Painted lead bricks

[RDub]

Hey

I got some lead from work in the form of bricks.. they were used for shielding.
Anyway someone got the brilliant idea to paint them with 'several' coats of white paint.

I'd like to get these melted down into ingots but wondering about the paint.. Never run into this before.

Should I attempt to remove before or go ahead and melt and let it.. what will it do?

Thanks

[220swiftfn]

..........smoke..........


That's about it, stay upwind, same as wheelweights......



Dan

[GP100man]

More than likely pure & the paint is epoxy based paint ,very stinky toxic smelling.

[Chilmonty]

Yeah no problem smelting, just a good time to wear a respirator and stay up-wind!

[Smoke4320]

send them to me :) :) I will put an end to them.. Just think of all the misery I will save you from .. Melting into ingots.. them melting again into alloys and casting .. then having to load them and then all the time taken to shoot and clean you guns afterward..
and my service is Free :) :)
AS said before melt OUTSIDE ...stay upwind and mask .. you should be fine ..

[historicfirearms]

Before I started casting I worked decommissioning a nuclear plant. We removed hundreds of tons of shielding lead from the spent fuel pool and other "hot areas". Most of it was contaminated, but I sometimes wonder if it could have been cleaned easily. I know if we were doing that job now, I'd sure give it a try. I could have gotten several lifetimes worth of lead.

Good score. I would try melting a couple bricks and see how bad the smoke is. You might be able to ignite the smoke once it gets hot, and burn off most of the smoke.

[Sensai]

Whack a brick with a hammer and see what happens. Paint doesn't stick to lead very well, and usually if the lead is deformed the paint comes right off. If it doesn't then I'd just melt it with the protective measures already mentioned. If it comes off easily, though, it will save a lot of noxious fumes.

[runfiverun]

yep paint don't bend too good.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

another thought is to "toast" the paint with a torch. If so, 99% of it may just scrape off easily afterward.
Jon

[Hardcast416taylor]

I`d almost want to make a guess that those bricks are soft lead.Robert

[quilbilly]

Just melt the lead outdoors when there is a bit of a breeze. I do this all the time when I have to recast painted lead fishing jigs.

[montana_charlie]

Be extremely cautious!
If that happens to be lead-based paint, you could be seriously ... err ... nevermind ...

[RDub]

Ok, thanks.. Some good ideas..
No.. I'm not givin any away.. :)

Yes, this stuff is pretty soft. There were a few that weren't painted, and mixed with some LT worked out well.

Lead poisoning.. That's funny.. [smilie=l:

[dilly]

Did you consider trying to spray off the paint with a pressure washer? May save you a bit of stink.

[RDub]

Well now there's another possibility.. Just happen to have one. Thanks

[GLL]

Be extremely cautious!
If that happens to be lead-based paint, you could be seriously ... err ... nevermind ...

Love it ! :) :)

Jerry