I use wheel weights for casting bullets for modern type guns but the metal isn't pure lead to the best of my knowledge. I have read about cable sheathing being lead but it isn't used where I live- or so I've been told. In any event do any of you know of any cheap (free :grin: ) lead?
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Sources of cheap lead
- Thread starter crockett
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I bought some 25# pure lead ingots from a gun shop last year that got them surplus & I paid $ 10. each for the ingots. (.40 a pound)
If you find any "cheap" pure lead it will be a fluke...... and the guy won't know what he has. Or it will be wheel weight lead & they lie about it being pure.
If it is Pure Lead, you can easily cut it with your thumb nail.
Pure scrap lead was going for $ .82 a pound about 2 weeks ago here. It was up to $ 1.25 a pound a couple months ago, til China decided they had all they need for a while. China controls the market on Lead now, as about 95% of the auto & truck batteries are coming from there.
I did buy a 500# pure lead ingot for .25 a #, but only because it was encased in 1/2" plate steel & they didn't want to bother melting it out & etc. Fortunately for me they never looked at the bottom of it, as the bottom was already cut out. :grin: I only had to make one 6" cut & the entire encasement came off. YOu should try to miove a 500# ingot of that stuff :shocked2: it lays REAL close to the ground...
I also bought a big piece of sheet lead from them that is 1/8" thick by ? 3-4' square all wrinkled & folded, anyway, it weighed 205# & had to give .75 a pound for it. Looks like a industrial flashing off an old building or something.
Even wheel weight lead is high right now, but don't remember the $ he said it was. Same dealer had a 55 gal steel drum of pure lead drain pipes in assorted sizes... LOTS of weight there, but I didn't need it. Plus I am a little leery of what may have went thru those pipes.. He offered it to me for .70 a # since I sell them allot of scrap copper & brass, but I have more lead now than I will ever use.
Keith Lisle
If you find any "cheap" pure lead it will be a fluke...... and the guy won't know what he has. Or it will be wheel weight lead & they lie about it being pure.
If it is Pure Lead, you can easily cut it with your thumb nail.
Pure scrap lead was going for $ .82 a pound about 2 weeks ago here. It was up to $ 1.25 a pound a couple months ago, til China decided they had all they need for a while. China controls the market on Lead now, as about 95% of the auto & truck batteries are coming from there.
I did buy a 500# pure lead ingot for .25 a #, but only because it was encased in 1/2" plate steel & they didn't want to bother melting it out & etc. Fortunately for me they never looked at the bottom of it, as the bottom was already cut out. :grin: I only had to make one 6" cut & the entire encasement came off. YOu should try to miove a 500# ingot of that stuff :shocked2: it lays REAL close to the ground...
I also bought a big piece of sheet lead from them that is 1/8" thick by ? 3-4' square all wrinkled & folded, anyway, it weighed 205# & had to give .75 a pound for it. Looks like a industrial flashing off an old building or something.
Even wheel weight lead is high right now, but don't remember the $ he said it was. Same dealer had a 55 gal steel drum of pure lead drain pipes in assorted sizes... LOTS of weight there, but I didn't need it. Plus I am a little leery of what may have went thru those pipes.. He offered it to me for .70 a # since I sell them allot of scrap copper & brass, but I have more lead now than I will ever use.
Keith Lisle
I would check with a roofing contractor for scrap flashing. Also, plumbing contractors, as they get lead shower base liners and roof flashings from remodels. Other than that, just check local salvage yards, etc. Most auction site lead is ~$1/# plus shipping and unless they are sure it is pure, it is iffy. I just got 400# of lead water pipe from a water utility that was upgrading water services, check that out too.
My friend gives me old window weights. Those are pure lead, at least the ones I got.
My other source is a scout camp shooting range. Almost all the rounds sent downrange are .22 solid lead and .50 cal round balls with a minuscule amount of powder. The result is pure lead that is at the surface and requires little to no digging.
