about lead pipe

[Nose Dive]

Hmmmm...well gee.... The "lead Pipe' idea, or, finding true old lead pipe, and smelting it down is always a cool and good idea. IMO.

Now...if you look at some of the UTUBE inclusions, it does not show...well...'lead pipe' but cast iron pipe and jointed together by lead and oakur. This was a very good sealing system for SEWERS and drains and such. If DONE RIGHT, it provided a water tight seal and could, over time..move a bit...give a bit as the soil moved and still keep things in the pipe. Now, having been charged on a few occasions to make these type of 'water tight' seals between two different pieces of pipe, it can be messed up. (ask me how I know). So...'now-a-days'.... we don't do lead seals. We do rubber, or some scientific composite. They too work well...again..."if done right"....these too can be screwed up...and...again....(ask me how I know)...

So guys... I think we are talking about two different topics here...

1. Lead Pipe
2. Lead seals on Cast Iron Pipe

Lead pipe is just what we call it. PIPE..that was made out of lead. And, yes, unfortunately... it was used for a time as 'water feed lines' to residences and buildings. I think we are all now informed and bright enough to know the danger in this old piping spec.

I love it when I find old Lead Pipe. Not cast...but Lead. I grab all I can and smelt away. I too, love it when I find old cast pipe and can grab the lead seals and oakur and dump into my smelt pot. Now keep in mind....the cast offerings I come across now-a-days are old sewer lines and provide 'nice aroma and antigens'. And,,,if you are 'made to take all'...after you extract the lead seals...YOU have to dispose of the old lead pipe. I avoid this.

So...to end this little bit of ecclesiastic prose, I grab all the old lead pipe and seals I can. Smelt it with the oakur, some sawdust, some sulfur and get on with the fun. I always come away happy with the ingots and make them then ready for the casting pot.

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two

[Sasquatch-1]

Most waste pipes were cast iron. You get lead from the joints.

is sewer pipe different in some way? what I get is maybe 1-1/2 in' in dia. with traps too sometimes, that would be grey water, actual sewer pipe, is it bigger or have less or more sb?

[Oklahoma Rebel]

ok, thanks. how many pounds of lead pipe can be found on average from a medium house (1400 sq ft?) I may have one... knock on wood!!!!!!

[quail4jake]

Lead pipe can be a great source of soft lead but some was made of antimonial lead and the joints are soldered. Look at the 1947 National Lead catalog that someone was kind enough to post on cast boolits. My approach with any unknown scrap lead is to empirically test pieces for obviously soft lead and render that. Anything that has a different color or seems harder I cut off a chunk and ladle melt it and cast a few standard boolits (SAECO 015 for me) then weigh and hardness test to get % density of pure lead and BHN. If it compares favorably, it goes in with other lead. If harder and less dense then I do a solidus/liquidus determination and group with other similar alloys to be used as is or further alloyed to make the physical properties I was for a particular boolit. Doing this I've found pipe that looked like pure lead but tested way harder and density less than lead, comparing to other knows from prior rendering it matched with 6% Sb antimonial lead which is what was listed in the NL catalogue. I noticed though that other Sb % were listed by NL so this could be variable! I separate soldered joints and render separately then mix with lead to get the density and hardness of 40:1 Pb:Sn which I use for expanding musket balls. I would not recommend just throwing everything salvaged into the pot on a Hail Mary, been there, done that. When the boolits you work so hard to cast well and size carefully fly crazy and you find out that they're 8 BHN harder than intended...well the hiss you hear is the air leaving your tires. Avoid disappointment and just be the meticulous, poindexter lead rendering geek that we all are inside!

[robg]

Lead water pipes are good lead gas pipes are better[cleaner]

[Oklahoma Rebel]

never thought about that, they would be cleaner on the inside than on the outside for a change!

[Oklahoma Rebel]

well, I justsmelted some "soft lead", total was 65lbs, about 10lb was range scrap, maybe that much sow's and the rest lead pipe, traps w/joints. I used a bread pan to make 20 lb ingots and set them on a towel in about 3/4ths inch water in a tray to speed hardening. they turned out way harder than I thought. do you suppose its because I sped up cooling? its not like I completely quenched them, but it wasn't a air cool either?

[Dusty Bannister]

The lead obviously was liquid when you poured it into the pan sitting in water. Yes, you quenched the alloy so your reading is wrong.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

lol my reading was hitting it with a hammer, but I got you, I did a few muffin ingots in cast iron, and they air cooled, no water, I just put them up in a hard to get to spot ( dad parked the riding mower/trailer behind it) lol, i'll dig those out tomorrow and check them. that will let me know if I need to get some pure to add to them.

[dahermit]

At one time, long ago, toilet seals were made of lead. Nowadays all are made of wax.

[lwknight]

All the lead pipes I get have brass sleeves and drain rings. I seldom ever find iron. Sometimes I find copper but never sort it out from the brass even though I might get a little more for it.