plumbers pipe.

[Catsmith]

I melted my first plumbers pipe today. Wonderful smell! I was crusty inside but not really bad. When i got it all melted and cleaned off the top, i noticed that if i scraped the pot bottom dirt and other stuff would float up. Never had that happen. Is that normal? What could i use to scrape with to make sure to get it all off the bottom?

[imashooter2]

I like to use the large commercial paint stirrers made for the 5 gallon buckets. Most home centers hide them behind the counter, but they still give them away free if you ask.

[runfiverun]

i get as much lead outta the pot as quickly as i can before it starts oxidizing.
then worry about the bottom when i get there.

[tinsnips]

The stuff in the bottom is more than likely rust or minerals from the inside of the pipe I use a wood stick to scrape the pot the wood also act as a flux to help separate the junk from the lead.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

That plumbers pipe makes some great soft lead! I've done a bunch and know what you mean about the crud on the bottom. I use a metal kitchen spoon (large) and scrape with that. You can leave some of the lead in the bottom of your pot and once cooled, it will come out and leave that junk on the bottom of your smelting pot. Scrape it out with whatever. Be careful with that old pipe. Water can be trapped in a clogged pipe, so I never add to the pot once it is melted. It takes just a little, a real little bit of moisture under that melted lead to cause an explosion that you will not want to remember. Get all that pipe you can. Pure lead can be hard to find.

[jimb16]

I just use a long bladed screw driver to scrape the sides and bottom. Works for me.....

[303Guy]

Yup. Lead drain pipe is my primary source of lead. Fun stuff to melt down. :roll: The wood stick cleans up the melt just fine.

[s1120]

OK so I have to ask. Ive worked on some old houses, and been around a bit, but I have never seen any lead pipe. When was it used, and what was it used for?

[Catsmith]

It was used for drains. I have seen it in walls and going down to connect to the cast iron drain lines underground. Around the joints will have some solder but the mainline is really soft stuff.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I forgot about the joints. I cut the joints off and use them in a different batch. The straight old pipe is what is really soft lead. The joints are a little harder. It may not matter to you and your application.

[dondiego]

A lot of lead pipe in the 1 to 2 inch range was actually used for water main to supply water to homes. They dug up several hundred feet of it in my home town a couple of years ago. Luckily, one of the city workers on the project knew that i might be interested in it and threw it in his truck and brought it to me. There was at least 300 pounds of pure lead pipe for me to smelt! I still keep a few feet of the pipe in the barn and make lead rings for bushings and washers as needed. It always pays to let all of your friends know that you want any and all types of scrap lead, tin, solder, and wheel weights. People will save a pound here and ther for you and it adds up.

[captaint]

I will always cut up my lead pipe with a hacksaw into, maybe 6 in pieces. That way you can be SURE all of the moisture is dried up, before smelting. I put the lid on the pot also, just in case. One never knows..... Mike

[dondiego]

I used a chisel and cut my pipe to about 6 inch lengths also and made sure that I could see through to the other end. I used a cast iron Dutch oven and a propane turkey cooker outside in the yard. I did have one incident with some moisture on a valve that I was trying toget all of the lead off of. It splattered a little bit but didn't release the tin fairy! Made me sit up and take notice though.

[Huntducks]

If your using a cast iron melting pot let it cool and dump it over and give it a few wacks with some wood.

If your using your casting pot that you pour boolits from your asking for a problem.

[savingprivateyang]

I dont know if it's just me, but the lead pipe I smelt is not pure lead. Atleast I'm pretty sure it isn't... Compaired to the sheet lead I smelt, it doesn't have the purple/blue look to it when it's cooled. All of my sheet lead ingots are purple/blue. The pipe lead ingots are a grey/silver color. I keep the joints out of the melt and make separate ingots out of just joints.

[plainsman456]

I chop up the pipe with a small axe in 6 inch pieces or so.
After hitting it with a small hammer to knock out as much crud as i can.

Some of the joint pieces had some kind of steel wool or something mixed in.

This stuff was far dirtier that anything i have melted before,but it made for about 100 pounds of corn muffins.

[tinsnips]

Some of the real old houses had lead pipe for lav drains,the stool flanges and 90 were lead. The old school tub traps[drum trap]were all lead.Most old houses had lead water service lines.

[stu206]

If you want pure to 99% pure lead, check out your local telephone repair crew that works on the cables. Good source for cheap lead and still able to get around 300 to 400 pounds a year. I cast round balls for the black powder rifles using phone lead and have since around 1980 timeframe, have around 1400 lbs of lead on hand here at the house. Now to get best mold for my 762x39 and 9mm/380 so I can cast a few thousand to have on hand. Do cast for 357 in a 132 gr that I am testing in my 357Mag.