Cutting Lead

[John Boy]

Stuff that's too big for the pot , how do you get it down to size ?

... about 8x8x8"
Piece of cake ... a weed burner from Harbor Freight. They put out a temperature of 3,000 degrees. Melt into a cast iron post and pour melt into the casting pot

[ColColt]

I did a search and found this baby...puts out 3500 degrees!! That ought to melt my 4x8x2" thick block of lead.

http://www.harborfreight.com/propane...ter-91037.html

[shadowcaster]

Stuff that's too big for the pot , how do you get it down to size ?

Chainsaw , sawzall , skil saw ?



Mike

nanuk I"ve got a 2000lb ingot that I was supposed to have cut a few weeks ago

been too busy, but am gonna use the sawzall and the tarp method...

For large pieces I say that a wood splitter is the only way to fly. There is no mess or filings or dust to worry about, and no gummed up blades. For lead pipe a set of large mouth long handled limb pruner works great... clean cuts & no mess. The other option us to get a larger pot. My bottom pour has 17 inch diameter and will handle large pieces.

Good luck..

Shad

[canyon-ghost]

I've used an industrial band saw at work to cut it, horizontal bandsaw for steel. I've used a sledge hammer and 1" chisel too. Even used a combination of both.

[6mm250]

For large pieces I say that a wood splitter is the only way to fly. There is no mess or filings or dust to worry about, and no gummed up blades. For lead pipe a set of large mouth long handled limb pruner works great... clean cuts & no mess. The other option us to get a larger pot. My bottom pour has 17 inch diameter and will handle large pieces.

Good luck..

Shad

Tarnation ! the answer was parked in my yard the whole time.
27 tons of hydraulic advantage


Mike

[smokeywolf]

I used to cut lead on the band saw. Also used to drill lead regularly. You'll get minimal, if any dust. However, you need a cutting fluid. I used a thin (low viscosity) pink liquid hand soap mixed with 2 parts water. That prevents blade clogging and will pretty much eliminate any threat of dust.
You really have to watch for lead slivers.

smokeywolf

[Gliden07]

I saw a guy on You Tube use a log splitter!!

[6mm250]

I tried out the wood splitter this AM , it did the job but it didn't like it.






Had to go round 'n round



Finally pinched it in two



Then it got some easier.

Down to this



Mike

[gbrown]

You can make a pot out of an old propane bottle or as mine is, an old refrigerent recovery tank--it has a base like the propane bottles. I cut mine with a reciprocating battery powered saw. I have melted pieces up to 14 inches wide in mine. Just saw your pic's. Good job. Where there is a will, there is a way.

[Alan in Vermont]

I tried out the wood splitter this AM , it did the job but it didn't like it.
Mike

Try oiling or greasing the wedge if you try that again. It can't hurt and I'd bet it would make things cut quite a bit easier.

[evan price]

I have a bunch of 4' x 8' sheets of lead from a hospital remodel that was glued to drywall. I unroll the sheets in my yard and then whack them with an axe into long strips that I roll up into logs that will stand up in my pot. Pour some used motor oil over the lead as it heats up and it melts pretty quick once the oil catches fire.

That works a lot better than the old way, which was to try to mahandle the carpet-rolls of lead onto the back of my tractor 3-point and hang them over the pot. That made a mess.

[WilliamDahl]

I did a search and found this baby...puts out 3500 degrees!! That ought to melt my 4x8x2" thick block of lead.

http://www.harborfreight.com/propane...ter-91037.html

It's not just temperature, it's BTUs...

For a piece of lead that small (4x8x2), I just just put it in my smelting pot (cast iron dutch oven). They're pretty cheap and I have a banjo burner that I'm running off of natural gas. Maybe it's not as fast as some of the high pressure propane burners, but it's fast enough for what I need it for. If it was *too* fast, it would cut into my beer drinking time.

[BCB]

Is there a blade available for a reciprocating saw that will cut lead?...

I have some 60-pound ingots and need to cut them into pieces small enough to go in a Lee 20 pounder…

I presently have a course tooth wood blade for it and I just won’t cut the lead…

Don't have access to a log splitter...

I have used a chisel and hammer, but that is WORK...

Any thoughts on a blade for the reciprocating saw?...

Thanks…BCB

[Crosbyman]

If you are close to Houston, bring it to me. My largest smelting pot is 20" diameter, 24" deep, and with precision temperature control.

[Revolver]

So far I have tried chainsaw and log splitter. Chain saw is a lot of work for the operator. Log splitter is a lot of work for the machine, mine is old and complained a lot but worked.

Next year I am going to try to build a solar smelter.

Chainsaw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5oz9IJ_5O0

Log Splitter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1UPjFgISJc

[sqlbullet]

I picked up a metric sheet ton of lead last Thursday, so this topic is apropos:



Those are 3/8" - 1/2" sheets that are about 4' by 4', but folded up.

On Saturday I melted about 600 lbs of it, using an axe to chop it into strips about 8" wide, which I lowered into the dutch oven. It was hot, hard, sweaty work, and left me not wanting to chop the rest.

Yesterday after work I got out my Ryobi 18V tool kit which included a reciprocating saw and a small chain saw. The chain saw was ideal, except for the rate at which it eats batteries. I am not anxious to get my Husqvarna or vintage Homelites in that mix. Too much power in an off purpose use for me to feel like it is a great idea.

So, I am going to buy or build a power converter so I can plug in that saw. I imagine once I take care of the power supply I will have the whole batch cut up in less than an hour.

[WilliamDahl]

Oxy-acetylene or oxy-propane torch? Maybe by moving it fast, you could just melt the lead instead of burning it like you do when cutting steel?

[Revolver]

Oxy-acetylene or oxy-propane torch? Maybe by moving it fast, you could just melt the lead instead of burning it like you do when cutting steel?

I think the problem is that the large lead mass acts like a heatsink and sucks the heat in. Until the whole block heats dramatically not a lot will happen. Dumping all that heat into it will take awhile, but once hot it will probably be smooth sailing.

I'm just guessing.

[WilliamDahl]

I think the problem is that the large lead mass acts like a heatsink and sucks the heat in. Until the whole block heats dramatically not a lot will happen. Dumping all that heat into it will take awhile, but once hot it will probably be smooth sailing.

I'm just guessing.

Unfortunately, I don't have a large enough chunk of lead to try it on, so I'm just guessing also... I'm thinking that the torch would be hot enough to melt the surface of the lead without having to heat up the entire block and the force of the gas would blow the lead to the side or down stream if you had the block tilted. Odds are that a plasma cutter mechanism might work, but you would not want to be heating up the lead to the point of it vaporizing.

[Gtek]

I have put in press with hatchet as blade. Press pushed it right down and it cracked in half at bottom. No dust, no chips, no fumes. OK, the fumes came later. Gtek