HELP !!! I have 3800 lbs of pure lead in 3 Chunks --- Need advise please

[WilliamDahl]

An oxy-acetylene cutting torch works by not just melting the steel, but also burning it. That is what happens when you press the cutting lever on the torch. Now, if you just set it to a neutral flame and let the molten puddle drip down, you would not have a problem with lead fumes, but if you use the normal cutting torch method, you're going to be vaporizing the metal in an oxygen rich environment.

A plasma cutter would also result in lead vapors.

The problem with a fast circular saw blade would be that it might heat up and you end up with your blade soldered to the chunk of lead that you are cutting. Plus, it's going to make a LOT of small lead chips. With a chain saw, I suspect that the chips will be larger.

Will your log splitter even physically handle the pieces? The cutting edge on the log splitter needs to be at least as long as the thickness of the lead that you will be cutting off of it.

[reddoggm]

If I could get a bunch of it like that I would make up a double boiler style setup using old paint vats that I have down at the farm.

kind of like the incinerator I built for the house except the top vat would be inverted over the bottom one that held the wood with a drain on the bottom of the one that held the lead going out the side.

That would be nice but ya still have to be able to load the lead in there my biggest piece probobly weighs around 1800#

[smokesahoy]

its a problem i'd like to have thats for sure. i'd also use an axe

[jmorris]

That would be nice but ya still have to be able to load the lead in there my biggest piece probobly weighs around 1800#

I have a forklift but realize most do not have one at home. If you live where you could do something like this in your yard, I bet you know someone with a front end loader or an engine hoist.

[Teddy (punchie)]

I would use a old cross cut saw. Maybe try to use a rough cut hand saw. Something with 4-8 teeth per inch.

After getting to 50-100 lbs. I would make an angle iron, C-Chanel slope to the ground with molds on the bottom or just use the ground to make molds. Build a fire in the end and let the steel get hot and melt the lead will flow down grade to molds. Can move coals around with hoe to make it hotter or colder. We are going to use this idea next time we get indoor range lead.

[deepwater]

What about renting an electric jack hammer with an asphalt blade. We used one to cut a lot of concrete and rock. They are bulkier than air hammers but work great. I am talking about the full size units that are about 3 feet tall. Be about $100 for the job.

deepwater

[reddoggm]

I have a forklift but realize most do not have one at home. If you live where you could do something like this in your yard, I bet you know someone with a front end loader or an engine hoist.

I have a chainfall to pick up my heavy work but it,s in the back of my building where I don,t have any ventilation to do any melting
As I live in the city I could hoist in a tree ---But I would imagine my neighbors would get upset with the whole boolit/gun/lead thing
Don,t need them knowing my buss anyway

[WilliamDahl]

When I had a big chunk of lead once that was larger than would fit in my smelting pot, I thought about creating a replacement wheel for my truck that was made out of solid steel and sharpened somewhat with an angle grinder. I was thinking it could act as a rotary cutter -- basically like a pipe / tubing cutter where you would just drive it back and forth across the piece of lead in the same groove and eventually it would cut the lead. It seemed a bit extreme for the one piece of lead that I had, so I never experimented with it.

[Certaindeaf]

An old cheese grater oughta do the trick.

[Russel Nash]

Getting enough localized heat into those blocks will be an issue especially at the start and as the slug shorens and heat transfers any clamp or eye bolts holding it up will weaken and possible let go. Getting it on a stand heavy enough to support the wieght and work on it first. A couple heavy saw horses with 2x6s for a top. I would drill holes in a line thru leaving an 1/8A drill bit sharpened correctly should walk right thru leaving just an 1/8" to cut chiesel thru between them then a heavy chisel can be used to break the remaining bonds. Or a sawz all to cut the webs. Use chalk as a lubricant for the blade to help keep it from loading up. If useing a 3/8' drill punch straight line of holes every 1/2" if using 1/2" drill but every 5/8". The drill chips can be collected and melted down and this leaves much less sawing to be done. Drill should be sharpened as for brass so it dosnt grab / dig into lead as easy. Blocks could set on floor with 2x6s under it to protect floor from drill. Once you get the line of holes in cutting the webs should go much faster. Again use chalk to keep drill from loading up beeswax will also work here.

You might be onto something with drilling a line of holes. That's how stone masons would cut a slab of stone.

Then they would use feathers and wedges to get the stone to split along that line:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/m/vi...555590,00.html

But stone obviously has different properties than lead.

