about lead pipe

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I found a 4" or so ring in with some lead pipe and drain traps I bought a while ago, does anyone know what it is,what it is made of and about what percentage? thank you!-Travis

[Boolit_Head]

The pipes should be soft but cut the joints out and melt them separately, the solder in the joints will make a nice harder lead.

[bangerjim]

Lead pipe is soft lead or ther abouts. Unless you have a TON of it, trying to squeeze the teeny bit of solder out of the joints is not worth the time. Just melt it down and call it pure lead. Buy some solder or pewter off here if you want harder lead.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

my question was what the ring was made of, and what it is used for, I know that the amount of tin in those joints is around 10%. was just a simple question

[country gent]

The 4" ring could be a piece that was above the floor for a drain a seal from pipe to drain or it could simply be a piece that was easier to cut that short assuming its length of 4". Dia could simply be a drain pipe to outside area. unless there is a joint present it is probably pure lead and very soft. If a joint then some tin and possibly oakum may be present

[NyFirefighter357]

It's probably a poured lead joint for between two cast iron pipes. It's soft lead. What's it about 5" around 1/2" wide and anywhere from 3/8"-5/8" thick?

[Oklahoma Rebel]

yeah, it does look like it has some organic material in it, thanks

[Sasquatch-1]

The old cast iron drain pipes use to be sealed with a fiber packing and lead poured on top of that. If it is 3 to 6 inches around and about 3/4 inch thick, that is what it should be. I believe most of this was dead soft.

[NyFirefighter357]

https://youtu.be/kxckH2DYY1E?t=283

[cptjack]

worked on Ellis Island restoration. A Plummer called me over " hey kid watch this ,you will never see this done again". a drain pipe that ran through the wall was packed with oakum ,he pounds it in with a tool and hammer, then poured in molten lead,OLD SCHOOL

[rmark]

Should be pretty soft lead, I got some when some drain pipes were redone. The oakum was pretty stinky as is smoldered during smelting.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

cool, so I can just throw it in with the soft I am adding to an alloy. thanks!!

[ole_270]

That National lead catalog someone posted the other day shows pipe and fittings available either pure lead or hardened(3% antimony). Other than an xrf test it might be hard to tell the difference.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

yeah, I just assume it is pure

[Bookworm]

I had some of those oakum joints in a pile of plumbing lead I purchased last year. I just tossed 'em in with the rest of it (after chopping out the soldered joints in the pipes). I figured the fiber in it made it self-fluxing.

[ghh3rd]

Ah the nice woodsy smell of an oakum fire!

[tinsnips]

I use to watch my dad wipe lead joints a long time ago kind of a art form ,he let me try not as easy as it looked. By the way it is about 20% tin 80% lead.

[lightman]

Yeah, working with lead is a lost art. I've melted lots of phone company lead splice covers. These are soldered together at the seams. Some of them look like the guy used a wire welder, they are so neat. Others look like a dirt dobber soldered them.

[meeesterpaul]

I found a 4" or so ring in with some lead pipe and drain traps I bought a while ago, does anyone know what it is,what it is made of and about what percentage? thank you!-Travis

Made ingots out of a couple hundred pounds of pipe. May include some sewer pipe and joints. Overall the batch XRF scanned out at:
0.6Sn
3.59Sb
95.9Pb

[Oklahoma Rebel]

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?