Are old house window weights good?

[Barrows]

Hi. An old house is being torn down here, and the windows are the old style with ropes, pulley, and weights. Are the weights usually lead in these, and if so, are they usually pure lead for ball pouring? The contractor tearing down the house offered the weights to me (not torn down yet), so I haven't been able to inspect them.

 

[Mort Scott]

The old window weights I have seen were made with cast iron, not lead. Iron was cheep compared to lead. Mort

 

[paulvallandigham]

If the weights are made of lead, they will most often be pure lead, and yes, you can use them to cast balls. Check them for hardness, however. If you are going to scrounge lead, you really should invest in your own lead tester. :thumbsup:

 

[vern faulkner]

None of the thousands of window weights that I have seen were made of lead. Vern

 

[rabjr]

Yup I grew up in an old 1940 Cape that had these. They were cast iron.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Well, I have seen and worked with both steel and lead weights. The lead ones are usually much older. For that reason, you are more likely to find them in very old homes- antebellum-- than in buildings and homes built in the last half of the 19th century or later. My grandparent's home, built in 1905, had steel weights. It also was remarkable for being one of the earliest homes with indoor plumbing and indoor toilet, in Chicago.

 

[Barrows]

This is a rural, basic, farmhouse from the early 1900s. It sounds like they won't be lead then. Thanks for the info. I was starting to think I might run across hundreds of pounds of free lead. Maybe next time. Where does a person find a lead tester? Expensive? Thanks for all the info.

 

[mazo kid]

Don't discount those window weights until you actually see them. I got 4 a few years ago that were soft lead. Also have 3 others that are cast iron that I use just as....weights! Lead testers can be had from Lee, Saeco, Cabine Tree and possibly others. good luck with your find!!

 

[longcruise]

No tester needed. Hang one on a piece of rope or wire and whack it with a hammer. If it rings and does not dent much it's iron. If it clunks and takes a dent it's lead. I have several that were given to me by someone who thought they were lead, but the fingernail test immediately showed them to be iron. These were from a 19th century structure.

 

[Many Klatch]

The soil stack flashings on the roof will be lead for sure if they are over 20 years old. All houses with indoor plumbing have soil stacks. Until recently all soil stacks were flashed to the shingle or tin roof with 4# lead flashings. The lead used in lead roof flashings is dead soft 100% pure.

Many Klatch

 

[renovato]

No tester needed. Hang one on a piece of rope or wire and whack it with a hammer. If it rings and does not dent much it's iron. If it clunks and takes a dent it's lead. I have several that were given to me by someone who thought they were lead, but the fingernail test immediately showed them to be iron. These were from a 19th century structure.

That's not really what the tester is for. It's for seeing if the lead that you scrounge is dead soft or an alloy. They're very handy gadgets to have for scroungers. I cast for modern cartridges also, so it's nice to know what hardness the lead is, so I know what can be cast from it. It's hard to find dead soft lead down here though.

 

[RonT]

Sometimes these old houses have attic cisterns, wood framed, lead (or zink) lined. My MIL's house had one of these, approx. 4'x4'x4', was lined with ~1/8" lead sheet.
Hit the mother load on that one... :grin:
R

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you google " lead testers", you will find a variety of machines, and prices available. The Cabin Tree tester is simple to use and fairly cheap. Others are designed to be used in a reloading press. If you are not reloading modern cartridges, you won't have such a press on hand.

IN buildings in rural areas, you might still find all lead weights used in window sashes. The iron ones became Required by early building codes, like IRON pipe, to protect the Iron worker's Union, and preserve those jobs in hard times. Such codes were passed in the big cities, like Chicago. It took a lot more time before these items became common in rural construction, too. When old buildings were torn down, the windows, glass, and frame and sash, were often saved, repaired, and used in the new house. You might find weights that have been used in several houses over their life time. Farmers built new homes when needed, and didn't have money to spend on New anything that was not absolutely necessary. Its still done that way today. I have friends who replaced an old, Clapboard farmhouse they were living in by first building a modern kitchen addition to the existing home, then building a new house next to it, on one level, before tearing down the older house. I don't know what if anything was saved in the demolition, but knowing Ron, I suspect that anything that someone in the family could use Was saved. I am sure the new kitchen appliances in the add-on were transferred to the new home, as were the toilets, and sinks.

 

[mazo kid]

The soil stack flashings on the roof will be lead for sure if they are over 20 years old. All houses with indoor plumbing have soil stacks. Until recently all soil stacks were flashed to the shingle or tin roof with 4# lead flashings. The lead used in lead roof flashings is dead soft 100% pure. Many Klatch

Yes, the indoor plumbing stacks had lead-packed joints as well as the drainpipes. If the house has cast iron waste lines, they are joined together with the lead packing. It is sometimes smelly work to melt them down (oakum and years of use), but it is worth it in the end.

 

[longcruise]

That's not really what the tester is for. It's for seeing if the lead that you scrounge is dead soft or an alloy. They're very handy gadgets to have for scroungers. I cast for modern cartridges also, so it's nice to know what hardness the lead is, so I know what can be cast from it. It's hard to find dead soft lead down here though.

I can see how useful it would be for yourself. I was simply trying to illustrate a way to determine iron from lead.

I use the fingernail test and am happy with those results. Last batch was X-Ray room shield but am down to only two pieces of that.

 

[trent/OH]

Graciously accept the weights. If they turn out to be lead, you'll be thrilled. If they turn out to be steel or iron, they can be either scrap steel for when prices go up again, or anchors for duck decoys or for trapping or for catfishing or turtling. Or a gift to a blacksmith who might be able to make something useful of them.
You'll also help to cement a friendship with someone who demolishes buildings and might connect you to all kinds of goodies. A really nice doorknob makes a sweet top for a rangerod. And a fireplace mantle might just be hiding a fantastic rifle stock.

 

[vern faulkner]

:hmm: When we re-did the bathroom in an old home we found that all the drains( toilet, tub, sink ) fed into a sort of "manifold" (made of lead) then into the cast iron drain. It weighted almost 75 pounds. I'm still casting from it. Vern

 

[dbutch]

:hmm: When we re-did the bathroom in an old home we found that all the drains( toilet, tub, sink ) fed into a sort of "manifold" (made of lead) then into the cast iron drain. It weighted almost 75 pounds. I'm still casting from it. Vern

So does that mean you shoot stinking lead balls ?

 

[vern faulkner]

:hmm: Yup. that's when I first started using them, my accuracy went to sh**. However it did improve some when I was shootn' at those STINKING varmints. :shocked2: :shocked2: Vern

 

[Stumpkiller]

I use the fingernail test, too. It's amazing what you can scratch if you're desperate for lead and try hard enough.

But, all the sash weights I have ever come across hereabouts were cast iron.