Lead storage

[master caster]

Does lead oxidize faster if around moisture? I am trying to figure out where to put my lead ingots for long term storage or until used. Lets see some of your lead piles in their storage eras. I have seen some in a few posts and tried to do a search but no luck. I have too much junk to put them in the room i am planning to reload in.

[grullaguy]

If you don't have 1000s of lbs of ingots, look at storing them in plastic pails such as cat litter containers. If you are planning on moving them later, don't fill them up.

[runfiverun]

yes it does.

[bootsnthejeep]

I used five gallon bucks filled about half way with ingots. With the snap-on lids. That's about all I can lift. It's still a chore. Lot of wasted space tho.

And I just noticed that one of my buckets must have had a rough winter, the lid was cracked and now the bucket is full of water too. Might have to re-smelt those again. Slowly.

[master caster]

I have been putting them in small milk crates in the cellar. It looks like i will be running a dehumidifier to keep it dry in there if i can. Sure would be nice to have a pallet of ammo cans lying around. I figured that there would be pictures of huge lead piles already.

[geargnasher]

These days, you have to be careful about advertising your stash!

That being said, I keep a "working" stash of clean ingots, pre-alloyed and ready to go in small wooden crates I built that stack under one of my benches in the indoor reloading room. The rest is in "raw" form in 5-gallon buckets in the shop, pipe organ scrap, roofing lead, and wheel weights. It won't corrode any more than it already is if the buckets don't actually get wet.

Gear

[Czech_too]

I don't have anything in the way of 'tonnage' in lead, well maybe several hundred pounds, but I've gone to using milk crates, the metal ones IF you can find them and stacking them on their side one on top of the other. Soft goes into one, WW into another and so on. I don't intend to move these and they don't take up a lot of room. BTW these are all kept indoors in the work/loading room.

[master caster]

Well how about lead piles that got sunk in that unfortunate boating accident. I know when I get some ingots made i will have to get a gun. LOL

[imashooter2]

I put the ingots back into the 5 gallon buckets that the ore came out of and snap lids on to keep the dust and dirt out. They fit pretty much 2:1 (2 buckets of raw makes 1 bucket as ingots). A picture would look like a bunch of 5 gallon buckets lined up against a garage wall with magic marker on the lid to identify contents as range scrap, WW or what have you.

There are lots of picture of large lead piles on the board. A search will find them for you. I don't have any pictures of the whole stash, but here are the results of a few of the last smelting efforts...

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/smelt1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/smelt10-30s.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/done600.jpg

[runfiverun]

i coulda showed you a big lead pile at one time, in fact a 1 ton 64 international pickup bed well over 1/2 full of ww's all picked through and nothing but clip ons,with another 10 buckets of nothing but stick on's under a nice aluminum shell.
all from the 80's through early 90's production.
but they disappeared along with the aluminum shell one night.
i have been trying to replace the ww's ever since.

[AndyC]

I just stack my ingots against the garage wall; I don't really worry about oxidization or anything of that sort.

[zxcvbob]

I have some black plastic nursery pots from planting trees. I think they are about 7 gallons. I put them against the wall in the garage (where I hopefully will never have to move them) and then just fill 'em up. The black plastic doesn't get brittle with age like white plastic buckets.

[master caster]

If you would quit doing so much lube testing your lead would go farther. LOL. Wow I had something like that happen to me also except they disappeared early one night and when i came around the next morning i realized that they were in ingots but only 50 pounds left. That was not straight soda i was drinking i guess. Got to watch out for the scrappers running down the alleys must of got all but 50 pounds or so. When i find more i will set up a trap and catch them next time. The buckets my scrap came out of would not hold what was in them to begin with. They were so full of crud they went to the trash i have little kids and a good dog i want to keep. My shop walls have no room since that is where the car stuff goes. Buckets would be nice but the milk crates stack up and don't take much room up, with what i got.

[Gtek]

If it gets white stuff on it, no big deal it melts the same. Keep your fingers out of your nose and mouth when you play with it and you will be fine. Gtek

[zxcvbob]

You could just stack them up on the ceiling joists ;)

[Bullet Caster]

Nice lead stock, imashooter2. I don't have any lead stashed. It gets made into boolits as soon as I get the lead which is not very much to begin with.

I can only dream of lead stashes. However I did find some lead locally and plan to pick it up on Monday. I'm sure that the ingots I pour won't make it through the week, though. They will be made into boolits ASAP. BC

[Defcon-One]

I store mine out back on the loading dock!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/178454f9b614c09132.jpg

I would guess it is about a quarter million pounds, but it depends on the day!

Is that big enough for you?


Just kidding.......

Mine all goes into homemade wood boxes next to the bench. Water will cause a white powdery oxidation. Not good stuff to get in your work area.

