Fill Facts :

[Hobit]

Im working on getting my fill better . Im using some large fill as of now .

My bags are as follows :

Bag Fabric : 10 grams
4mm Copperhead bb's : 40 grams
6mm Airsoft bb's : 10 grams
Total Weight : 60 grams / 60% full / 1-3/4" diameter

Ive been testing my bags on freinds as of late mostly circle kickers .
Most say there rolly but have good kick response and pop well .

Ive been reading as much as i can find on fillers lately . But nothing is
concrete as what to use in specific amounts . The wide consensus is Led Shot , Steel Shot , Tungsten Shot & Seed Bead . No defined increments so far . Some mentions of using #7 Steel Shot and #8 Tungsten .

I like a bag thats 60% full . Steel at 50 grams doesnt reach that fill percentage . So ofcourse using the seed bead to fill up some space .

What do other freestylers like for fill percentage and weight ?

Any suggestions of personal fill ratio from other stitchers ?

Hobit

[calemccoy]

its all about finding your own fill man.... just like finding the right template for your style. define your own, and your bags will be all yours, instead of just like someone elses.

[Hobit]

I dig that , truly . But to save myself a little time i thought i might ask you
fellow baggers and stitchers what a good starting point is when it comes
to fill . I feel my ideas are with good research and intelligence so i have no
doubt i can create a good blend . Time was the only thing i was hoping to
gain or save with this thread and thus save new stitchers the same time .

[mosher]

I don't even know my own ratios, but I can give you some advice that will make your filler way better.

Firstly, you can't have all round things, the slide/roll waaay too well relative to eachother to make the bag stally. Also, they are all too big, as you said #7 or #8 is what most of us use, and for a reason.

My ratio is abbooooouuut 38g steel + 10g tungsten + 2g silicone pellets = 50g and this leaves them about 55% full.

Some other good filler options are the planet footbag steel (it's not shot, it's small irregularly shaped stainless steel bits) but it isn't dense enough so you'd have to add some tungsten (which they also sell) to heavy it up.

Oh, and lead kills you.

Hope this helps.

[Hobit]

Thankyou for your advice Mosher . I figured that having all round objects
inside the bag would allow them to keep rolling and sloshing inside off of
each other . So i was gonna add some oblong shapes to cause disruption .

Thank you very much for the aproximate fill ratio you depicted . But for artistic value ill be sure to tweak it to my own blend as to not copy totaly .

I have no intentions what so ever in using lead . Ive actualy been trying
to calculate how i can get a 60% fill capacity with tungsten filler and other .

Thanks again Mosher . This is just what the doctor ordered .

Hobit

EDIT : Finding a #7-#8 Tungsten Shot for a cheap price is dificult .

[Hobit]

After digging for a few weeks looking into tungsten shot . Ive found one
place that has tungsten for cheaper than the rest . Im still looking into
seeing if there is anything cheaper yet . But heres my results :

Ballistic Products has 5lbs. of tungsten shot #2 for $98.50 ($18.50 a pound) . Not a bad price at all , but a to big of a size .

Freedom Footbags has tungsten filler for $2.50 an ounce unless you buy two or more then its $2.00 an ounce ($32 a pound) . Im not sure of the specific size i havent contacted Daryl to ask him .

Tungsten Spheres has the whole scale of shot sizes from bbb to size #9 . Well atleast thats what they have posted on there website . They curently only go down to size 6 . They will be recieving shipment of sizes #7-#9 on 7/11/08 . I ordered a pound of size #6 just to see how it is . The shot is Tungsten , Iron , Nickel aloy . I purchased my pound for $22.38 +$6.00 for shipping . I should recieve it Friday .

Well thats what i got so far if i find anything cheaper ill be sure to post it .

Hobit

[Wasabi]

Hobit, if you don't mind can you post a picture of the shot next to a coin, like a penny and such. Or next to something that people can generally associate to having comparable size. I'm somewhat curious about the size tungsten you just bought.

[Hobit]

Sure thing Wasabi , im hoping it will be at the door when i get off work .
Ill get a shot of the shot asap . Ive been reading a size #8 shot is good
but a six isnt to far off either . Im not sure if there is mathematics or
physics involved that some one has calculated for this reasoning . But
i figured it wouldnt hurt and i was too impatient to wait till tuesday to
recieve my tungsten so i had to order it !

Take care ,
Hobit

[Hobit]

Ok so here it is Wasabi the image your asking for . Sory for the delay .
Complications with delivery from Tungsten Heavy Powder Inc. . Long story short it took two weeks to recieve after initialy being told i should recieve in a week . They claimed it was due to customs inspections considering it comes from China .

I dug up some info on who they are getting the material from through some records and a few other Google searches . Im considering cutting out the middle man i have a contact in China that might be able to ship me the
goods if the company has a problem shipping to me . Due to Chinese regulations . This is still up in the air . Ill update when i get to that point .

Heres the info i found on who T.H.P.I. work with :

Tungsten Distributer

Heres the image :



None the less these guys offer the best price on tungsten shot so far that ive found . I ended up purchasing a pound each of #6 & #8 shot . Both pounds were ruffly $24 each plus $6 for shipping and handling breaking down to $1.69 per ounce . Most every where else ive found is still around $2.00 per ounce . A $10 savings (2 more 1/8th yards from fields ).
Definately gonna look into getting the spheres from China if the savings is worth it . Hope the image is what you were looking for !?

Hobit

[Wasabi]

Looks good. I've seen #9 and #10 tungsten shot sizes before, but I think #8 with its larger size provides more density per shot. It's a good medium in terms of the shot that I use, which is primarily steel shot #7 and lead #7-9.

Thanks for the info, Hobit. I greatly appreciate it. Also, thanks for the contact, as I'm sure a lot of footbaggers will be in your debt in terms of aquiring tungsten.

[Hobit]

Im glad that helped Wasabi . Im glad to give the info and give back to the community . Its this community that has blessed me with the knowledge to sew bags and begin to hone my skills in freestyle (slowly for me as of now) .
So if im able to help find more info on how we can get materials cheaper
to make the bags thus hypotheticaly making it cheaper on those buying the
bags made from those materials . No one should feel a debt to my efforts .
I feel a debt to the community . A responsibility to contribute knowledge
the same as i recieved it from here thus "Pay it forward" (Good Movie ) .

By the way i did some more digging after my post like i said i would :

Tungsten Heavy Powder Incorporateds Supplier

Ive sent an email in request for available information in regards to purchasing tungsten shot / balls .

Chinese Manufacturers of Tungsten Shot

I sent an email to everyone on this list for purchasing info .

Another Tungsten Ball Manufacturer

An Emails been sent to this company as well .

Google Search Refference

Just a refference to one of the querys i used to obtain most of the links .

Well im gonna keep working on this . Im already getting responses ill keep updates coming on the lowest prices . Be back soon .

Hobit

[jrstubs]

I used 10% of the weight of the leadshot in poly pellets.

So 50 grams of lead + 5 grams poly pellets

I really like the feel of that fill. Seed beads are really nice, but its hard to find plastic ones, the glass ones turn to powder.