X-ray lead for casting?

[Skychief]

Do any extra hazards exist when using lead from x-ray rooms for casting balls?

I hope to hear cold, hard facts instead of conjecture.

I have been given several sheets of very soft lead. The friend which gave it to me has had it for years, but does not know what it had been used for. I asked specifically if it may have been used for x-ray protection. He has no idea.

Thanks for any information you can pass along to me.

Best regards, Skychief.

 

[smoothshooter]

X - rays or gamma rays ( they are different ) leave no residual radiation after passing thru the air or any object. Particulate radiation can be another matter. Examples of radioactive particles would include fallout from a nuclear weapon, or residue from some armor piercing anti - tank rounds after they are fired. As a former school trained industrial radiographer I am sure the sheet lead you are referring to that would have been used for shielding will be just fine.
The general public is unaware that we are exposed radiation every day, particulary if living over underground coal deposits or spending time out in the sun. We were told in radiography school that even Coleman lantern mantles give off small and harmless amounts of radiation.

 

[Skychief]

Thank you smoothshooter. Sounds like you would know. I appreciate your time to respond!

 

[necchi]

That is a good answer, Always appreciate hearing from someone involved in the industry.

We have a regional Hospital in town that's gone through some major renovations the last few years and upgrading several X-ray rooms was part of it. A local metal recycle outfit got all the sheet lead from those rooms and it all sat amongst all the other lead, no "special" care or treatment, I got lucky enough to get a sheet.
Point is, if there was something hinkey about it, it would have been someplace else and not available for the public.
114# @ $1 per pound and I'm down to my last 30-40 pounds of it. It's been good stuff.
Idaho Ron sampled some with his hardness tester and it's a little harder then pure lead, If I remember right it was 7-8.

 

[54ball]

As an old Haz Mat Tech....The chances of getting irradiated by ex ray lead is the same as being sun blinded by a drawer full of old sunglasses.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well there is the toxicity of pure lead, the same as with a cast round ball... you wouldn't want to replicate carrying the ball in your mouth for a quick reload as they did in the day... :grin: ...

An old friend got a couple a hundred pounds of lead sheeting, unused, that was intended as shielding for an x-ray room, but the room was never completed, so they stored the sheeting. When the doctor's office was renovated, the sheeting was given to my friend. They are incorporating the lead into the building materials out here these days, so the sheeting isn't used much.

LD

 

[smo]

As stated above what you have was used for lead shielding The reason they use lead is because the type of radiation used for X-rays won't penetrate it easly Here's a funny story I just heard last night at work. This is a true story however we had a guy store his OSL (an instrument used to measure personnel radiation dose) in the console of his truck.when it came time to read his dose it showed 1200 m/r which is about 4 times that of natural background radioation received per year per person. The investigation turned up that he had an old radium dial compass in his console as well😃 Look at it on the bright side if the lead you have is radioactive. You will be the first to have tracer round balls :slap: :rotf:

 

[htredneck]

I have cast a couple hundred pounds of X-ray lead. I don't glow in the dark and haven't grown any extra body parts yet. It's as safe as casting any other lead. Go for it!

 

[fischereco2]

I work in a hospital repairing surgical equipment, x-ray machines, etc. I wouldn't worry about it. If lead absorbed and emitted radiation than the vests people use to protect themselves would be pretty useless after a few times...

 

[2172]

I have bee using the little lead x-rayshields my dentist use and they cast well and I know of no down side. the dentist is happy as he doesn't have to pay a haz mat guy to get rid of them I think someone in a similar discussion said that radio active material when it has lost its power just turns to lead I don't know my only training was in what the 1950 army called ABC warfare (atomic bacterial and chemical) good luck Hank

 

[rdrash]

I do xray and Gama inspection in the oil field. The lead used is very pure and is replaced very often. On pipelines the mainline use film that comes with the lead preloaded in the lead and is only used once. Ive been planning to start stockpiling it and then start casting this spring.

 

[FishDFly]

:thumbsup:

 

[Robert Egler]

I think someone in a similar discussion said that radio active material when it has lost its power just turns to lead I don't know my only training was in what the 1950 army called ABC warfare (atomic bacterial and chemical) good luck Hank

Yes, some radioactive material becomes lead, but not very quickly. Uranium 235 decays to Lead 207, but the half life of Uranium 235 is 704 million years. U238 becomes Pb206 with a half life of 4.5 billion years.

 

[Rick Boylan]

I think someone in a similar discussion said that radio active material when it has lost its power just turns to lead I don't know my only training was in what the 1950 army called ABC warfare (atomic bacterial and chemical) good luck Hank

Yes, some radioactive material becomes lead, but not very quickly. Uranium 235 decays to Lead 207, but the half life of Uranium 235 is 704 million years. U238 becomes Pb206 with a half life of 4.5 billion years.

Well then, I guess I'd have time to smoke my pipe a bit while I wait. :rotf:

 

[tom deinek]

If the stuff is not hazardous, why does the dentist have to pay a hazmat guy remove it?

My dentist used to give me his foil scrap until the state threatened to give him a ticket for not following disposal rules.

 

[bubba.50]

to keep it out of the environment so the little condors & such don't get a tummy-ache.

 

[Semisane]

If the stuff is not hazardous, why does the dentist have to pay a hazmat guy remove it?

Because the lead itself (not the X-Rays) is a hazardous material, as can be attested to by the deer in my freezer. :wink:

 

[M. De Land]

As an aside question, can lead ingots be sent through the postal service?

 

[Semisane]

Yep. I do it all the time. The USPS $5.95 Small Flat Rate Box will hold about twenty-two pounds of my 1.5lb. ingots. But you must wrap the box securely with good quality packing tape or it will come apart during the trip.

 

[bubba.50]

As an aside question, can lead ingots be sent through the postal service?

you can ship up to 70lbs in a medium flat-rate box. I have bought several 65lb boxes of lead over on the castboolits site. made me a favorite customer to my mail carrier lady(who didn't weigh much more herself :haha: ).