Cutting Ingots.......Quick and Easy

[OS OK]

The other day I wanted to blend Isotope lead with some No. 2 Lyman and did not want to 'melt off' in the pot then weigh and melt off some more until I had enough...so I started thinking that one of my old limb saws just might do the job since they don't cut a wide kerf.
I applied a little paraffin to the teeth and started cutting. To my amazement that saw went through that bar of No. 2 like a hot knife through butter...and better yet, it didn't stick, nor did lead hang in the teeth and gum up the works and it didn't dull the teeth...

I was quite pleased with myself and thought I should share this with you fellas. I think it's nice to be able to blend exact amounts of Pb.


Attachment 194230

[JMax]

Great idea as I have a number of Lino pigs that I need to cut up and blend with lead and solder.

[JPinMI]

Hmmmm, great idea, I wish I had thought of it last Saturday!

[shoot-n-lead]

Thanks...I have some that need cutting and I have put it off for years as I didn't really know how to do it...although, I have thought about using the recip saw.

[Loudy13]

Thanks for the info, it will be used in the future

[runfiverun]

I use the porta band.

for lino pigs I use a hatchet and 2 2x4's.
I notch the flat corners then flip it over and whack it on the point with the back of the hatchet, it snaps right off.
then I just toss the pieces in the pot and make ingots out of them.

[rancher1913]

been using a sawzall with a box under it to catch the filings for remelt.

[jimb16]

Thanks for the idea.

[DerekP Houston]

we sliced up a huge chunk of ~400lbs racecar weight with a sawzall and wd40 for cutting fluid, worked like a champ! Looks like you just went the manual method of doing the same.

[Tazza]

I saw a dood on youtube cutting up a boat keel with a chainsaw......

Well done cutting it with a hand saw.

[country gent]

On most of our ingots a shear cutter could be built to cut off what was needed. Get the leverage right between the pivots blade and handle it would cut easily.

[Skipper]

Rumor has it that for the big stuff, a log splitter works pretty well.

[Walter Laich]

I went the powered direction--used a chop saw with paraffin on the teeth. Put a tarp in the bed of the pickup with it draped over the sides to catch the chips.
Works great and is fast. Had a bunch of ingots to do

[lightman]

I've cut phone company cable sheathing with a carpenters hand saw. Worked pretty good.

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I wondered what it would take to get the correct portions.

[KrakenFan69]

This is perfect! Just picked up a 60lb ingot of Hardball. Tried the chopsaw with an abrasive disk. Not great. I'll try this tonight! Thanks!

Kraken Fan #69

[Traffer]

Very nice. I have been using pieces of lead in vise jaws for a while now. They hold steel parts without scratching. I was thinking about how to fashion some vise jaw covers that will slip over the jaws and stay there easily. Now I see how I can cut them to fit well. Thanks.

[deadeye ruck]

Rumor has it that for the big stuff, a log splitter works pretty well.

I can attest to this. Cutting 75-125 pigs is made easy by a gas powered splitter. The best part is that there is no waste from filings.