My other source is a scout camp shooting range. Almost all the rounds sent downrange are .22 solid lead and .50 cal round balls with a minuscule amount of powder. The result is pure lead that is at the surface and requires little to no digging.
ihunts2much
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If you know anyone who works demolition there is usually good lead if you know where to look for it. The joints on cast iron pipe each hold a pound or two. The plumbers lead is usually pretty pure stuff. Window weights are hit and miss, most made of cast iron, and the lead ones being any mix imaginable.
Are you anywhere near a large body of water? Sailboats often use lead for the keels. A 34 ft boat may have 4,000 pounds of lead. And some guys get tired of grounding out and have the keeps bobbed - and that used to just sits behind the shed. Nowadays the EPA frowns on machining lead outdoors and it is possible they would welcome some kook who would haul it away for free.
ken.clements
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a Masonry contractor...almost all chimneys are lined with lead where the go out of the roof.
WARNING: Neighbors get extremely angry when they catch people on their roof removing lead... :idunno:
WARNING: Neighbors get extremely angry when they catch people on their roof removing lead... :idunno:
They may in Germany, but here most quit using lead for chimney flashing in the ? 1950's.... They went to galvanized tin & then to aluminum. One higher priced homes they sometimes use copper flashing....
Now I am trying to figure out a way to chop up a 500# ingot. Cannot come up with a logical way other than a torch melting a gouge thru it. This piece is like 8" wide x 10"thick x 3' long. Have to get it to about 50# chunks so I can handle it & put it away.
Keith Lisle
Now I am trying to figure out a way to chop up a 500# ingot. Cannot come up with a logical way other than a torch melting a gouge thru it. This piece is like 8" wide x 10"thick x 3' long. Have to get it to about 50# chunks so I can handle it & put it away.
Keith Lisle
paulvallandigham
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Use a sawzall to cut up that brick. Its an efficient power tool, the blades don't cost that much, and if you don't own one, they can be rented for a reasonable amount of money. If you already have an Oxy-Acetylene Torch, use that to melt/cut the large brick down into more manageable chunks. NO?
SawsAll won't do it. Lead sticks to teeth & clogs them or saw binds & locks up.
You can't axe it. Well, Hercules might but I ain't beating on that thing for days, to old & out of shape for that :rotf: :idunno:
A 30 ton press & wedge just puts a nice dent in it but don't begin to cut it. A big industrial shear may could do it, but then you have to find a place to do it, pay them, take it to & from, etc. I just need to get it to where I can move it about.
This ingot/chunk of lead is 8" thick & 10" wide & 3' long. This is a SERIOUS solid chunk of lead. I have to use the forklift to move it. Now a piece 1-2" thick, you might axe it in two or saw it in two, but you won't this.
I am going to try to take the torch & melt/slice thru it. If I can just get it into 5 pieces, it would be manageable. Gonna try to melt/slice it & catch that melted into a couple of molds I made that will be about 10# each. If that don't work only thing I know to do is melt it as I can & put it in molds. That will take forever but may have to be the way.
The sheet I bought I unfolded & it was flashing or a cap on something, as it has nail holes all the way around the edge. It is 3/16" thick & 3' wide & 7' long. I can cut it into 8" x 3' strips & fold or roll them up.
Keith Lisle
You can't axe it. Well, Hercules might but I ain't beating on that thing for days, to old & out of shape for that :rotf: :idunno:
A 30 ton press & wedge just puts a nice dent in it but don't begin to cut it. A big industrial shear may could do it, but then you have to find a place to do it, pay them, take it to & from, etc. I just need to get it to where I can move it about.
This ingot/chunk of lead is 8" thick & 10" wide & 3' long. This is a SERIOUS solid chunk of lead. I have to use the forklift to move it. Now a piece 1-2" thick, you might axe it in two or saw it in two, but you won't this.
