I keep some sheet lead on hand for use to pad vice jaws. Or to form a flexible trough for draining fluids like oil or transmission fluid from awkward locations. I'm sure there are some who have a lead block or lead hammer for pounding without damaging harder metal parts.
But here was a new one on me. I know a nurse who while we were comparing the relative mess in our garages I said I had a pallet with 350 lbs. of lead right where dear wife would like to put her car, my mess is heavy so I win. She asked what the lead was for, I explained casting. She wondered if I ever made any weights. She wanted them to attach to birds so they could fly but still be anchored and unable to fly off.
Just so happens I had some 4 oz. fishing weights in a bucket that I had picked up as scrap but not really decided to melt yet. Sent her a picture with a quarter for size comparison, she said perfect. After I dropped them off she sent a picture of a smallish domestic bird about quail size on a thin red line being used to train their youngest bird dog to "lay off" and not attack the bird. The line lets the bird fly up away from the dog but the weights on the other end of the line make the line a sort of a tether that gives.
Never having trained a bird dog I had no idea that these weights could be useful for that purpose. Glad to see them getting used, and finding out about this use was interesting. Fishing friend will probably get the rest of them.
Any other interesting uses for lead other than bullets and door stops come up?