Sawzall for cutting lead

[rsrocket1]

I recently got a couple of 40+ pound dead soft lead. The lead seemed to be pure in that it scratched with a 5B pencil and a sample smelted with virtually zero dross. The problem is that the lead is in a half disk and about 1-1/2" thick and obviously won't fit in my 4-20 pot. I've read here about methods using an axe, chain saw, log splitter, weed burner, arc welder and sawzall. The last option seemed to be best for me because that was what I had.

This morning, I set up the lead on my Workmate, bought a $2 "wood with embeded nails" sawzall blade at Lowe's and WD40.

Less than 20 minutes later:


The trick was to let the weight of the saw do the work, don't press down. You can cut the lead holding the saw against the lead face with one hand. The WD40 is not for the cutting surface, it lubricates the blade face and reduces friction. A very coarse toothed blade did the trick. The tarp caught 18 ounces of lead whose size was a little smaller than walnut tumbling media or very coarse sand. You can see the pile there in the middle.

A couple hours later: Ingots!

I wouldn't smelt range scrap or wheel weights in my casting pot, but this stuff was ultra clean. The WD40-soaked lead "sawdust" smoked the most during the first batch heated up, but the stuff on the big pieces pretty much evaporated off as I preheated each piece on top of the pot as the previous batch melted and was poured out.


From the sample hunk I tested, here are the 250g REAL's.
The first batch with the new mold wasn't good, but higher temps (750F instead of my usual mid 600's) really helped get the wrinkles out.
Attachment 98990

[62chevy]

That is how I cut my lead pipe into usable sizes. Unfortunately the lead pipe wasn't that clean.

[rodok]

I cut up a lot of my lead pipe with one too, it works like a knife going through soft butter!

[6bg6ga]

Nice course blade works fine for making smaller pieces

[labradigger1]

Two words, wood splitter (if you have one)

[trapper9260]

I was think of a sawzall and thank you for saying about usen WD-40 I was not thinking of usen that.but I see it will make it easyer.I have some ballest weights that i got some time ago and was thinking of the best way to cut it in small size to use and it dose have a a steel rod in it so this will help me to when i do go to cut it up.

[jonp]

Would a metal blade with smaller teeth cause less shavings?

[6bg6ga]

The small teeth will clog. The material that drops when sawing can be recycled.

[bangerjim]

I got tired of putting my bones back in place using a bucking horse recipro saw! They have their place.....house remodeling and cutting into walls. But not cutting lead.

Now I use a "double cut" rotary saw...the one what has two carbide tipped blades that rotate in opposite directions. Plows thru 3"+ of ANY lead with virtually no kickback. Thicker? Just flip it over and take another pass. It cuts just about as fast as you can push it. No vibration.

I use it to cut everything from wood to plastic to aluminum to brass to steel to plate..........to LEAD!

Worth every penny it cost. I highly recommend one for your general shop tool collection. It is my go-to tool for rough cutting just about anything.

banger

[Toymaker]

I use a stump of wood, a 5# short handle sledge hammer and a brick chisel. Five smacks and I can cut through a plumbers ingot. X-ray room lead brick shielding is about the same. Lead pipe is no contest. The 300# smelter ingots take a little more work, but it's good exercise. Yea, I bought a big ingot from a fellow shooter a couple of years back. Not sure I'll do it again, mainly because moving it from one place to another was a pain in the back.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I was given a huge ingot that was 4 feet long and trapezoidal ...like 4-5 inches on each side---needed two guys to lift it let alone any way to melt it/cut it with anything but a torch which I don't have. Forget about bringing it to a welder..they want $20-25. just to light theirs. So I decided to try my log splitter (which is a 22 ton rig) and did so to cut it into 4" pieces that would/could fit into my smelting pot. The hydarulic splitter moved slowly, grunted a bit, but did the job, Sawzalls or other saws would have worked, but there is the issue of flying chips, clogged teeth and waste, Not fun. Axe/wedges/or a maul could do the job, but they are not amusing to use even on just wood for any length of time for an old/aging back either. Not everyone has a log splitter, but it is definitely worth finding someone who has one and asking for a few minutes time, as a favor, with it. LLS

[sirsloop]

Touch through it... Or chop up an old propane pot and melt the thing down into smaller pieces.

You can use a cheap mapp gas torch from the box store

[Bilbobaker]

This is good to know.. I recently bought a 73 pound lead square that's about 2.5 inches thick and I was wondering how to get some into size to fit my 10# smelt pot..

[knifemaker]

A sawzall with 8-10 teeth per inch will cut x-ray room sheet lead like it is a hot knife though butter. I was given about 400 pounds of x-ray sheet lead several years ago that was about 3/8 inch thick and the sawzall had it cut up in no time. Just use the weight of the saw to cut with and no vibration or problems

[smokeywolf]

As long as you wipe and oil your Sawzall blade after use, you can use the old pink lotion hand soap or just plain old bar soap shavings dissolved into a cup of water for your saw lube.

[fecmech]

A plain old skill saw with your basic carbide tipped framing blade will cut lead just a little slower than pine, no lube needed. About 5 minutes work here.

[jeepyj]

A plain old skill saw with your basic carbide tipped framing blade will cut lead just a little slower than pine, no lube needed. About 5 minutes work here.

Bingo! ^^^^^^^This is the easiest way I've ever done it. Oh and don't forget your face protection.

[Traffer]

I use a similar setup.
Only I just use a heavy (cheap) hatchet and a 3 or 4 lb hand mall. I hit it on one side and make a deep "score" and hit it on the other side and they break right apart. Takes about 5 seconds to cut a 1.5" thick 3" wide ingot. I have used sawzall too but it is way too slow for me.

I use a stump of wood, a 5# short handle sledge hammer and a brick chisel. Five smacks and I can cut through a plumbers ingot. X-ray room lead brick shielding is about the same. Lead pipe is no contest. The 300# smelter ingots take a little more work, but it's good exercise. Yea, I bought a big ingot from a fellow shooter a couple of years back. Not sure I'll do it again, mainly because moving it from one place to another was a pain in the back.

[RogerDat]

Used a sawzall on 300# roll of thin sheet lead. Coarse blade is key, lube is important too. Need to keep the blade heat down below the lead smearing state. Too fine a blade and you will be there all day. Looked into one of those double blade saws, sell them at Harbor Freight. Never got around to pulling the trigger on one.

[dragon813gt]

Looked into one of those double blade saws, sell them at Harbor Freight. Never got around to pulling the trigger on one.

It flings lead chips everywhere. And I mean everywhere. It caused to much waste IMO.