Cheapest place/form of lead

[Warhauk]

I know this isn't strictly leatherworking related, but the purpose is to add a lead core to the handles for my leather floggers for balancing purposes. Does anybody happen to know how difficult it is to work with lead ingots/bars? I don't really want to get a full setup for melting and casting them. 

For other options, does anybody know the cheapest way to get smaller bits of lead? I know there is lead shot, fishing weights, etc. Just wondering if there are other ones that would work well.

The idea is to basically pour small bits of lead into the drilled out core of the wood handle and then pour glue in to hold it in place.

[chuck123wapati]

12 minutes ago, Warhauk said:

I know this isn't strictly leatherworking related, but the purpose is to add a lead core to the handles for my leather floggers for balancing purposes. Does anybody happen to know how difficult it is to work with lead ingots/bars? I don't really want to get a full setup for melting and casting them. 

For other options, does anybody know the cheapest way to get smaller bits of lead? I know there is lead shot, fishing weights, etc. Just wondering if there are other ones that would work well.

The idea is to basically pour small bits of lead into the drilled out core of the wood handle and then pour glue in to hold it in place.

Its very easy once melted, however the fumes are very dangerous don't consider melting it at all. The hot lead will burn you handles. 

 Bismuth from a  reloading supply store would be your best bet. You can get whatever size shot works fill the void with the shot then pour in the epoxy over it. That way no heat and above all no fumes. Another thing lead may be illegal in some states. Bismuth would be safer by far. 

[HaloJones]

Another option to busmuth could be diving ballast, I have used that to make paper weights, and is available in many sizes & quantities 

[Warhauk]

35 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

Its very easy once melted, however the fumes are very dangerous don't consider melting it at all. The hot lead will burn you handles. 

 Bismuth from a  reloading supply store would be your best bet. You can get whatever size shot works fill the void with the shot then pour in the epoxy over it. That way no heat and above all no fumes. Another thing lead may be illegal in some states. Bismuth would be safer by far. 

Thanks for the heads up on potential legal issues I'll have to look into it. Unfortunately, it seems bismuth is quite a bit more expensive than lead.

8 minutes ago, HaloJones said:

Another option to busmuth could be diving ballast, I have used that to make paper weights, and is available in many sizes & quantities 

I'm not sure what you mean by diving ballast. When I looked it up on amazon, it was just a bunch of equipment or bags of lead shot.

[fredk]

56 minutes ago, Warhauk said:

I know this isn't strictly leatherworking related, but the purpose is to add a lead core to the handles for my leather floggers for balancing purposes. Does anybody happen to know how difficult it is to work with lead ingots/bars? I don't really want to get a full setup for melting and casting them. 

For other options, does anybody know the cheapest way to get smaller bits of lead? I know there is lead shot, fishing weights, etc. Just wondering if there are other ones that would work well.

Go to a fabric shop. They usually sell small weights, probably in zinc these days, as 'curtain weights'. Used by sewing into the hem of a curtain to keep it hanging down straight

[fredk]

or, small fishing weights, or stuff called 'Liquid Gravity' - expensive. 'lead' [now zinc] weights for fish tanks - to keep plants down

[GatoGordo]

You can buy lead weights on Amazon. Five pounds for $19.

https://smile.amazon.com/Arrow-Weights-Uncoated-Weight-perfect/dp/B001OAIQ4C/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=diving%2Bweights&qid=1642187785&sprefix=diving%2Bweight%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-19&th=1&psc=1

[fredk]

I think them be too big for the OPs needs

[Warhauk]

6 minutes ago, GatoGordo said:

You can buy lead weights on Amazon. Five pounds for $19.

https://smile.amazon.com/Arrow-Weights-Uncoated-Weight-perfect/dp/B001OAIQ4C/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=diving%2Bweights&qid=1642187785&sprefix=diving%2Bweight%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-19&th=1&psc=1

 

3 minutes ago, fredk said:

I think them be too big for the OPs needs

Yeah I would have to melt them downa nd reform them, which leads to same problem as ingots.

[fredk]

btw. I do some lead based pewter casting. Its easy peasy.

I use a camping stove which runs on gas. I use an old soup ladle which I have bent the rod on for easier pouring. The ladle will hold a maximum of 200g of lead, for safety. I usually melt about 80g -  3 oz at a time. It takes just a few minutes to melt. I wear a leather welders glove on my left hand which holds the mould. I pour the lead into the mould and put the ladle back on the stove. 

I also use oil sand in some casting

[Frodo]

Go to your local plumbing supply. NOT the big box store

In my neck of the woods I use Southern pipe and supply

ask for lead wool   $7.34 per lb  they also sell ingots

[fredk]

I accumulated my stock of  ready-use lead, now at about 100lbs, from car tyre places. I got their used wheel weights. Here the lead weights had to be changed to zinc or iron but the places didn't know what to do with the lead weights so I got them free and used to cast sea fishing weights for mates in the fishing club

[jcuk]

22 minutes ago, fredk said:

I accumulated my stock of  ready-use lead, now at about 100lbs, from car tyre places. I got their used wheel weights. Here the lead weights had to be changed to zinc or iron but the places didn't know what to do with the lead weights so I got them free and used to cast sea fishing weights for mates in the fishing club

Now i thought you were going to say you got it from a church roof or maybe more than one.

