Dentist Lead

[BadHeart]

I picked up some Dentist lead today and when i melted it down to make bars for future use, it looked like aluminum. Is this normal?

 

[Legionair]

Didn't know dentists used lead.... :hmm:

Sounds like a health risk.... :nono:

Heard of them using gold, silver, and that wierd tinny stuff.... but never lead...

Anybody here got a DDS???

Legion

 

[bamamarine]

If you're talking about the x-ray lead, it's fine. I've used it a lot in the past and it worked out fine. It's supposed to be pure lead. Not sure about the color you got. Maybe a heat problem. Can you post a pic?

 

[Mad Professor]

I picked up some Dentist lead today and when i melted it down to make bars for future use, it looked like aluminum. Is this normal?

I thought dentists used a mercury amalgam, not lead? Be REAL careful if you're heating mercury as the fumes are quite toxic!

P.S. I belive the amalgam is quite stable (if not heated) and just "passes through" you if a filling is ingested.

 

[Legionair]

Mercury amalgam.... thats what that tinny stuff is!!!

Knew sombody would know!! :thumbsup:

Legion

 

[BadHeart]

Thanks, will post a pic tomorrow. don't feel like going back out to my shop tonite. been a long busy day today.

 

They are the thin lead plates that are encased behind the film in a plastic sleave that the dentist xrays your teeth with. The xray is taken, and the plastic sandwich is then slipped into a processor that separates and ejects the plastic, and lead sheet, keeps the film and develops it all automatically. They generally save them for disposal. According to the EPA if you dispose of lead it is toxic waste,and requires permits, and fees for it's disposal, but if you recycle it , it's not (your government at work) The reason it looks like aluminum is the melt temp you used, and the fact it is pure lead, with n o oxidation. Bill

 

[2172]

just ran my first batch of balls using lead pads from my dentist's xray operation...it was especially shiney, so I guess that's what really pure lead looks like...it weighed out lighter than my other runs which varied from what I thought was pure lead to that stuff mixed with varying amounts of wheel weight lead...Hank

 

[silverfox]

If it's that Mercury amalgum stuff it makes nice poured inlays. That way they fill all the little crevices and stay put. Anybody else do that.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

Silverfox, it's not amalgum. What I'm talking about is that little white flat plastic, postage stamp size piece of xray film they put in your mouth when they take pictures of your teeth and gums. You wouldn't know there was any lead there as it is inside that film packet. Bill