I wonder what melting lead is like surface tension wise. You know how water will run down the side of a glass when you pour it slowly. Or if you have a roof leak, the water will run down the underside of the roof sheathing or rafter???


What if you could suspend this block so it was angled downward. Then tie wired a turkey fryer base to the underside of it. With the burner lit, would the lead melt and run down the underside of the slab. Then once it got to the bottom corner and had nowhere else to cling onto it would drip into a pan or ingot mould.

About the only other thing I could think of would be to use a big piece of angle iron like this. ^ on a concrete floor. Put the lead chunk on top of that and apply weight or force to both sides hoping it would bend or break right there at the corner of the angle iron. I have a feeling it would rather bend first instead of break.

You could always go at it with a power pack and duck bills. You can see the hand operated pump really well in this picture, but you can't make out the duck bills all that well:




When you start cranking on the pump handle the duck bills open up like this:



You could start out cutting a groove about an inch wide about 6 inches in from the edge. Insert the duck bills and start cranking on the pump's handle.

[WilliamDahl]

Many years ago, I rented a pressure washer to clean my fences and the concrete of the patio of my home. IIRC, I rented a 3400 or so psi unit. With the single stream type tip instead of a fan type tip, I was able to actually etch the concrete on the patio (I was trying to remove the glue where the previous owner had put down astroturf to carpet the patio). I'm curious what a pressure washer would do with lead. I suspect that it would contaminate the surrounding areas with lead though. I know that a water jet cutter would work, but those usually have an abrasive mixed in with the water plus they are at quite a bit higher pressure.

[Springfield]

Twice I have cut up sailboat keels. Sawzall sucked, axe sucked, but my Skilsaw with a carbide blade ripping blade worked ok. You really need the spacing wide on the teeth or it will bind. It will anyway, but not as bad. I cut them up in the bed of my truck so it contained the chips. Being heavy they just fall and don't fly all over like wood chips. If your pieces are only 10" across you can cut one side and then flip it over(the hard part!). If the cut lines don't line up, and they probably won't THEN you can use an axe or a hammer and chisel. I feel for ya, it is hard work but if you got them for a good price it will be worth it in the long run.

[reddoggm]

Final Update got it ALL cut into pot size pieces with----------------------------- A Hilti hammer with a 4 inch wide chisle bit had to put a sharper edge on it a half a dozen times but made the job alot easier than the Axe/Sledge deal I wouldn,t it cut like butter but it wasn,t bad so for you men that run into this kind of thing I highly recomend you try it this way far less work than Sawzall/Circular saw/Axe Sledge and melting with a torch I thank all here at CB for your input Special thanks to deepwater for the Idea that worked for me
Thanks a WHOLE BUNCH GUYS The DOGG!!!

[winchester85]

i would have put it in my band sawmill. a 4 degree blade fed slow, all the chips go down the chute. never done it, but i bet it works.

[Certaindeaf]

Many years ago, I rented a pressure washer to clean my fences and the concrete of the patio of my home. IIRC, I rented a 3400 or so psi unit. With the single stream type tip instead of a fan type tip, I was able to actually etch the concrete on the patio (I was trying to remove the glue where the previous owner had put down astroturf to carpet the patio). I'm curious what a pressure washer would do with lead. I suspect that it would contaminate the surrounding areas with lead though. I know that a water jet cutter would work, but those usually have an abrasive mixed in with the water plus they are at quite a bit higher pressure.

Patty cakes kinda rhymes with stay the f home.

[Rooster]

Excellent! Thank you for the follow up as I've been following this thread.

[WilliamDahl]

Patty cakes kinda rhymes with stay the f home.

Huh? Don't see how that relates to my post.

[reddoggm]

i would have put it in my band sawmill. a 4 degree blade fed slow, all the chips go down the chute. never done it, but i bet it works.

win85 I hope the bed on that saw is strong the 1 chunk was around 1800#

[jackmanuk]

BLOWTORCH get a powerful one that makes it drip fast , or use and drill arger bit and get but shaving ,do it in lines so its then easier to take and axe to it and break it apart

[Lloyd Smale]

I keep an old chain saw just for jobs like that. Yes you might loose a bit but when your talking hundres or thousands of lbs what a couple lbs of chips. Another way to do it is start at a corner with a weed burner and place a pot under your chunk and melt it right into the pot.