Where can you get pure lead for cheap and of known purity?

[letsmeltlead2693]

I would like to know, where I can get lead for cheap and of known purity? Rotometals is expensive, but they have pure lead, any cheaper sources?

[raingauge]

I get lead here in Billings for .75 a lb, from a scrap yard. Known purity? The best I can do is scratch it with my finger nail, I still have to melt it into ingots. The scrap is old lead pipe, sheet lead from a hospital remodel, and roofing jacks, all very close to pure, if not pure. I'm whining about paying that much, hadn't looked at Rotometals. Ouch!

[para45lda]

I did a google search and found a foundry(?) Within 100 miles of me that does sell to the public. I just went and got 500 pounds of pure. You may be able to do the same.

Wes

[shotman]

how much do you want ?

[stubshaft]

Roofers! The thin lead sheet is pure.

[AR-15 Cowboy]

Where I live its hard to find any lead, yet the good stuff. I say check the local scrap yards for pure lead and make your own concoction.

[letsmeltlead2693]

Going to pull-a-part tomorrow for free WW, just have to pay admission and have to pull the weights off the cars myself. That is hard lead. I want to get 50+ lbs of pure soft lead for $35 if that is possible. If not I am willing to pay $40 at max and I don't even want to pay $35. I want the bluish gray crystallized lead that is soft and pure.

[Down South]

Scrap yards are good places to look. I bought 1,360 lbs of radiation shield the other day for .50 lb but it was from a guy making a haul to the scrap yard. He says the scrap yard offered him 50 per lb.

[fryboy]

while i'd love to get known composition alloy for say 50 cents a pound i have to concede that if the certified pure stuff is what i want then yeah it's gonna cost me , even plumbing pipe can and will vary in composition as some had antimony alloyed into it and some didnt and without a tester there is no way to know , i sadly also have to concede that 1970 prices have left us forever and if they keep jacking up the price of energy everything else will go up accordingly but if you do find some company selling below cost best keep it a secret because once known they will get so swamped they'll have no choice but to raise the prices for the fresh metal they'll have to order in , usually in the swapping and selling section pure lead tends to run higher than ww alloy does by a wee bit , and it runs about a buck a pound [shrugz]

[Blue Hill]

Up here in the Great White North, I paid $1.50 a pound for scrap lead from a scrap yard. I'm confident that if it isn't pure, it's close. Consisted mainly of sheet lead and pipe and all of it marks easy with my thumbnail.
On the plus side, I can get all the wheel weights I want for free.

[imashooter2]

Going to pull-a-part tomorrow for free WW, just have to pay admission and have to pull the weights off the cars myself. That is hard lead. I want to get 50+ lbs of pure soft lead for $35 if that is possible. If not I am willing to pay $40 at max and I don't even want to pay $35. I want the bluish gray crystallized lead that is soft and pure.

You have unrealistic expectations. Revise either the "known purity" you expect or the price you are willing to pay.

[letsmeltlead2693]

I went to pull-a-part today. I met a plumber while I was pulling off WW off of vehicles. He said he had hundreds of pounds of lead from old plumbing joints and it was soft lead. I hope he calls because when I talked my dad got there to pick me up, and walked in the yard and gave them our house number. I hope they call so we can get some free lead. I hope this free plumbing lead works out because I want some free plumbing lead.

[imashooter2]

There's nothing wrong with free lead of any sort.

[SquirrelHollow]

One of my local scrap yards / recyclers will test ("shoot") any piece of metal you are interested in. Pure lead runs $0.70-0.80 / lb. Alloys get cheaper from there. (Until the tin content brings the price back up.)

They sell based on the alloy of the piece, not just a wild guess ..."that looks like pure, doesn't it, Jim?"
Ask around. Your local yards might do the same, or be willing to do the same.

[AndyC]

I'm really curious to know how that "shoot" process actually works.

[Greg5278]

The Shooting the piece part is XRF analysis. Good yards have a Hand held Scan gun that can bounce a beam off a sample and give you the analysis. Some places will do it, ans ome will not. If you are buying quantity, I am sure they would help you out. The going sell rtae here is around $.93-1.00 per pound. Monotype is obiously a bit higher.
Greg

[idahoron]

from old plumbing joints and it was soft lead.

I hope this free plumbing lead works out because I want some free plumbing lead.

Pipes are for the most part very soft but not pure. I have a tester and I have tested a lot of different lead. Pipes are going to run between 6 and 8 BHN. Lead form the walls of a Xray room is going to run 6 to 7 BHN.

The joints on a pipe are solder and they will increase the hardness of the pipe lead if you melt them with the pipes. It is best to melt the pipes be them self's and melt joints by them self's. I keep all lead separate and test each ingot.
I used to buy ebay lead and who knows what. I got hosed so many times I got tired of it. I quit buying lead over the internet unless it is from Rotomtal. Around here local I will buy roof jacks and Xray wall lead. I don't buy Xray foils from the dentist it is hard and I get it free. Ron

[cbrick]

I would like to know, where I can get lead for cheap and of known purity? Rotometals is expensive, but they have pure lead, any cheaper sources?

You have unrealistic expectations. Revise either the "known purity" you expect or the price you are willing to pay.

Agreed, there are realities involved. Roto Metals is cheaper than many places but if your looking for "certified" pure lead you will have little choice but to go to a foundry (such as Roto Metals) that buys bulk off the international market at the current price. Buy anything but certified and your taking somebodies word that it is what he says and it probably isn't. If it was he would be getting the same price as everyone else selling certified lead.

If cheap is your most important consideration you'll have little choice but to buy scrap and gamble on what it is, just like the rest of us.

Rick

[SquirrelHollow]

I'm really curious to know how that "shoot" process actually works.

XRF hand-held analyzers:
http://www.niton.com/Metal-and-Alloy...aspx?sflang=en


.

[letsmeltlead2693]

I live in Nashville. Any of you that live near or in Nashville, know of any scrap yards that sell scrap lead? That would really help me out. I will go for the cheap price over the pure lead price.