Got 600 lbs. of lead covered wire

[brshooter]

A friend pulled out some underground alarm wire. It is 1/2" in dia. and has (2) 14 ga. copper wires in it. Lead coating is almost 1/8" thick, wire is in a black material. I cut it up into 3' pieces. What is the best way to strip the lead off? There is better than 600 lbs. of it. I stripped a couple of tons of hi voltage cable with an air chisel but it was 3" in dia. years ago. Need some help on this one....

[MT Gianni]

How big is your smelting pot? If it is a dutch oven type or larger i would melt it off. Make sure it is dry or start with a cold pot each time. Gianni

[wonderwolf]

How big is your smelting pot? If it is a dutch oven type or larger i would melt it off. Make sure it is dry or start with a cold pot each time. Gianni

+1....when we started doing large batches of WW and HUGE chunks of lead from various sources a large smelter makes like SO much easier.

[johnly]

+2 on the dutch oven.

Use dsome bolt cutters and cut into 8" lengths and start the burner. Copper will disslove into molten lead, so I would remove the wires as soon as they are free. The jacket material is likely PVC and the insulation will also have lead compounds in it, so stay out of the smoke when this material burns off.

John in Oregon

[Ed Barrett]

Save the copper and sell it for scrap, could buy you a few beers.

[testhop]

here is an idea use aone of those weed torches from harbor fright to open it up then let cool pull out the copper wire those torches also work good to rushthe melying in a casting pot got heat on the top and the bottom

[0802]

I've seen that done with a cutting torch, though I know (now) can vaporize the lead (potentially?). Slow going with a torch, but probably faster than in the pot for those of us without massive smelting setups. Two people are a necessity on the torch if you want to keep from melting the copper inside, which was our goal. One to run the torch, one to hold the wire up so you could run the torch quickly down the length of the wire.

[powderburnerr]

score the lead sheath in the middle and pull apart then pull wire out of the other half.........Dean

[creekwalker]

Heat the copper wire up and it will pull through the lead like a hot knife through butter. Wrap one end around a heating element, work with a buddy, use good gloves and move at a smoth and easy pace.

creekwalker

[imashooter2]

Get a 2 or 3 pound hammer and smack the wire on an anvil. The lead should split and then you can strip it off. Cleaned many a pound of copper wire that way when I was a kid.

[454PB]

Years ago I stripped 300 feet of 2400 volt 1000 MCM lead covered cable. To give you an idea, 1000 MCM cable contains 61 strands of #10 copper wire, and is about 1 1/2" in diameter. I laid it out on a concrete slab, then stradled it and walked along smacking it with an 8 pound double jack sledge hammer. It would split like a weenie, and I then pulled of the lead, insulation, and copper core. My employer got the copper, but I got the lead!

[dustinfamily]

I would try every option before the burn it off plan the smoke is gonna make you sick from the pvc also the epa will show up unless you live in the sticks. Definnitly save the copper probably pay for a new mold.
Good luck

[dale2242]

I went to the local metal recyclers last week end. Lead goes for .75 a lb. Copper over $2 a lb. Save that copper!

[mooman76]

I had something some what similar. It was the lead that they use for decerative window glass. Some of it was in gold colored strips that were a different type metal. Get a big pot going(dutch oven as previously stated). Get a good amount of lead melted in the bottom. Cut your lead wire into managable pieces like 1 or 2 foot lengths and just dip the wire pieces into the melted lead. The lead should melt of almost instantly. This way you don't have to try to dig out the copper wire. As the lead builds up make ingots but always keep and inch or two of lead melt in the pot to keep the operation going.

[mtnman31]

I have not stripped lead from the outside of cable before so I am not sure how stiff it is or what it will take to cut it. 1/8 inch sounds like it might be too stiff for this method, but you can think it over.

To remove normal cable sheathing we had a cutter that scores the sheathing and you simply pull the wire out of the sheathing. The cutter is a razor/utility knife type blade that is mounted in a short tube. The blade is set into a slot cut in the tube and protrudes down into the cable. It is adjustable for different depths of cut. The wire is drawn through the tube and the cutter cuts or scores the sheathing as you draw the cable through the gizmo. Once the cable is cut/scored you simply pull the inner cunductors out of the cable through the cut/score leaving the sheathing behind. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the one we used. It is a simple process and very effective for long runs of cable. Your local recycler might even have the device or an industrial version depending on whether or not they process the cable they buy or just resell it in bulk.

The link is for an industrial stripper but can give you an idea of what I am trying to explain. A hand-fed model could easily be made with some tubing or angle iron and a few utility knife blades.
http://www.americanrecycler.com/1204spotlight.html

Another link to a company for wire srtippers. They have a hand operated model. Not really anything you may want to buy, but ideas on how to fashion one for yourself.
http://www.striptec.com/

If you have access to large quantities of wire and cable on a regular basis, it is something you can sell for scap and use to fund your shooting addiction.

[Duckdog]

That lead should be darn near "pure" lead. We used to run into it on the old underground electric services we would retire. The last time I did bout that same amount, I left it in longer peices and scored the lead just as mentioned. If it is pure lead, then just put the lead in a vice and grap the wire and start pulling. It should follow the score in the lead jacket and pull out pretty easy.

For scoring the lead, we used our skinning knives for wire insulation. A more readily available knife is a plain old linoleum knife.

[cohutt]

This one i might try and negotiate a trade for pure lead or ww with my scrap dealer. I live in town and the smelt methods would be too stinky probably, other stuff sound like too much trouble to me.

But then again i've spent hours digging in an old backstop berm for lead ore and smelting the results, so should really never say never....