Tungsten weights for scuba

[АлександрД]

I think Divad had some Russian experience..... we have from old (from FIDO network) times, one popular joke...

ya_frosia (Female): "A bunch of metal rods usually sinks."
alexei (Male): ya_frosia: "But it floats in mercury just fine."
zoogenic: alexei: "But if the rods are made of uranium, they would sink even in mercury."
alexei: zoogenic: "Get uranium rods sunk in mercury yourself."

here is try to find humor here [Russian > English] Joke in Russian that I don't understand. Can someone please help an English-speaker understand what this is about? Thank you! : translator

but... no problem to check it:
really, it sunk.

... so, in compare with Uranium (with high radioactivity and venomousness) I think mentioned price for Tungsten is not looks too high
P.S. one notice: I think Tungsten carbide - Wikipedia is more widespreaded to buy, than clear Tungsten... but density of WC is 15 g/cm3, is less than clear W (19 g/cm3)

 

[dmaziuk]

Because I can?

Buy gold then. Coat the weights with plastic and it's a win-win: nobody'll ever figure out where all your savings are.

 

[yle]

Too bad depleted uranium is not good for you. Lots of it laying around.

On the upside, it would be easier for your buddy to see you on a night dive.

Marketing is all about the upside.

 

[Hatul]

They would be sold by Atomic Aquatics and fall in line with other gear in price range

 

[Nathan Doty]

Tungsten Shot-Tungsten Shot Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on Alibaba.comGlass

or get Tungsten shot from China! Prices range from $1 per Kg all the way up to $300/Kg!

Who knows. But might be fun to order some and see what you actually get.
Then make some epoxy blocks filled with Tungsten.

Theyre from China, be careful because they probably used lead paint.

 

[formernuke]

How about molding combining the two, melt lead stir in tungsten shot and pour. The lead acts as a glue for the tungsten.

 

[St John the Diver]

Tungsten shot, no matter how small, is less dense per cubic anything than solid lead. There’s a fixed ratio between the solids and the interstitial voids in any matrix of spheres of any size. It’s immutable. There would be zero advantage. In a random pack of spheres it’s about 65% as dense as a solid.

Ain’t geometry cool?

Sphere packing - Wikipedia

 

[Storker]

Tungsten shot, no matter how small, is less dense per cubic anything than solid lead

You obviously haven't used Hevi-shot or Wingmaster HD shotshells. Those materials are tungsten-based and denser than lead. Tungsten-polymer matrix shot is about as dense as lead. It all depends on what you pack in the voids. And of course the size distribution of the particles you try to pack.

You're mistakenly assuming that the particles have to be uniformly sized spheres, and you're forgetting that the material in the voids also has a density >0

 

[Dominik_E]

I sometimes imagine diving iridium weights. About twice the density of lead, and not toxic. Osmium is even a little bit denser, but I somehow like the sound of "Advanced Iridium Diver"...

 

[Storker]

I sometimes imagine diving iridium weights. About twice the density of lead, and not toxic. Osmium is even a little bit denser, but I somehow like the sound of "Advanced Iridium Diver"...

Why not an alloy of osmium and tungsten? Then you could call yourself "Advanced Osram Diver".

You'd still have a bit of a challenge casting those weights, though.