lead hardness

[TEH]

Hello,
I don't have a hardness tester and was wondering if anyone knows the bhn of the sheet lead used in x-ray rooms. I have about 500 lbs that I might want to sell but don't know how hard it is. I melted it into ingots and burnt off the paper it is encased in. It seems to be very soft, I was told it is pure lead. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
TEH

[alfloyd]

Send me a sample and I will test it with my Lee BHN tester.
Then you would know the hardness for your use or to trade/sell.

alfloyd

[lwknight]

It is most likely certified 99.999 pure lead and some engineer paid at leat 10 prices for the pedigree.
You will know when you melt it. You will see a dull bluish grey color or even a rainbow of color. Also the ingots often turn blue if they cool slowly.

[TEH]

alfloyd,
Thanks for the offer, I have a friend that lives an hour away that I shoot with and he says he can test it for me. I didn't know he had a tester until I talked to him last night.
LWKnight,
I think you are probably right about it being pure lead. When I bought it they said it was pure and when I melted it into ingots there was a lot of color. The ingots do have a slight blue color to them.
Thanks for the responses,
TEH

[cajun shooter]

Muddy Creek Sam has hospital connections maybe he can tell you with a PM. My brother in law is a radiologist and he said that it is pure lead in the walls.

[Merlin43]

I have torn down a couple of X-ray rooms and it is, indeed, very pure Pb (to avoid secondary radiation, amongst other things). The last one was 2.5x2.5 foot, 1" thick sheets and my wife is still after me to get them the heck out of her parking space.