Cheap Lead?

[Noah]

I was at the local scrap yard the other day, and asked about the cost of lead. They will sell tire weights for $0.20 per pound. It seemed like a pretty good price to me. They have tons...littleraly.

The scrap yard is located in Burlington Vt, and called Queen city steel.

They also have a couple of pretty large already cast sailboat keels that could be cut up and recast.

Noah

[Bob Cleek]

Greetings from the old lead scrounger hisself... You can go on line and find out the current scrap price of lead. Twenty cents a pound is probably about right for "dirty" stuff, like tire weights. Tire weights have a fair amount of antimony in them, I believe, and then there's all the clips you have to skim off when you melt them down. A pound of wheel weights isn't really a pound of lead. The sailboat keels are the real finds. (I've gotten them for free, even! Often, you can buy a real old rotten hulk for lots less than the value of the lead in the keel, sometimes even free for the hauling away!) The problem with the sailboat keels is the work of cutting them up into manageable hunks... The best tool for it is an electric chain saw... use kerosene to lubricate the cut... save the "sawdust" as it really adds up! (Wear a mask when cutting lead and wash your hands and clothes well afterwards and before eating... you don't want it in your mouth if you can help it!) Running into keel bolts is a big pain, though. You can sometimes power through a bronze one, but on the newer keels with cast in place stainless bolts, like the plastic boats, they can be a real bugger to cut around. The price of lead is really a function of how much work it is to cut it up, lug it around, and melt it down. If you are willing to do that, you can usually scrounge it for free or nearly so... Check out local tire places. They may give you old wheel weights for cheap. Same for firing ranges with bullet traps. Think creatively!

[mariner2k]

Try to find an old sailboat boneyard. It is a long, hard, tedious process. I got a dumpster company to deliver mine. Had it weighed also. took a pry bar to get off most of the old glass.
A chain saw (wear goggles and cover your face, it stings) to cut it. Bob's right about the shavings. I cut up about 9000 lbs. and got two trash cans full of shavings. I did mine in a single pour. Best part is all of the crap floats to the top when it melts. I paid .10/lb back in 95. I was a real good deal. I had a couple other possibilities but you have to factor in transportation costs, unless you can cut it on site.
Good luck,
mariner

[PugetSound]

An old bullet molder's trick works here; once you've got the lead melted (and the steel clips and such skimmed off), drop some bee's wax into the pot to help burn off the dross (impurities).

Also, if you are getting the lead from a gun range be sure to go thru it carefully to ensure there are no live rounds. I knew a guy who made that mistake. Good news is that he was wearing a full face shield when the pot of molten lead blew up, bad news is that he was doing it in the living room (and yes he was -and still is- married). :D

[Peter Jacobs]

Noah: That's about what I've been buying wheel weights for, but 20 cents CDN, about 13 cents US. Mr Cleek is right about the clips. I find that 25lbs of weights makes a 20lb ingot. The large truck weights are the best...less steel.
I think there's about 5% antimony in the wheel weights to give them some strength. I believe battery lead has a lot higher percentage.
Good to know about the bee's wax trick. Thanks, PugetSound.

I usually do a "melt" when I have another job on the go. It takes about 20 minutes to melt a pot (25 lbs) of weights on a propane camp stove, then I pour it into an old aluminum ice cube tray, start another brew, and carry on with whatever I'm doing. I'm up to 1700lbs ... another 400 to go.
They also make great ballast for the back of an empty pickup truck in winter.
-Peter-

[John of Phoenix]

Peter, two questions from an absolute novice in this area. Why are you pouring into cube size "ingots" and is there any trick to getting them out of the tray?

[Wayne Jeffers]

I think I can answer those questions.

Why are you pouring into cube size "ingots" –- Lets you purge the steel clips and other impurities in manageable batches and reduces the lot to manageable bricks for storage until you're ready to cast. It's also easier to add them to the pot for melting when you're ready.

and is there any trick to getting them out of the tray? -- No problem. Lead won't stick to aluminum. (Ever try to solder aluminum?)

Wayne

[John of Phoenix]

ThankYouVeryMuch.

[Peter Jacobs]

JohnT;
What Wayne said smile.gif

-Peter-

[Bob Cleek]

I've found that old fashioned tin bread pans from the hardware store (about three bucks each) make great molds. A "loaf" is just around 25#. On occasion, they do stick. I don't know why. Maybe it was the cheapo "non stick" crap on them. Maybe I didn't grease the pan enough? (Just kidding... don't do that.) I've found if they stick, heating the back with a propane torch does the trick. I use one of those burners they sell for turkey fryers... about 50 bucks (forget the turkey fryer kit... just buy the burner.) Got a welded steel pot that holds 400 pounds with a tapered plug valve that I borrow from a buddy for small batches. Better to keep it outside. When you are working with dirty lead, like wheel weights and old ballast keels, all the paint and crap on them smokes something fierce and stinks to high heaven. Not good to breathe it, of course.

Oh, and BTW... I'm sure he meant using the ice trays WITHOUT the insert that makes the cubes... LOL

[ 05-08-2002, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: Bob Cleek ]

[Donn]

My aluminum jig and sinker molds are so old and used that they started sticking. I spray 'em with PAM, and it works just fine. After WD40, it's about the handiest spray I know of. Works on snow-throwers and lawnmowers too. Pruners, bait knives, clam and oyster knives. Handy stuff.

[capt jake]

I've been using old bread pans from Goodwill. got the melting pot there too. All of about 45. Works great. Usually pour 12#-20# ingots this way. smile.gif