Today was a good day. I went to the scrap yard to find lead. They has about 600 lbs of WW and 300 lbs of lead flashing and wire. He was willing to sell it for .55 cents a LB. I talked to the owner and wanted to work something out. Telling him I was willing to go to the source (tire shops) or buy from him. He pays 20$ a bucket that weighs about 140 lbs. I offered him 35$ he said nope. .55 cents a lb.:shock: OK OK I know this is a good price compared to buying lead online. So i went on a run to 3 tire shops. first one was a no go. He re uses them. The next shop said 2- 5 gal buckets a month or so. 20$ a bucket. The next way Discount tire. They have 30-45 lb boxes full of new and used WW. 5$ each. So I picked up 10 boxes for 50$. weighed it when I got home , It was 374 lbs:shock: I was told they get about 2 boxes a week. I now have 2 good suppliers. and about 15 more shops to talk to. May as well stock up. I guess I need to get some ingot molds and a way to melt this stuff down in volume.
the search for lead goes on.
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- Last Post 21 May 2010
Personally, I like the little 1lb ingots made by the RCBS/Lyman/Lee/Saeco molds. Yeah, you gotta spend a few bucks to get'em but the cool thing is you can fit about 70 of them in a 5.56mm ammo can. My whole lead stash is stored in them. Not fun to move, but way more possible than just a stack of ingots.
In order to get that many in a can, you have to alternate them right-side up, up-side down. They fill the can with almost no room to spare.
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Dale, do your ingots ever tend to “stick” in the homemade mold made of angle iron? I have access to a lot of scrap steel to make my own ingot molds, but have been afraid to try it
No, that hasn't been any kind of problem for me, EVER. However, it IS important to have the sides slope a bit so that they do not lock the ingots into the moulds. We didn't have to find that out the hard way - we were lucky enough to have thought of that before we made them.
I have a buddy who is a professional welder and he kindly made me three different large moulds. The larger ingot moulds that you see in my picture, speed up the emptying of my smelting pot. Further, they are small enough that you can stack (on end) several in my RCBS Electric bottom pour pots. I generally just cast a full pot (20 lbs or so) at each setting. I keep each pot full segregated until they are sized and lubed and stored in their own storage containers (covered plastic food boxes) all neatly arranged in rows like little soldiers:D. I use the smaller ½ and 1 lb ingot moulds to help with alloying.
FWIW Dale53
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Someone was heard to say that he had good luck with a log splitter to break down large pieces.
Tom
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If you buy some (like I did) look to be sure they are one-piece pans. The ones I got have seperate muffin tins pressed into and flange-locked to the flat piece. When I flipped it over to dump the ingots, some of the tins seperated from the pan. They still work fine, just have to be put back together each time.
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I use biscuit molds from my wife's old baking stuff. They make a small round ingot that fits well in most electric pots. The teflon coated work or you could spray pans with PAM or some other cooking spray. Store brands are cheaper.
Bob D
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I use the fryer set up almost exactly like this one. I speed things up a little by putting a metal tub over the works to keep the wind off. I also point a a propane torch turned low into the vent hole where the air mixes. It makes a hotter burn. Some day I'll figure out a way to bleed a little oxygen from my cutting set in there and rock out! I like the angle iron ingot molds. The ingots stack up on end in the pot and fill it nicely. I put a vise grip on them for a handle. The fryers are cheap enough to get two and mass produce with a buddy. I tried cutting aluminum cans in half for ingot molds and it produced much misery. The lead stuck to the cans.
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I use a stainless steel bread pan to cast ingots with. Makes a 30-32 pound bar. The ingot falls right out when you flip it over.
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Try a skill saw with a carbide blade to cut large pieces.Use kerosene for lube.I have cut lots of 2 inch aluminum plate with them.
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Hi all you lead hoarders out there. I get wheel weights for about $1 per kilo here in Darwin Australia. $50 for a 20 litre bucket: about 65kg, produces about 55kg of pure ww lead after ingoting.
I found mini meat loaf tins at K Mart the other day that cast a 3 kg ingot. Teflon lined (non stick) they do tend to bubble the bottom of the ingot: presumably something in the teflon out gassing...?
Good cheap mould for 3 for $9. I'm sure this would be much cheaper in the US.
I go around to the tyre yard every 2 months or so, with $50 in my hot little hand looking for more lead... I feel like a lead junkie! Still, I get the feeling that lead ww are commming to an end in the not too distant future so stock piling may be the smart way to go.
