Lead?!

[Loyalist Dave]

You might consider buying up a bunch now, as the price will likely go up, and supply may be restricted in the future. No telling what the EPA or your local State House will do.

I wonder if I could pick some up if I made a road trip to Lake Placid, Florida? I wonder what they'd charge for a 75 lb. ingot? That would be 2100 rounds of .530 ball. Two such ingot would probably cover me for the rest of my life.
https://www.pureleadproducts.com/

LD

 

[dsayer]

I get lead from a vendor on a different forum. Not sure I'm allowed to mention by name but there are quite a few with "dual memberships." She doesn't have pure lead but I get ignots cast from stick on WWs and it's soft enough that it makes a "thud" when dropped on the garage floor and I can scratch it with my thumb nail.

 

[nessmuk]

I got 50# from my neighbor from his son's midget race car. If the car and driver do not meet the minimum weight for the car and driver, they add lead to the car. As the kid got older and heaver the lead came off the car and I got it.

 

[Nessmuck56]

Makes your eyes red ,just looking at it. 100 lb ingot...iam still carving up my first 100 Lb ingot.

 

[necchi]

Nessmuck, How's that workin out for ya?
Been thinking about getting one myself. Ingot's and Pigs are the cheapest,,
,, but does the labor and cost of "propane" make it worthwhile?
I do know ya don't knock chunks off that with an axe! A ya cain't cut it with a saw,,

 

[8 BORE]

Wheel weights work very good.
A lot of fluxing. I get it in 5 gallon buckets. Its not pure but after cleaned and in 1pound ingots you can scrape it with your finger nail

 

[Nessmuck56]

Nessmuck, How's that workin out for ya?
Been thinking about getting one myself. Ingot's and Pigs are the cheapest,,
,, but does the labor and cost of "propane" make it worthwhile?
I do know ya don't knock chunks off that with an axe! A ya cain't cut it with a saw,,

I just use my air hammer ...and shave pieces off...and throw them in the Lee furnace...piece of cake !

 

[8 BORE]

I have 2 old lyman cast iron furnaces and they still work.

 

[nessmuk]

Nessmuck, How's that workin out for ya?
Been thinking about getting one myself. Ingot's and Pigs are the cheapest,,
,, but does the labor and cost of "propane" make it worthwhile?
I do know ya don't knock chunks off that with an axe! A ya cain't cut it with a saw,,

When I got the lead it was in three 10# and one 20# ingots. I used a turkey fryer burner and an old cast iron pot I got at a yard sale. It takes a few minuets to heat up the pot then the lead melts quickly, the fryer burner burns HOT and it took about 45 minutes for the 20# ingot to melt then I ladled it into the molds and all finished. As for the cost of the propane plus the cost of the pigs or ingots it is still cheaper then buying roundballs

 

[FishDFly]

With the Chinese taking over the corporate world, does anyone know of a domestic source of lead? (I had to leave a literal lifetime's supply behind when moving from Alaska...)

Go to your local re-cycling place where they buy aluminum cans and other metals. Roofers are source as well.

Go to a plumbing place that sells to plumbers, they have lead ingots, I believe they are 25 pounds.

 

[Popstoo]

What are the pros and cons of using old car batteries to cast with?

 

[Kansas Jake]

Old batteries contain a lot of stuff that is nasty to get rid of for the amount of lead in them. There are better sources as many of the above have noted. Not many pros in old batteries and the cons include the acid in them.

 

[Stumpkiller]

The terminals of old car batteries are good. The inside plates - no.

 

[RHensley]

Go to your local re-cycling place where they buy aluminum cans and other metals. Roofers are source as well.

Go to a plumbing place that sells to plumbers, they have lead ingots, I believe they are 25 pounds.

Lead at the plumbing supply has gotten pretty exspensive;. The last I bought was almost 20bucks per 5 lb. I onced worked at a recycling co. and the old pipes with lead came in I bought it for cost. about 10 cents a lb. I still have about 100 lbs.

 

[Eutycus]

Old fishing weights and weights off of throw nets. Are these pure lead or are they hardened like wheel weights. And if you blend them in a 50/50 mix will the lead be that much softer than just wheel weights.

 

[Coot]

Hard to say what was used in fishing weights - some old ones may be pure lead but many were home cast out of wheelweights or whatever. Best to save any pure lead for those applications such as minie balls and revolver balls that require it & to use harder stuff for say roundballs to be shot from a smoothbore.

 

[Nessmuck56]

Old fishing weights and weights off of throw nets. Are these pure lead or are they hardened like wheel weights. And if you blend them in a 50/50 mix will the lead be that much softer than just wheel weights.

If you can scratch a grove with your thumbnail in the lead...your good to go.

 

[Eutycus]

These are older weights, not home made. I even used a knife to cut off tghe weights from the net. A neighbor gave me several pounds.

 

[RHensley]

These are older weights, not home made. I even used a knife to cut off tghe weights from the net. A neighbor gave me several pounds.

Old cast iron plumbing joints have really good lead when you can find them. A pair of safety glasses and a hammer and your in business.

 

[Doc Z]

It is really good to have friends and family in the right place. My in-laws are plumbers and provide me with new and recycled lead. My son works at ISU as Project Coordinator for new and remodel classroom and laboratories in the Facilities Management Dept. at ISU. Old window sash weights from old buildings and counter weights on lab hoods plus a bonus of tearing down the old nuclear reactor (18" lead lined walls) has created a stash of about 900# of pure lead. If I alloy, I use only pure zinc - no wheel weights or linotype. Don't think I'll live long enough to use it all up.
DocZ