How to make Lead powder?

[jabilli]

Curious-
How can I make Lead Powder?

I'm interested in toying with sintering, if anyone is curious as to why I ask.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW: Breathing in Pb powder is especially harmful.

Thanks!

[Sasquatch-1]

A file and a lot of time on your hands?

[dancingbear41]

I was involved a few years ago when our workshop at work wanted to make a radio-opaque epoxy resin for equipment to check geometry of X-ray machines. They had tried filing lead and due to it's softness they found it simply produced tiny shavings. I came up with the solution by giving them a block of hard alloyed lead, basically linotype. They found that they could produce dust with that when filed and it worked well enough when mixed with epoxy resin to produce the desired results.
This may be a way forward but I agree with the "file and time" comment.

Good luck.

Simon.

[jabilli]

Haha It seems that really is the most practical way- Maybe I can make use of my die grinder...Or maybe a belt sander. A little less grease from the elbows. :-p

[dominicfortune00]

Haha It seems that really is the most practical way- Maybe I can make use of my die grinder...Or maybe a belt sander. A little less grease from the elbows. :-p

If you use power tools, make sure to wear a dust mask because the power tools will put a lot more lead dust in the air than a file.

[floodgate]

jabilli:

"In general arguing online is silly and pointless- I don't think anyone in the history of the internet has looked at a counter-statement and thought, "You know, I might have been seeing things a bit wrong. I'm sure glad so and so said that, I'm going to change my views."

Ackshully, I HAVE seen statements like this as a result of discussions here on Cast Boolits, more than once; most of us who post here are open to learning something new, even if it goes against preconceived opinions.

FG

[jabilli]

Case in point- ^ Yours. :-p

I should probably tweak that to say FIGHTING online. Big difference between arguing and fighting.

[sqlbullet]

Looks like you could make a killing if you find a good way to do it. A pound of lead powder goes for $200 or more online.

I think I have been selling to the wrong crowd.

[lavenatti]

"How It's Made" just aired a segment on a company that makes lead vests for use by x-ray techs.

They mixed lead powder with a resin to make sheets of pliable plastic they then sewed into a vest.

I'm sure it's commercially available since very heavy looking buckets of powdered lead were shown in the backgorund.

If I were to try making it myself I would start by making shavings with a file (or power tool).

I would then ball mill the shavings with steel ball bearings. Since this would mash the lead back into large bits I'd add a bunch of table salt to keep the lead particles apart and help with the grinding. This would work better on a very cold day, ball milling generates a little bit of heat.

When it all looked like gray powder I'd dump it into a bucket of water to dissolve the salt and recover the lead powder.

Then I'd go get tested for lead poisoning.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

that's good lavenatti. You got a chuckle out of me.

[I'll Make Mine]

Look up a recipe for pyrophoric lead. It's made by heating a lead compound (I don't recall which one, offhand) in a mass so the lead doesn't oxidize, and produces a powder so fine it can ignite if scattered. Might not work for your sintering, though...

Commercial lead powder is, I think, made like extremely fine shot: spray liquid lead or lead alloy through a misting nozzle and capture the tiny lead drops; sort by size to select the fineness needed and recycle the drops that are too large.

Edit to add: you might also be able to make a fine powder by using methods similar to gold beating -- thin sheets of lead layered between parchment, hammered with a rawhide mallet, cut in quarters and restacked; eventually, you'll exceed the malleability limits and the leaves will break down into fine particles. Do this with gilding brass, you get gilding powder; do it with gold or silver and you get gold or silver leaf (you'd stop before the leaves break down); it should work with lead, but I haven't tried it.

[Sergeant Earthworm]

I think the question ought to be "Should I make lead powder?" The belt sander idea sounds especially risky. If you have a controlled environment with all the right equipment to mitigate the risks I would say give it a try. Minus the right equipment I would say the risk seems to outweigh the potential rewards.

Definitely wouldn't tell the neighbors if I was doing that. Some hypochondriac would have the EPA, Fire Dept HAZMAT, CIA, and NSA knocking on your door and maybe one of BHOs drones flying over your house. I don't even tell the neighbors that I cast boolits, somebody who has no business knowing my business is better off kept in the dark.

[xrae21]

Bunch of lead powder in the bullet trap at my local indoor gun range. To bad they're under contract to a recycler I'd like to get their range lead.

[Jailer]

An enclosed backstop. Make the rear of the backstop perpendicular to the shooting plane and make it with deep sides to contain the splatter. Seems when I shoot steel plates there's nothing left but dust after they impact.

You could produce all the lead dust you need and have fun making it too.

[MBTcustom]

Me!
I confess, I have had my butt handed to me here in forum, and learned from it. I can be hard headed, but I know when I am wrong.
So there, I am one man in the history of online forum that actually swallowed my pride, admitted I was wrong, and moved forward with better understanding. If I'm wrong about something, I want to know about it! However, most of the things I know and believe about boolits and life are pretty solid at this point, so your going to have to do better than tell me that "my hazy beliefs can beat up your hazy beliefs" LOL!
In other words, it would probably take a solid argument backed up by solid fact, and lots of table slapping and pounding before I will get it through my thick skull that I am wrong.

As far as making powdered lead, I've got no idea, but it sounds expensive and dangerous.