Cheers all, and have a merry xmas!
james
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Finally got over to try the jackhammer on the lead blocks. It'll work but will take forever. I'm going to see if I can borrow a torch from a friend.
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That #3 bar sounds like babbit metal which is often mostly tin. Could be you have some 'treasure'.
I also have an other bar of babbit some where in my gun stuff. I've avoided using it because of the possible other stuff in it. So babbit is OK to cast bullets with? The bar I was first talking about is only about wheel weight harness but the bar I'm sure is babbit, is much harder. I also scored a bunch of tin bars. I added about 1/4” off one to a pot of wheel weights and the mix hardened up fast.
If someone on the list is local to the PDX area, I'd be willing to work a deal to swap tin for softer lead.
I think the ax and hammer idea is about the same a hammer and chisel. I'll try cutting up that plate in the next week or two. It's too bad I don't know where to get more of these fork lift ballast plates. Somebody has to be scrapping out these things...
Tony
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Re cutting lead into pot sized pieces, this may sound crazy, but...
I've had good success with an axe held in one hand and a sledge hammer in tother: give it a couple of whacks until the axe is stuck in the lead and then lay on with the sledge hammer with both hands. Cuts really well. If the lead is a hard alloy it tends to fracture early. If pure then you have to cut it all the way through. Easy enough though. I tried a hack saw and then an electric saber saw but the lead acted like a lubricant and gummed up the blade.
Good luck and happy hoarding!
James
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That #3 bar sounds like babbit metal which is often mostly tin. Could be you have some 'treasure'.
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I tried using my metal cutting band saw to cut a chunk of lead into pot sized pieces and it locked up and derailed the blade. I had to take the saw apart to put the blade back on. This is something I don't want to repeat. I've been thinking hammer and chisel but that's a lot of work...
I also have about a bar of what seems to be about 6~8 pounds of lead that has “American Smelting and Refining Company” cast into the top of it and a #3 stamped on the back. The fellow that gave to me has passed on so I don't know much about it's origins. It seems to be about as hard as wheel weights and I plan to melt it into my Lee casting furnace with a propane torch since it's too big to just stick it in there.
I've had the idea to buy a cheap dutch oven and convert it to a bottom pour casting pot so I can melt all my lead in big batches so I can have one uniform batch. I have some pure tin bars and I could toss some into the mix to harden it up...
Tony
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I cut up scrap lead pipe with a hand saw. It has a coarse blade, is easy to wax, and you can melt down the saw shavings. Slow speed, so little dust is generated. Fine blades seem to “load up” and will require cleaning. Duane
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I've cut lead with a Skilsaw with carbide blade, but it's proably not a good idea. A Sawzall with a fine tooth blade(like a hacksaw) goes thru it pretty good. Either way generates heat, shavings, and probably dust, so protect yourself. I'm going to try a small jackhammer on some big blocks of lead I got.
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I have an inch or so think lead plate that was one of many that was used as ballast on a fork lift. Anybody have a good idea how to cut this this thing down to to size so I can melt it down?
Tony
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Just out of curiosity I checked Craig's list to see if anybody was selling lead. There was some. I also saw a few lead wanted ads. Might be another resource for you guys building up your stash. A guy that came to look at a small boat I'm selling said he saw an add by a guy in the bay area (SF) with 20,000 lbs. of lead ballast for sale. Still looking for that one. You guys starting out, don't be discouraged, some of us have been scrounging for a long time to build up the big stockpiles. You'll find some, be persistent. When you pass by a tire shop or recycler you haven't hit lately take a minute and pop in. Some of my best scores have been spur of the moment deals. Even 20 lbs. here and 10 there will keep you busy. Good luck with the hunt, lead is like deer, it's where you find it.
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Tim,
Pig(as in pig lead) is a description of a large, rough casting, from what I understand. It has nothing to do with the purity of the lead. Lead can be purchased in pigs, ingots, etc.
4000 #s. Hmmm. Back in my younger days, my shooting log has between 10 and 12000 rounds per year recorded for 6 years in a row, all cast. At 200gns/bullet, that's 14 years worth. Taking into account I shoot a few 525gn from the 45-70 from time to time, I'd run out about the time I reach 60 (if I still had the time to shoot that much). My goal is 1000# for right now. I'm about 200 short, but knocking it out about 10#/week. That's all I can find around here.
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That large ingot looks like a tractor weight, used to keep the front wheels on the ground. All i have melted down were very close to pure lead.
Ervin
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