been a smeltin!!

[Lloyd Smale]

started yesterday trying to recover what lead i could from the fire. Its a mix of everything form pure to ww to lyno to tin. Most of it was allready casted bullets that i had on shelves everywhere. My buddy tried counting all i had sized and lubed one day and figured it was close to a million bullets. It is all mixed with burned wood and gravel from the floor but ive estimate i have recovered about 1500 lbs and im about 1/2 done. Dont know what alloy ill end up with after i mix and remix and remix but at least ill have some lead to get up and going again. Have to figure a way to cut the big slabs. Its all mixed with gravel. Im thinking a skill saw with a carbide blade but am open to suggestions. Ill have to go buy a saw anyway as mine is toast! Some of them were 4 foot long puddles. It takes two guys just to handle them. Luckily the contractor that cleaned it up was a freind and try to save all he could for me.

[par0thead151]

1500# of lead will net you 91304.34 115 grain 9mm boolits.
no where near 1 million like your buddy was estimating. granted .75 tons is a LARGE amount of lead, but it is nowhere near what you need to make 1 million boolits.
to make 1 mil 9mm boolits you need 16,428# of ingot lead. add 15-30% to that if you are counting raw WW lead as you loose weight when smelting.

[captaint]

Damm, Lloyd, that will be an interesting melt!! Time to get a hardness tester?? Enjoy, Mike

[badgeredd]

Lloyd,

Not being there to see what you're dealing with, I will offer a couple suggestions. Since you said it has gravel mixed in, would it be possible to cut it with a pick ax or a broad head ax? Maybe a BIG chisel with a sledge? I'd suggest a chain saw, but the gravel pretty much kills that Idea. Could you separate it into smaller chunks with a oxy/acetylene torch?

Well that all from me. I don't envy your smelting but like you say, at least you have lead.

Edd

[RayinNH]

Lloyd, you just need a bigger smelting pot, a much bigger pot. You know the kind you see in the cartoons where the natives are boiling someone for lunch :-D...Ray

[wiljen]

sawzall

[Catshooter]

Gravel won't be too friendly to a sawzall blade.

In oxy/actelene flame lead just runs away like water. It's a very effective and fast way to either melt or cut big chunks. And the gravel won't hurt it!


Cat

[Heavy lead]

A skill saw (preferably an older junky one) and a diamond blade. I used a diamond blade I bought to slice granite, I know ideally you should use a wet saw, but it worked just fine.

[ghh3rd]

+1 on the oxy/actelene torch. I once had a chunk of lead that was so big I had no idea how I would ever be able to use it. My father brought out his torch, and the chunk was quickly rendered into strands that were easily bent or cut.

Perhaps you can raise one side of your lead high enough to torch it and let it run into manageable pieces.

Watch out that the gravel doesn't start to explode from its moisture content when it gets heated up by the torch - could be even worse if it does that while it's floating in melted lead.

Sorry about the mess your stuff got turned into. I can tell that you are strong spirited, having already started on your "project".

Best of luck

Randy

[crabo]

Don't hurt your back! Make sure you have some help!

[jar-wv]

If you don't allready own one. rent a chop saw with metal cutting blade.

jar

[Lloyd Smale]

I figure from whats left i will recover about 2500 lbs. I know i probably lost many times that much.
1500# of lead will net you 91304.34 115 grain 9mm boolits.
no where near 1 million like your buddy was estimating. granted .75 tons is a LARGE amount of lead, but it is nowhere near what you need to make 1 million boolits.
to make 1 mil 9mm boolits you need 16,428# of ingot lead. add 15-30% to that if you are counting raw WW lead as you loose weight when smelting.

[leadeye]

An air hammer with a wide point might work.

[Echo]

How about a propane weed burner from HF? Torch as above, allowing the melt to run into convenient containers (old coffee cans?) that can be put into the smelt pot. Or scratch some narrow ditches in the dirt, line with Al foil, and run the melt in there. Should be able to handle those chunks fairly easily.

Oxy-acet might burn up some tin.

But I bet you have some REALLY BIG ingots lying on the ground. +1 for watching out for your back.

Good luck, mate.