Last fall my sister and Daddy were going to visit my uncle. On the way they noticed a door lying on the side of the road. Being the good rednecks that we are, they stopped to check it out. The first thing they noticed was that it was VERY heavy and it had a funny line all the way around the edge.
Normal looking door.
Funny looking line
They went home and got a trailer and after quite a struggle got the door loaded and took it home. When I went home for Christmas my Daddy said that he had something for me and showed me the door. I confirmed that the funny line was a sheet of lead sandwiched between two slabs of wood. My brother, his 16 year old son, my Daddy and I finally got the door loaded and I took it home with me. Before I left we decided to take the wood off and got another surprise. The wood slab was made of a thin wood veneer with a 1 x 2.5" solid board edge all the way around and particle board
core. This was all stuck together with the strongest glue known to man.
Well, I thought that I would use the space between my ears for something besides holding my ears apart. I stripped the veneer off and let the particle board get rained on twice in the next 6 months (a total of about 1/4") and I wet it down numerous times with a water hose. That should be enough to melt any particle board, NOT! So I had to find another way, my wife was getting real tired of looking at the door in the back yard, and I was not going to let a little piece of particle board keep me from the prize. So I took my skill saw and set it just deep enough to cut almost down to the lead and made cuts every 2" or so vertically and horizontally through the particle board. Then I took a nail bar and a hammer and went to work.
Attacking the particle board
As I got the top layer off, the lead pealed up off of the bottom layer pretty easily. Now, why it was so hard to get off of one side and easy on the other I have no idea, but at the time I was not complaining.
Peeling the lead off
Once I got a small area loose, I cut it into a strip about 12 x 24", rolled it up tightly and placed it in my smelting pot, particle board and all. That way I got the lead melted and fluxed at the same time. I ended the smelting session with 114 ingots average weight probably 14 oz. Not too bad for free Caster's Gold.
Yield
Moral of the story: Don't pass anything on the road that might have lead, even an old door.
Second moral: Don't let a piece of particle board defeat you. Always go for the Gold.
Well, for some reason only one picture wants to show up. Anyone know how to fix that?