I am going to try to take the torch & melt/slice thru it. If I can just get it into 5 pieces, it would be manageable. Gonna try to melt/slice it & catch that melted into a couple of molds I made that will be about 10# each. If that don't work only thing I know to do is melt it as I can & put it in molds. That will take forever but may have to be the way.
The sheet I bought I unfolded & it was flashing or a cap on something, as it has nail holes all the way around the edge. It is 3/16" thick & 3' wide & 7' long. I can cut it into 8" x 3' strips & fold or roll them up.
Keith Lisle
hoochiepapa
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:thumbsup:
matt denison
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Birdog. Here's an idea that worked for a friend who had a 200# forklift weight, approx. 8" x 12" x 6". That thing was a horrible b***h to move but he was able to get it in position on top of some dry fire wood, stacked more on top and fired it off. Next morning the lead had melted into a puddle only about an inch thick under where the fire burned. It was much easier to hack and break off managable pieces.
I thought about doing that, just let it melt & then whack it up...
But instead, I sliced it with a torch. And what ran out as I was slicing it went into some 4# ingots as I made 2 molds before I started & would fill one, set it aside, fill the other, empty the first one, etc. Now have about 40 ingots & 6 big chunks I can move easier. :thumbsup:
Keith lIsle
But instead, I sliced it with a torch. And what ran out as I was slicing it went into some 4# ingots as I made 2 molds before I started & would fill one, set it aside, fill the other, empty the first one, etc. Now have about 40 ingots & 6 big chunks I can move easier. :thumbsup:
Keith lIsle
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A buddy of mine just came up with a 250 pound chunk of lead. He scratched his chin a little, then went down to the local tool rental and got a small electric jackhammer with a blade bit. In no time at all he had it whacked into chunks that fit his 20 pound furnace. Slick!
As for sources of lead, I take any and all, just so I'm not tempted to use any of my pure lead for other things. I just picked up 1650 pounds of waste from our local indoor range. Nope, I won't be using it for muzzleloaders unless I want a few harder balls in a smoothie. But with that on hand for CF bullets, decoy weights, fishing weights and jigs, it's pretty easy to reserve my pure lead for muzzleloaders only.
As for sources of lead, I take any and all, just so I'm not tempted to use any of my pure lead for other things. I just picked up 1650 pounds of waste from our local indoor range. Nope, I won't be using it for muzzleloaders unless I want a few harder balls in a smoothie. But with that on hand for CF bullets, decoy weights, fishing weights and jigs, it's pretty easy to reserve my pure lead for muzzleloaders only.
ken.clements
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8905c said:
glowing bullets....cool
Early tracers ????
Old Ford
Old Ford
paulvallandigham
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Sawzalls come with different blades, with different kerfs and numbers of teeth per inch. No, you don't want to use a blade intended for cutting wood for this work.
I am glad to see you used what you have, instead of trying something with which you are unfamiliar.
I thought you had some kind of torch, and that is the Fast answer- as you describe here-- to cutting a huge, heavy brick into manageable "chunks". Glad you solved the problems. You certainly have helped a lot of members learn how to deal with similar problems.
I am glad you had molds to place under the block to catch the melt. I would normally have let the melted lead "pool & cool" on the ground, then washed off debris and dirt, and melted it in the pot in pieces( after it thoroughly dries!)
Thanks for reporting YOUR solution. :hatsoff:
I am glad to see you used what you have, instead of trying something with which you are unfamiliar.
I thought you had some kind of torch, and that is the Fast answer- as you describe here-- to cutting a huge, heavy brick into manageable "chunks". Glad you solved the problems. You certainly have helped a lot of members learn how to deal with similar problems.
I am glad you had molds to place under the block to catch the melt. I would normally have let the melted lead "pool & cool" on the ground, then washed off debris and dirt, and melted it in the pot in pieces( after it thoroughly dries!)
Thanks for reporting YOUR solution. :hatsoff:
