Lead Block

[UKRay]

Ed, go find yourself an old fashioned plumber. These guys are hauling lead pipe out of buildings faster than a quick thing. They know the value of it but in my experience can usually be convinced to do a deal. I get all my scrap lead from plumbers and pay a fraction of the price because I haul it away myself.

40lb of lead? Half that would be too much for making a lead block. Are you planning on casting a few lead soldiers at the same time? <grin!>

Ray.

[esantoro]

Ed, go find yourself an old fashioned plumber. These guys are hauling lead pipe out of buildings faster than a quick thing. They know the value of it but in my experience can usually be convinced to do a deal. I get all my scrap lead from plumbers and pay a fraction of the price because I haul it away myself.

40lb of lead? Half that would be too much for making a lead block. Are you planning on casting a few lead soldiers at the same time? <grin!>

Ray.

I have the nasty habit of trying to get the best price, which requires larger quantities. I was thinking of making two molds and was thinking each one would require about 15 lbs.

I check out the plumbing angle.

After a bit more research, I see that there's soft lead that can be engraved with a fingernail and harder lead. I imagine that I should be looking for the harder stuff.

ed

[esantoro]

I have the nasty habit of trying to get the best price, which requires larger quantities. I was thinking of making two molds and was thinking each one would require about 15 lbs.

I check out the plumbing angle.

After a bit more research, I see that there's soft lead that can be engraved with a fingernail and harder lead. I imagine that I should be looking for the harder stuff.

ed

I was at a 99 cent store the other day and found the perfectly shaped aluminum pan for lead block.

After looking at some You Tube videos on smelting lead and reading about the health hazards, I'm not terribly crazy about the idea of heating the stuff to boiling and then pouring. But I am intrigued by the idea of cutting lead bars into pieces that will fit in the aluminum pan and melting with a blow torch attached to a small propane bottle. The lead doesn't need to be taken to a full boil, just heated long enough so that it all flows together inside the pan. The whole process should take just a few minutes and clean up would be negligible.

Is there any reason I shouldn't go with the blow torch?

Ed

Edited May 11, 2009 by esantoro

[leatherjunkie]

I was at a 99 cent store the other day and found the perfectly shaped aluminum pan for lead block.

After looking at some You Tube videos on smelting lead and reading about the health hazards, I'm not terribly crazy about the idea of heating the stuff to boiling and then pouring. But I am intrigued by the idea of cutting lead bars into pieces that will fit in the aluminum pan and melting with a blow torch attached to a small propane bottle. The lead doesn't need to be taken to a full boil, just heated long enough so that it all flows together inside the pan. The whole process should take just a few minutes and clean up would be negligible.

Is there any reason I shouldn't go with the blow torch?

Ed

Is there any

blow torch is overkill.

i use a steel pot on my coleman camping stove (converted to propane) to melt lead.

after i get the lead to melted to a liquid form i will skim off the junk that is floating on top, i use a long handled cooking spoon to do this.

then i use a ladle to transfer the liquid lead to the my muffin tin. i do this because i cast my own bullets for black powder shooting. the muffin tin size lead will fit in the melting pot that i use for making bullets.

i can also melt wheel weights without any troubles this way.

its a little slower to melt lead this way but it works just fine for me.

you also want to use the coleman stove outside preferable no wind to little wind. this way the heat of the flames will be on the pot more than if there was a lot of wind.

[barra]

http://www.torbandreiner.com/images/French..._gas_cooker.jpg

I have a gas cooker like this. They are darn cheap and can be found in camping stores, Wallyworld type stores or Asian groceries. In Aust they can be found for less than $20 and the gas cartridges are also cheap. I stick my lead in a pan and it melts together fairly quickly. When the lead block gets too mangled from using punches I just panel beat it with a ball pein hammer. Maybe once a year I will remelt it.

I also have some small lead blocks that I leave in it's own little pan and use these as weights to hold items like patterns steady. just like using shot bags. Lead can be scrounged fairly easily from scrap metal merchants, car batteries, plumbers but my favourite is find the fisherperson in the family and steal their sinkers.

Barra

Edited May 11, 2009 by barra

[esantoro]

blow torch is overkill.

i use a steel pot on my coleman camping stove (converted to propane) to melt lead.

after i get the lead to melted to a liquid form i will skim off the junk that is floating on top, i use a long handled cooking spoon to do this.

then i use a ladle to transfer the liquid lead to the my muffin tin. i do this because i cast my own bullets for black powder shooting. the muffin tin size lead will fit in the melting pot that i use for making bullets.

i can also melt wheel weights without any troubles this way.

its a little slower to melt lead this way but it works just fine for me.

you also want to use the coleman stove outside preferable no wind to little wind. this way the heat of the flames will be on the pot more than if there was a lot of wind.

