using it, for anything else.
I went ahead and poured these liquified bullet shells, into a beat up old muffin tray, then
knocked the ingots out and let them cool, into a stack, of mini brass biscuits.
Now to transform these heavy metal muffins, into fistfuls of defensive jewelry, we’ll
need a styrofoam cutting template, like this one I made in photoshop.
If you want a copy, just check the description, and download it for free.
Glue the paper template to two layers of dollar store foam-board, then carefully, cut it all out.
A cool trick to cutting the finger holes, is to simply heat one of the leftover casings
and push it straight into the foam.
With just a touch, you’ll see it melts perfect circles, all by itself.
An even better way to slice foam, is with a hot-wire foam cutter. Like this one, I made
from cheap and commonly available materials.
This “Styro-Slicer” uses electricity to quickly and accurately trace the edges of
paper templates, without cutting the paper itself.
That means you can use styrofoam to make just about anything you can think of, so watch
for how to build the “Styro-Slicer” in another project video.
Ok now that we’ve got our foam knuckles carved out, the next step is to glue two styrofoam
risers to either side of the base, and bury it in a bucket of sand.
I filled a small trash bin half full of common play sand, then gently nestled the foam knuckles,
down into the loose layer on the top.
From here, all we need to do is add a bit more sand, to fill the bucket the rest of
the way, then give it a little shake, so the sand levels itself out, exposing the foam risers at the top.
Now we’re going to need a way to funnel the streams of molten metal into the foam
risers, so try packing a little wet sand on top, then shaping it into little craters, a couple inches deep.
Do one for each side, and with that finished, it’s time to transform our styrofoam investment, into solid brass.
Remelt the brass, then carefully pour the glowing hot liquid into one of the craters,
where you can see, the extreme heat vaporizes the foam in an instant.
This allows liquid metal to flow down and fill all the empty spaces. And if you quickly,
and carefully pour the other side as well, you’ll have a much better chance of success, on the first try.
The metal only needs around 5-10 minutes to cool down, so feel free to pull it out and
take a look. Just be careful not to touch it, because it’s still extremely hot.
I cooled mine in a bucket of water, then chopped the risers off with a hacksaw, and just like
that, we’ve got ourselves a crude, but very cool looking, brass casting.
Now just for fun, I wondered how this thing would look cleaned up a bit, so I clamped
it in my bench vice and worked it over a few times with metal files, and some fine grained
sand paper … And BAM, there it is.
Just like that we’ve got ourselves a smooth and shiny brass paw, which for some reason
feels really comfortable, and strangely empowering.
This piece of defensive jewelry has a really nice weight to it, and because it was designed
to fit my hand, it really does feel amazing.
But it’s important to note these aren’t intended to be used as weapons.
Instead, I like to think of them more as multi-functional paperweights, buffed to a mirror finish, and
designed to occupy my workspace, as “dangerously elegant decor”.
Now just to push the boundaries a little further, I stopped by an alternative clothing store,
and picked up a spike studded choker collar. So I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.
Let’s unscrew six of the aluminum spikes, and screw them into the brass workpiece instead,
just to make the whole thing, look absolutely mental.
The six holes were drilled using a 5/32” bit, then tapped with a #10-32 thread so I
could secure each of the metal spikes tightly to the brass.
It’s beautiful, it’s dangerous, and it’s incredibly durable. And to go one step further,
I went ahead and made another one, the exact same way.
Well now you know how to transform a few handfuls of scrap bullet casings into a custom pair
of fancy, and dangerously decorative, solid brass paperweights.
They are a lot of work to make, but the feeling of creation and accomplishment, is all worth it.
By the way if you’re up for another challenge, try making my “Mini Master Sword”.
I cast this “Golden Sword” from styrofoam as well, and you can find the template for
how to make it, it in another project video.
Well that’s it for now. If you liked this project, perhaps you’ll like some of my others.
Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com