[master caster]

Which pile holly smokes. Nice shop LOL. Now I know why there is a lead shortage around here. What is that used for? My lead pile wont last long when i learn to go from the casting process to the reloading process. Still need to get equipment transferred to my reloading room from where it is resting just waiting to be used again. The equipment is my dads stuff and he has passed

[geargnasher]

Well how about lead piles that got sunk in that unfortunate boating accident. I know when I get some ingots made i will have to get a gun. LOL

OHH! Well, if you put it that way, here's what my crates "used" to look like:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31724&d=1303524419

Gear

[AndyC]

Wayyyyy too neat - I'ma hafta confiscate it all, sorry :)

[kelbro]

Careful. One of the greenies might see your stash and have your property declared hazardous! Bunch of guys with Tyvek suits and respirators will come in and remove the public health menace.

[Blammer]

that looks like them "cast boolit" moulds. :)

I'd like to make some wooden crates like that but that would require more work. :)

[geargnasher]

that looks like them "cast boolit" moulds. :)

I'd like to make some wooden crates like that but that would require more work. :)

Yup! I actually made the crates for my 1-lb angle iron ingots (visible in the pic also). The bottom of those crates are 2x6 scraps I had, and the 6" strips of plywood were leftovers from another project. The double-row of CB ingots fits just perfectly on the 2x6, and ten long, so three double rows makes 60 ingots, or about 55 lbs of WW lead per crate, which is more than I want to lift most days. Liquid Nails and some reclaimed random screws and nails holds them together. I was going to make some rope handles, or maybe cut some slotted holes in the ends for grab handles, but that whole laziness thing kicked in at that point. At least I managed to finish breaking all the sharp edges with an orbital sander before I lost interest:roll:.

Gear

[bumpo628]

Careful. One of the greenies might see your stash and have your property declared hazardous! Bunch of guys with Tyvek suits and respirators will come in and remove the public health menace.

Nope, that won't be necessary.
Remember? Tragic boating incident...

[Jamesconn]

Don't have much of a pile at all right now but when I do I'll probably put it in an old pickup toolbox with a good seal.

[mac1911]

I stack the stuff where ever possible. Out side I use anything thats weather tight. A old truck workbox works great. Those job lot boxes are good also. 80% of my smelted/fluxed lead goes out side in buckets which are in a colapsable container that turbine props where transported in. Keeps them nice and dry. When I go to cast. If the lead I plan to use is not all nice and shinny still I run it through another fluxing before going into the casting pot.

[AndreaCarrara]

Hallo everyone...I can say that sea breeze is not healthy for lead. On board my vessel we have lead plugs for the so-called "false shackles"; they are about 1 1/2 pound each, stowed down the bosun's store in the forecastle and, 2 1/2 years after the ship's delivery from yard, they are all covered by a white dust.
I told the boss in the office they need to be replaced......http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif
Now, I think I have to go up the bridge to check out the status of sounding lead, You know, that thing about 10 pounds heavy used to sound the water depth around?????
Cheers to the forum.
Andrea (sailing from Long Beach to Rio de Janeiro)

[badbob454]

i have 3 truck bed toolboxes 1 is full of mixed coww's 1 is for my coww ingots.. 1 is currently empty had ammo in it ,.. my tin and lino stereo type and monotype are in metal ammo boxes 1x2x21/2 ft 2 full of that and 1 full of plus tin #% added coww's just keep em out of the rain is good enuff i have sorted coww lead pure in 4 5 gallon buckets to melt and ingotize ..is that a word?

[40Super]

I left a bunch of fresh ingots outside on the sidewalk cooling overnight.It rained and the next day those ingots were all covered in oxidation.really crummy looking now.Definately they need to develope there micro oxidation layer under dry conditions to help them "keep" best.
So far my stash is just sitting on a table or window sills in the garage.

[alamogunr]

OHH! Well, if you put it that way, here's what my crates "used" to look like:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31724&d=1303524419

Gear

My crates look similar. I made them from scrap crates I got while I was working. They came from a sister plant in Sweden that shipped us parts. I wanted to be able to move them around and they already had handles. I pried the handles off and cut the boxes in half so I now had two boxes half the original height. A new bottom on the top half and new handles and I had boxes that held approx 100lbs each of my biscuit ingots.

[lwknight]

Lead oxidized really good outdoors and not so much in a dry location.

The small the ingots are , the more surface area per pound to oxidize.
I keep most of my bulk stash in 25 pound bricks.
Its easy to inventory that way too.
For the purest blue lead , I give them a coat of clear paint.
It makes them easy to spot as pure lead and stops oxidization.

[imashooter2]

Do you have a pouring pot that handles the 25 pound blocks or are you smelting into ingots that you have to smelt again to use?

The former, I'm jealous. The latter, I'm not understanding the utility of the intermediate step.

[Down South]

I built a pallet out of 2"X6" scraps I had laying around. My ingots are stacked on the pallet in my shop and have been for several years with no apparent oxidation. My shop is completely enclosed and stays dry.