Foundry lead in Europe

[hunter74]

Beeing located in Norway, I'm sad to say that the shipping cost from Rotometals in the US is flat out insane. And to tell the trough they were not interested to sell and ship to Norway. At least it felt that way.....

Therefore I'm looking for other sources to get the hard lead I need to supply my casting business. Somthing antimonny rich alloy would be great if the price including shipping is right. Superhard 30% sb would be ideal! There's no problem of getting soft lead. The hard lead is the problem. Not much of printers type lead is around anymore and I've pretty much purchased everything I could get my hands on for the last 5 years, so I need to take measures for when my stock dries out.

So.... Anyone..... Can you give me a tip of any founderies/lead metal dealers who would sell hard lead at a reasonable price? Preferable in Europe because of shipping cost. If you know of any it would bee great if you could relay contact info to me. Preferable on pm

Thanks!

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[John Boy]

https://www.castmetalsfederation.com...foundry-search

[Don1357]

How much does shipping cost you from say England or Germany? Can you get a heavy package from those places for a reasonable amount?

[JBinMN]

Have you tried "scrap yards", or recycling centers?

Contractors who are in the trades and deal with removing lead & replacing with other materials? ( like roof jacks & flashing, tub/shower drain pans, plumbing pipe & joints, X-ray shielding walls, etc.)

Talked to people whos hobby or job is making stained glass widows or art & use lead for doing so?

I guess what I am saying is that if you talk to people who use lead for other things than casting boolits, you may build a network of those who may run across alloys they cannot use, or lead that they do not want & would have to get rid of & give it to you for some reasonable amount.

As an example... Imagine an artist making a stain glass window & runs across a lead alloy that is not suitable for that use, but "is" suitable for you to use in casting. While you have some pure lead that the artist can use, so perhaps you make some sort of a trade.

"Networking" to not only find what you want, but to help others find what they want as well.

Just something to consider if you have not done so already.

G'Luck!

[kevin c]

Are you casting commercially? That sounds high volume enough that you'd need a regular supplier of consistent alloy, a different situation from most of us hobbyists.

Maybe one of the companies below could work.

https://www.ezilon.com/business/meta...ys/index.shtml

[hunter74]

I'm a comercial caster in Norway. I sure need a lot of lead but the problem is access to hard alloy. I have no problem of alloy up my soft lead if I have enough of the hard antimonny rich stuff. Virgin alloy from a foundry or metal supplier is of such high price that I'm loosing money on every boolit I'm selling so that's a bad business plan! Import or blend my own with pure sb may be the solution.

I'm therefore glad for all the help in this thread. I'll check out the sourced given! Thanks!

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[JBinMN]

I realized you said you were a commercial operation when you posted the OP.

I mention the possible sources ( networking) I did, because even in a small way, it might help you find more sources for what you seek.

Others may know of larger sources & share them with you, considering you might be able to help them find what they seek as well, is what I mean.

Once again, G'Luck!

[kevin c]

Another thought: while reading about it here makes me think that it is not an easy process, and also one that may require several safety precautions against toxic fumes, if you have access to pure antimony, there are descriptions here on how to alloy it into lead directly.

[garbler]

I cannot give you any specific locations or names but Norway and Scandinavia have lots of lead along the working waterfront. Commercial fishing boats use lead pigs as inside trim ballast. Often thousands of pounds/kilos. Any fishing vessel that is out of service or being scrapped is a prime source. Also Finland has a large custom sailboat industry that relies heavily on thousands of tons of cast lead for ballast keels all of which 2-3% antimony.

Good luck

[samari46]

Never realized that Notre Dame cathedral in France had tons of lead sheathing on it's many roofs. You could literally see the melted lead pouring off the structure. May want to check with firms that do historical renovations as to what and where they get their roofing supplies. Good idea about the lead ballast weights for boats. When Katrina roared through Louisiana hundreds if not more fishing boats were tossed up on the shorelines. Many of those boats were totaled and abandoned by their owners due to either lack of insurance or being totaled by the insurance companies. So if there are any boatyards in your area might be a good deal to check it out. And auto salvage yards could be included for the wheel weights. Frank

[masscaster]

I would do a more local search for Babbit. Surely there's bearing companies around. Places that rebuild car engines will probably have old crank bearings in a tub.

Jeff

[Traffer]

X-ray in hospitals have lead alloy shielded walls. As I understand it is pretty high in antimony. I assume they make it hardened so it won't sag. I purchased some a while back and it was 7.5% antimony. I know you want it harder but it is better than soft lead. Maybe you could contact the people who make the alloy for hospitals and talk to them.