Sheet of Lead

[The Dove]

I got a sheet of lead (approximately 2'X2'X5/8 inch thick and I need to melt it down to ingots. My question, how do you recommend I cut it down to fit in my 8-10 inch cast iron pot? Can you use a saw?

The Dove

[Orygun]

I got a sheet of lead (approximately 2'X2'X5/8 inch thick and I need to melt it down to ingots. My question, how do you recommend I cut it down to fit in my 8-10 inch cast iron pot? Can you use a saw?

The Dove

Hmmm, on thinner sheets I use tin snips, but on 5/8" I might try tapping a line with a hammer & chisel and then bend/break apart.

Or if you lead pot is large enough, fold and hammer flat as possible then add to pot.

[SWIAFB]

Tin snips, or roll it up and stand it on end, it will melt down into the pot. If you stand it on end you had better have all your safty gear on. Glasses, gloves, long pants,not shorts, and closed end shoes. Thats how I smelted my first cach of pure lead. After it melts, stir, stir ,flux, stir. flux. stir. Some how or other a lot of trsh sticks to it.SWIAFB

[Bullshop]

If you have a couple wood blocks, something about like 6"x6" or larger about 1' to 2' long your in good shape.
Set the blocks side by side about 2" apart. Lay the sheet over the blocks. Now take an ax or a stout hatchet and start at one end striking downward toward the ground and just keep walking the cut backward.
No lead loss this way. With a saw you will loose lead to the curf. The wider the curf the greater the loss.
Blessings
BIC/BS

[GLL]

Bullshop's idea is best but since I am much lazier I use a medium size Makita electro-pneumatic demolition hammer with a wide chisel bit. It will cut through that 5/8" stuff like butter !

Rolling up 5/8" stuff will require a bit of hammering!

Jerry

[KYCaster]

A circular saw with carbide blade works just fine. Do the cutting over a sheet of plastic or a tarp to catch the chips and add those to the melt.

Just don't let the blade get too hot. Use mineral spirits as a lube/coolant if you have a lot to cut.

Jerry

[montana_charlie]

You only need to cut it once, down through the middle. Then, you should be able to beat the two halves into tubes that will fit (on end) in your 8-10 inch pot.

But, I would rig a tripod (or something) to lower a tube into the melt with...
Not to make it easy to add lead - but to make it easy to stop more lead from melting if the pot gets full before the tube runs out.
CM

[The Dove]

Thanks for all the great advice. I finally took it to a buddy and he cut it up with a cutting torch and saved all the slag that fell off during the cutting. :drinks: Don't have any idea what the sheet was from but it is a hell of alot shinyer than the wheel weights I melted down????:confused:

Thanks again

The Dove

[schutzen]

A cutting torch is not the best idea. Oxy-acetylene torches burn at 5300 degrees F. That is 4000 degrees above the vaporization point of lead. Inhaling the fumes from cutting will deposit lead in you blood stream.

I would not worry about a one time deal, but I would not make it a regular practice.

[The Dove]

10-4 Schutzen. Thank goodness for the Oklahoma wind to keep the fumes/vapors out of the breething zone while cutting.

The Dove

[RP]

next time use a saw saw with a wood blade no kickbacks and less fumes

[bpost1958]

I use a propane torch with a fine tip to "cut" sheets of lead. It may be slow but there is no waste.

[sniper65]

Hello to the group, just wondering where do the lead sheets come from? I haven't seen any in my area. Even the WW are hard to come by. I did get an offer from a guy to sell me 158 lbs of ww for .15 a lb. And I am jumping on it. Thanks and God Bless
Sniper65

[Firebird]

Thin lead sheets come from plumbers who are ripping out old shower pans and roofers taking off old lead flashing from brick chimneys and older lead roofing. Thick lead sheets come from remodeling of hospitals, doctor & dentist offices that had their own X-Ray machines complete with a lead lined wall for the staff to get behind when they shot you with the X-Rays. Lead boxes come from hospitals that do radiation therapies and get the radioactive material delivered in the lead boxes.

[dromia]

Welcome aboard sniper65.:drinks:


Congratulations on your WW scoop, it'll be the first of many.:-D

[sniper65]

Hey thanks for the info Firebird, and thanks Dromia for the warm welcome. I had checked around and the other place I looked at the prices for the ww's was around a $1 a pound. Real big difference in price. Now all I need is a good 9mm mold. Thanks again and didn't mean to hijack the thread. God Bless.
Sniper65

[testhop]

I got a sheet of lead (approximately 2'X2'X5/8 inch thick and I need to melt it down to ingots. My question, how do you recommend I cut it down to fit in my 8-10 inch cast iron pot? Can you use a saw?

The Dove

the i would do it is lay the lead on the ground take an ax and chop works fine
with no waste:coffee:

[Sig shooter]

I would use a skill saw ( worm drive slower RPM ) with a carbide rip blade . I have cut 3/8 aluminum . I don't think the blade will load up or over heat .

[The Dove]

Hey Sig Shooter

I Love my .45 Sig P-220. What's your favorite?

The Dove

[Sig shooter]

The Dove

I do like the P220 the whole single stack mag , it feels good to me . I just bought a 226 .40 cal basically the same size as the 220 very nice as well . But the 220 is still the more accurate one "now " it has some trigger work - lighter springs - pinched slide . It shoots better than my Springfield armory trophy match .45 at times .

I am not a belly gun / CCW guy , So the small guns don't thrill me.

[jawjaboy]

Only 5/8" thick? Bend it in half, or almost half. Soft enough for that? Might have to use a vise and a 2 pound hammer. Could be worth a good cipher.

[canyon-ghost]

I have cut lead on a shop saw, horizontal bandsaw. I think the stuff was 1/8 in. thick, from an old x-ray room at a hospital. It's pure lead. Might be why it's so much shinier. Anything with the teeth pattern like a hacksaw will work.

[mold maker]

Any band saw with a course tooth blade will cut the lead in any thickness with no damage to either saw or major loss of lead. Most wood working shops have a band saw. If the lead chips and some sawdust are added to the melt they act as flux.
I've personally cut up to 4" thick and absolutely no problems. It's safe, fast, and easy.