Cheapest place/form of lead

[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.

[DrmCa]

The cheapest and most accessible form of lead comes in wheel weights at your nearest scrap yard.

Look rather for huge truck weights than for tiny car weights: this way you get more lead vs steel, and they are easy to pick by hand, w/o requiring a shovel.

But if I were you I'd stick with less hazardous materials, like zinc that sometimes can be scavenged from old furniture hardware, golf club heads, and some other stuff, including the new "environmentally friendly" car wheel weights. If they do not melt with lead then they are zinc or steel (magnet check will tell). Zinc melts at about 450C, only about 150C above lead. The numbers are approximate. You can reach zinc melting point on an electric stove or with a tiger torch, in a cooking pot. Zinc shrinks quite a bit when it solidifies.

Edited January 15, 2022 by DrmCa