Lead pipe

[mto7464]

I friend of mine called me and asked if I wanted a bunch of lead pipe, I said yes of course. Nice stuff fairly clean and very soft I can bend it by hand. It is about a 1" pipe with wall about 1/2" think. I guess this would be good for BP folks but since I don't shoot BP I'll just hang on to it.
I am guess this stuff is about 100 years old and also about pure lead??? Anyone know for sure?

[Adam10mm]

Don't know. I got a bunch of lead sheets, cable sheething, pipes, etc.

From the LASC.us website:


****Plumbers lead should be nearly pure lead as is cable sheathing, lead salvaged from X-ray rooms and roofing sheets. It may not be pure enough for the purist front stuffers but it’s pretty soft and valuable for alloying with the type metals.

[Dale53]

Lead pipe is pretty much pure lead except for the joints (which are soldered). Most old timers cut out the joints when casting for muzzle loaders. I've sure cast up a bunch of lead pipe in the past 50 or so years.

You must be careful with lead pipe as they normally have deposits inside that can and do hold moisture. The solution is to cut them up in to reasonably short pieces and start them from cold. Any moisture will be driven off as they heat up. Do NOT throw lead pipe into melted lead. This can cause a steam explosion. Pipe can be REALLY bad if left out of doors and freezes. Snow and ice can be inside without the operator noticing. The solution, again, is to start with cold pipe in an empty pot and heat it up gradually. The moisture will be driven off before the pipe melts.

Good catch!

Dale53

[NVcurmudgeon]

As a little guy I spent a lot of time following my father around houses under construction, going back over 60 years. All the pipe I ever saw being installed was galvanized, so your lead pipe must be Stone Age!

[corvette8n]

I had some lead pipe given to me already cut up into 2-3" pieces, I heated them up with a torch to get out any mosture before I threw them into the pot.

[Sundogg1911]

I was given a good bit of lead pipe from a Plumber friend who had removed it. It was nearly pure pb. He told me that He had tossed out tons over the years as He removed it.

[testhop]

I friend of mine called me and asked if I wanted a bunch of lead pipe, I said yes of course. Nice stuff fairly clean and very soft I can bend it by hand. It is about a 1" pipe with wall about 1/2" think. I guess this would be good for BP folks but since I don't shoot BP I'll just hang on to it.
I am guess this stuff is about 100 years old and also about pure lead??? Anyone know for sure?

sounds like your friend may work for the gas co thay used i inch lead pipe to hook the main gas line to the gas meter i was given about 100 lbs a few years back and i also think it was a old practice

[mto7464]

As some have said it does hold water. I melted it down last night after cutting it up. I stuff the cast iron tea pot I use with the pieces. Some had trace amounts of water in them and started to leak out but the shape of the pot helps with any splatter plus I stayed away from it. Made nice looking ingots, very shiney compared to WW. Now what to use it for.

[MT Gianni]

Lead was used as water pipe a long time ago, as drain/waste/vent connections and as joints in between cast iron. To be used in a gas application it would have been a low pressure system under 1/2 lb pressure and no regulator. Water utilities used it also as a connection between dis-similar pipes. Most locations are at the end of a removal cycle after the clean water act of 94? or around then. Treat it as pure lead, if it isn't it will be almost as soft as pure. Gianni

[MT Gianni]

Another plumber source is shower pans under a tile shower. There can be a lot of weight there. G

[Ohio Rusty]

I have some lead pipe also, and it will hold moisture trapped under the layers of hardened gunk. Last year I melted down a piece with a 1/2 inch hole in the pipe. Pipe was probably 12 inches long, with about a bent 8 inches sticking out of the lead pot. I hear it sizzling so I stepped away. Seconds later, the pipe spewed a molten lead 'boolet' out of the end of the pipe all the way across the garage !!
Made for an interesting melting session for sure.
Ohio Rusty