Sabot material ?

[Evil Dog]

Finally got my small wood lathe in so can get serious about making some sabots for my half scale Napoleon... 2 1/4" bore.  I've previously found that cutting material with a 2 1/2" diameter hole saw yields a wood wheel just over my bore size.  Easy enough to glue together and then reduce to the proper diameter on the lathe.  The main question is just what material to use... or will it really make any difference?  I've  a reasonable quantity of good quality birch 1/2" plywood... that good plywood that has about 5 or 6 layers in a 1/2" thick sheet.  Three of the wheels glued together will result in a sabot 1 1/2" long.  Also cutting wheels from 3/4" thick pine... a lot less expensive to use.  The third option would be buying oak or poplar boards from the local hardware store... more money than I would care to spend though.  Have also though of that composite board... glued together wood chips.  That would probably dull up a hole saw pretty quickly though.

So.... those of you that use sabots.... what are they made of?

[Double D]

You got a lathe, get solid wood.  Get a 4 x 4 chuck it int he lathe and turn it down on your lathe.  This way the grain wil be going long ways and the sabot will break up when fired.  You could even make a template and turn a ball seat cup in the face.

Have you contacted our  sponsor AAAmunitions he might have sabots to sell you  or even give you some hints on how to make them.

[Dictator]

It's more expensive than wood, but did you ever think about UHMW plastic? I tried it this year in our 3" 6 Ldr and it worked great. However, I had to redesign them from this design a little.

[Evil Dog]

They do look interesting, but I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to go about casting plastic.

[GGaskill]

You buy round stock and machine it to shape.

[Dictator]

G's right. I used 3" rod and had them machined to final OD (2.995 + 000/ -.015). Plastic rod always comes over nominal dimension. 3" UHMW usually runs around 5% over size. I have some interesting details about my tests on these if you guys wish to know.

[Evil Dog]

Oh.... ok.  Just did a quick search for it..... evidently sold by the foot.  Would need 2 1/2" diameter and work it down from there.  However, at close to $22.00 a foot I think I would have to explore other options first.  Something to keep in mind though.

[Dictator]

Ufda-----$22/ ft . pretty steep for UHMW. It should run somewhere around $8-12/ ft depending if 2.5" or 3". That price sounds more like delrin or nylon, which you don't need.

[Rickk]

Looks like a chunk of wax to me....

How about improvising a mould by drilling a 2.25 inch hole in a thick chunk or stack of wood, putting a ball at the bottom to form the curve where the ball will be, and pouring wax?.  YOu may have to make a dimpled base as part of the mould to center the ball and the rest of the lould.

If it is hard to get the ball out, just leave it and shoot as is.

You could cut the stack in half after you drilled the hole so that you could "open the mould" like a regular bullet mould to get the sabot out.

Parafin sounds cheaper than what your quote for UHMW (whatever that is...lol) and after you fire it, you could pick up the sabot (and the ball, of course) if you can find it and remould, reuse it.

No matter what you pick, watch the added weight and it's affect on pressure,  of course

[GGaskill]

Ultra High Molecular Weight.

[Dictator]

George----you're dead on right again. UHMW-PE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) Polyolifen :-)

[Rickk]

I would go with Parafin wax, because it is easier to say 

[Will Bison]

I use sabots for my cannister shot and cut them from OSB scrap. They hold together well as I have recovered a few of them.

[Evil Dog]

OSB?  That's particle board?

[accuratemike]

OSB= Oriented Strand Board (Splinters glued together) Looks a bit different from particle board (MDF?). Fairly easy to say. MIKE