Inline FabricationReloading EverythingTitan ReloadingWideners
RotoMetals2RepackboxLoad DataLee Precision
MidSouth Shooters Supply
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 23

Thread: Lead Pipe

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub Wandering Man's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Texas
    Posts
    45

    Lead Pipe

    We developed a leak in the upstairs bathroom. The house is really old, and our plumber was surprised to find a lead drain pipe between the walls to be the cause of the leak. He cut about 6" off and replaced it with PVC.

    I claimed the lead pipe, and now I have a couple of questions:

    1) Does anyone know what percentage of lead the pipe is likely to be? It's a drain pipe, about 3" in diameter. The house was built in 1920, we believe.

    2) The plumber also cut off a shorter piece of the pipe that is still attached to the under sink brass drain pipe. Do I risk contamination if I throw this piece into the smelting pot? Or will the brass/aluminum/whatever float to the top before it begins to melt?

    3) Plumber tells me he's got some old lead ingots he will dig out and give me. Is there any easy way to determine what alloy I'll have?

    Thanks,

    WM
    Never Argue With Drunks or Crazy People

  2. #2
    Boolit Master Ricochet's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Bristol, Tennessee, USA
    Posts
    4,897
    Lead pipe's usually close to pure lead.

    Hardness testing's the only practical way most of us can roughly identify alloys.

    Personally I'm unconcerned with making precise or precisely repeatable alloys.
    "A cheerful heart is good medicine."

  3. #3
    Boolit Master




    Cherokee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Medina, Ohio
    Posts
    2,227
    Treat it all as pure lead and throw it into the pot. The non-lead stuff will float to the top, skim it off.
    God Bless America
    US Army, NRA Patron, TSRA Life
    SASS, Ruger & Marlin accumulator

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    missouri
    Posts
    712
    make ingots out it and then drop one on concrete. It should go thud and get a flat spot. If it does it's likely close to pure, or soft enough to use as.

    The other stuff will float and you can skim it off.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy bradh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Tustin, CA
    Posts
    224
    Just about 100% pure as I recall!

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy compass will's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Okahumpka FL
    Posts
    480
    If it was in use in the last couple days, let it dry first, then bang it around and most of hair and what ever other "crap" is in it should just fall out.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    1,597
    Some times it's fun to be anal about things. Casting is a thing that can be OVER complicated or just plain easy! IF you are shooting small targets far away , a precise bullet and gun should be better than a thrown together plinking gun. I worry about the details to a POINT. After that I shoot for fun. Even my hunting loads aren't so precise that I can hit a dime at 50 yards. I do expect to be able to hit a deers vitals at what ever range I would shoot one. Melt the lead ,if it is real soft use it for muzzle loading. Or mix it for hand gun ammo.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master jlchucker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Northern Vermont
    Posts
    1,209
    All of those lead water pipes and drain pipes that I've found in old houses and on farms seemed to be made of pure lead. If not 100 percent pure, then close enough for boolet purposes. It melts up into really soft ingots, and it casts well as round muzzleloader balls. It mixes well with lino and with wheelweight alloy. Another good pure-lead source is flashing that carpenters use around chimneys and in other roofing applications. I was given a couple of hundred pounds of this stuff and am still cutting off strips to fit into my lead pot to smelt up into ingots.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy billyb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    okmulgee county oklahoma
    Posts
    456

    lead pipe

    i have a friend who is a long time plumber he says that lead pipe is just about pure.if there is any soldier on the pipe it is good stuff 50/50 or better.use it ,it is good metal,the ingots are probley pure,they used pure to pour joints on the cast iron drain pipe.follow thru on the ingots it will help releive the sting of the plumbers bill.. Bill

  10. #10
    Boolit Bub Wandering Man's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Texas
    Posts
    45
    Thanks.

    I am excited about using the pipe.

    Now I have to resist the temptation to tear my house apart ...


    WM
    Never Argue With Drunks or Crazy People

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master
    454PB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Helena, Mt.
    Posts
    5,389
    You got it bad.....to get excited about a 6" piece of lead pipe!
    You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore

  12. #12
    Boolit Master


    randyrat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    North West Wisconsin
    Posts
    2,651
    Yep you got it bad. Most lead pipe i find is so soft it dosen't even go thud. Chances are it is very close to pure.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Posts
    3,213
    You ever come across a bag that looks like lead wool grab it and run. We used to to pack joints, close up casting porosities in pump castings and of course make fishin sinkers. Usually came in 50lb bags. If your local utility company is working on extending large gas mains in your area, those old joints had lead seals very thick and heavy. Old lead window weights and even we made boat anchors out of 1 gallon
    cans filled with lead. Regular anchors would get stuck so the homemade pail full of lead was a lot easier to get free of the rocks. Frank

  14. #14
    Boolit Bub Wandering Man's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Texas
    Posts
    45
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank46 View Post
    Old lead window weights and ...
    Frank
    I was just thinking about the window weights. I've got some in the garage apartment, I think. I wonder if they are lead ... ?

    If I'm not careful, I'll be looking for a new house soon.

    ... and it may look a lot like a doghouse.

    WM
    Never Argue With Drunks or Crazy People

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master



    cbrick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Kalifornia Escapee
    Posts
    8,034
    From the article: Cast Bullet Alloy. The alloy info in the article is from "Key To Metals", a world leader in supplying lead alloys to industry.

    Lead Pipe. Seamless pipe made from lead and lead alloys is readily fabricated by extrusion. Because of its corrosion resistance and flexibility, lead pipes finds many uses in the chemical industry and in plumbing and water distribution system. Pipe for these applications is made from either chemical lead or 6% antimonial lead.

    Chemical Lead. Refined lead with a residual copper content of 0.04 to 0.08% and a residual silver content of 0.002 to 0.02% is particularly desirable in the chemical industries and thus is called chemical lead.

    The copper and silver content of these alloys is insignificant for cast boolits, the percentages are too small. The pipe I've run across was not the 6% antimony alloy and I used it as pure lead. If you find any 6% antimony pipe count your blessings and try to find more.

    Rick
    "The people never give up their freedom . . . Except under some delusion." Edmund Burke

    "Let us remember that if we suffer tamely a lawless attack on our liberty, we encourage it." Samuel Adams

    NRA Benefactor Life Member
    CRPA Life Member

  16. #16
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    87

    lead pipe XRF Scanned: 0.6Sn-3.59Sb-95.9Pb

    [QUOTE=Wandering Man;354439]We developed a leak in the upstairs bathroom. The house is really old, and our plumber was surprised to find a lead drain pipe between the walls to be the cause of the leak. He cut about 6" off and replaced it with PVC.


    1) Does anyone know what percentage of lead the pipe is likely to be?
    Pipe that I've XRF scanned shows:
    0.6%Sn
    3.59%Sb
    95.9%Pb

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master
    454PB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Helena, Mt.
    Posts
    5,389
    It sounds like your pipe was made from wheel weights!
    You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore

  18. #18
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    soda springs Id.
    Posts
    28,088
    extruded pipe will have antimony because it allows the lead to flow easier, even CAME for stained glass windows is now being made with it.

    the old stuff was straight lead with maybe some leftovers in it.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    stl mo
    Posts
    139
    What I'm wondering is what plumber would be surprised that a lead drain from 1920 would leak.

  20. #20
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Posts
    2,911
    window weights in my part of the country are cast iron.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check