I wouldn't mind buying a camping stove, but I was thinking that the blow torch would be the simplest method, especially for resurfacing the lead block periodically.

My first idea was to use my backpacking stove but soon realized that that is a terrible idea as there is a good chance the pot would topple over and all the dangerous sorts of scenarios to follow.

Even though the blow torch is overkill, is it a doable idea, especially considering the simplicity of operation and nearly absent cleanup required? I have kind of always wanted to get a blow torch. You, know just to have one on hand.

ed

[leatherjunkie]

I wouldn't mind buying a camping stove, but I was thinking that the blow torch would be the simplest method, especially for resurfacing the lead block periodically.

My first idea was to use my backpacking stove but soon realized that that is a terrible idea as there is a good chance the pot would topple over and all the dangerous sorts of scenarios to follow.

Even though the blow torch is overkill, is it a doable idea, especially considering the simplicity of operation and nearly absent cleanup required? I have kind of always wanted to get a blow torch. You, know just to have one on hand.

ed

well i used a cutting torch to meld down a big block of lead that a buddy found for me.

it melted the lead real quick. but the lead hardened up quickly once it hit the pan that i was melting it into.

to keep lead molten long enough to pour into the mould that you want to use, i still think the stove idea would be the best bet.

also its safer because you are not trying to hold the torch under the melting pot and pouring into the mould at same time.

a cooking stove or gas cooker that barra suggested is going to be $20.00 - $35.00 . oxygen and acetene bottles plus the hoses and other atachments that you need to operate it are going to be in the $200.00 plus range.

i think that you will have troubles melting part of the lead to resurface it. there for i suggest that you remelt the entire block. depending on how much lead you used for your block it wont take that long to melt it down again.

it only takes about 10 mins for me to get 10 lbs of lead melted and ready to start my bullet casting process.

just drop it in the mould that you used, heat it up till the block becomes liquid then let it cool.

Edited May 12, 2009 by leatherjunkie

[esantoro]

well i used a cutting torch to meld down a big block of lead that a buddy found for me.

it melted the lead real quick. but the lead hardened up quickly once it hit the pan that i was melting it into.

to keep lead molten long enough to pour into the mould that you want to use, i still think the stove idea would be the best bet.

also its safer because you are not trying to hold the torch under the melting pot and pouring into the mould at same time.

a cooking stove or gas cooker that barra suggested is going to be $20.00 - $35.00 . oxygen and acetene bottles plus the hoses and other atachments that you need to operate it are going to be in the $200.00 plus range.

i think that you will have troubles melting part of the lead to resurface it. there for i suggest that you remelt the entire block. depending on how much lead you used for your block it wont take that long to melt it down again.

it only takes about 10 mins for me to get 10 lbs of lead melted and ready to start my bullet casting process.

just drop it in the mould that you used, heat it up till the block becomes liquid then let it cool.

Your replies are helping me think through this process. Thank you.

I was thinking of getting an inexpensive propane torch, $20 sans propane bottle. I was thinking of using a 6" dia. pie tin of crushable aluminum and going about 2" thick. ten pounds seems about right. I was thinking of placing lead chunks in the pie tin and torching them there directly, obviating the need to pour anything.

I always like to invest in tools and equipment that have multiple uses. It would be nice to have a portable camping stove on hand.

Ed

[leatherjunkie]

propane torch is not what i call a blow torch.

to me a blow torch is a oxygen acetene cutting torch.

the propane torch may not be able to get lead hot enough to melt all the way without using lots of propane. i only went through one 1 pound bottle of propane on my camp stove to melt 20 pounds of lead. you have a bigger area of heat with a camp stove verses a propane torch that only centers the heat in small area

always remember to melt lead in a well ventilated area. best place is outside.

the lead fumes are bad for you.

just put the lead chunks into your pie tin and put on the camp stove. let cook. after its melted remember to skim off the sludge on top. this is the contaminated stuff and is junk. the top should look like a mirror after you are done skimming off the junk. it may haze over but this is ok. now let it cool and then dump the pie tin over on your work bench and you have your block. also be aware of the health concerns when handling lead. i always wear gloves while melting lead. i try to handle the lead with gloves(even when im done casting it) to reduce the lead coming into contact with skin. you may want to consider this when you are using the block.

[barra]

The gas stove also gets used for the coffee pot, creaser heater and oil warmer.