 

[fredk]

2 minutes ago, jcuk said:

Now i thought you were going to say you got it from a church roof or maybe more than one.

  Actually some of my lead did come from a Church roof. Sort-of, It was left over flashing from the re-roofing job on the local Parish Church. About 20lbs. Too little for the builder to keep, I got it in exchange for biscuits. 20lbs of lead is very small in volume and not much of a roll. I still have that somewhere

[jcuk]

2 minutes ago, fredk said:

  Actually some of my lead did come from a Church roof. Sort-of, It was left over flashing from the re-roofing job on the local Parish Church. About 20lbs. Too little for the builder to keep, I got it in exchange for biscuits. 20lbs of lead is very small in volume and not much of a roll. I still have that somewhere

You sure you did not go back after the roofer had gone for some more

[fredk]

    

[Dwight]

You did not say how big it is in dimensions or in weight . . . which would certainly help some of us trying to help you.

If it is not too big . . . you can buy small fishing weights out of darn near pure lead . . . soft as all getout . . . drop em down in the cavity . . . take a steel rod the diameter of the cavity . . . and by gently tapping with a hammer  . . . they'll pretty much take the shape of the void.  It won't be perfect . . . but it'll be pretty good.

It'll definitely fill the void . . . and you won't have to melt lead.

OTOH . . . if you don't want to melt lead . . . you can buy solid core solder . . . and with a cut off piece of copper tubing . . . formed into a trough . . . you can melt the solder . . . it will run down the copper trough . . . and will fill the void.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Tugadude]

Wouldn’t lead be easy to saw, being so malleable?  Big pieces can be cut with hand tools.

[fredk]

8 minutes ago, Tugadude said:

Wouldn’t lead be easy to saw, being so malleable?  Big pieces can be cut with hand tools.

No, its actually not easy to saw. It bungs up and clings to the saw teeth. For big lumps a cold chisel and thumper to split pieces off, or sheet metal shears, or wire cutters for smaller thinner pieces

[garypl]

Put the handle in a vise or wood clamp outside that will hold it upright.  Take an ingot and a propane torch and hold the ingot over the  hole in the handle and start heating it and let the molten lead drip into the handle.  I do this all the time when melting lead for bullets and the pieces are too big to fit in the pot.  Easy to control and very little fumes.

[Hags]

I did a bunch of 4 oz weights for decoys. I had a 50lb ingot. I set it on blocks of wood then heated the end with a propane plumbers torch and melted it into a pot. I tried saws, chisels, and cussing. The torch was the easiest by farI then placed it on a goodwill hotplate and melted it dow to pour into the mold. You might look into local shooting clubs and skeet ranges. A lot of them sell the shot they recover.

[Charley1]

Long time handloader and bullet caster.  Some good information, some not quite correct. Melting point of lead is just over 620 F, vaporization/volatilization temperature is over 1000 F. Don't overheat it, and very little potential hazard. If still concerned with inhalation, set up a fan behind you, with lead in front of you, blows anything coming off the melt away from you, reducing possible inhalation hazard considerably.

One possibility for you is to mix small lead shot (#6 or smaller) with an epoxy that requires 30 minutes to an hour to cure. Plenty of time to work it, and will flow pretty much where you want it.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Charley1

[Daffy]

6 hours ago, Charley1 said:

Long time handloader and bullet caster.  Some good information, some not quite correct. Melting point of lead is just over 620 F, vaporization/volatilization temperature is over 1000 F. Don't overheat it, and very little potential hazard. If still concerned with inhalation, set up a fan behind you, with lead in front of you, blows anything coming off the melt away from you, reducing possible inhalation hazard considerably.

One possibility for you is to mix small lead shot (#6 or smaller) with an epoxy that requires 30 minutes to an hour to cure. Plenty of time to work it, and will flow pretty much where you want it.

Same , This ^^^

[TomE]

Agree with @Charley1.  Molten lead can be worked with safely provided you take precautions (eye protection, gloves, ventilation).  Cast iron waste pipes are joined with lead seals.  Plumbing supplies carry the materials.  Lead is cheap.

[Rocky143]

You might look into blasting materials.  They have "steel grit" or "iron grit."  It is sand sized, irregularly shaped pieces of iron and is cheap.  Mixed with epoxy, it would be good for your use.

Small lead bars are sold as weights for exercise equipment like ankle weights and weighted vests.

Get a length of 1/2" copper pipe and put a cap on one end.  fill it with lead or solder.  Melt it with a blow torch, then put a cap on the other end.

You probably don't need the densest material available.  You can make the handle heavier by making the weight longer.