made contacts-lead-solder

[nanuk]

I had some time to waste thursday morning.
stopped by a radiator shop.
they offered to save all their scrap solder by water dropping it, instead of just dropping it onto scrap cores for the metal recycler.

I offered him some cash for his time and effort and he said he'd save me what he could. then gave me a core that has a couple pounds of solder adhered to the fins. I figured I'd use a tigertorch to melt it off onto a board or metal sheet to scrape off. any other suggestions?

I then went to a local clinic where they are decommissioning their Xray dept. I asked about scrap lead from film and they said they have none, but was I interested in the lead in the walls? I said sure! they have a local contractor to tear out the walls and re-install drywall and such. the lady told me to just expect to be ready with a truck and trailer to remove it at no cost to me.

two complete rooms sheeted in. 60 years ago, so might be some significant weight there.

can anyone tell me how this stuf is adhered in the walls? just sheets tacked on the wall? laminated to backerboard?

any idea what weight per square foot of wall/ceiling I'd be looking at?

as this stuff is lab grade, I am assuming it will be very clean and probably pure, or almost so. I just hope it is not corroded.

any info would be appreciated

[a.squibload]

From reading here, probably was glued to the wall, expect a smelly smelt.

[castingagain]

Nanuk, I Just smelted 200 pounds sheet from dental office. Purest lead I ever saw. Had paper one side,peeled down thin real easy.(in minutes and I should have left it thick!) I scored the lead and tore it quite easily by hand into 4-5 inch squares and made them flat (my foot,lol) . I went a little hot for the lead as each square cooled the lead. I carefully slipped the lead on top (paper up)so the whole square took heat and simply lifted the paper off immediately with a bent coat hanger.
No smoke at all. I dropped the paper in a cast fry pan to keep area clean. When I was done I put another pan over the top (inverted) and put it on the heat to reclaim the tiny bits of lead left on the paper. (tiny bits HA !)those little bits turned out by 4-5 pounds of pure Pb. There was no smoke because the fry pans stopped air from getting to the paper so it couldn't burn, instead it "carbonized" , in other words turned to black ash and it scooped off fast and easy. I used china cast fry pans to make the oven, one inverted over the other.
Nanuk, I will PM this to you but posted it here for all because many things stuck on sheet lead come off this way without alerting your neighbors about your hobby.

[nanuk]

thanks for that.

I should find out for sure in a couple weeks as that is when the Reno is supposed to start.

I'm not sure what I'm getting into here, but it can't be all bad if I end up with some pure lead, it will be all worth it.

[a.squibload]

...the whole square took heat and simply lifted the paper off immediately with a bent coat hanger.

Good technique! Hadn't thought of heat vs glue.
I always use a heat gun to get labels & stickers off.
Now I need to demo a dentist's office...

[man.electric]

Nanuk, I have peeled about 800 pounds of the stuff from old drywall and it is always a great lead source. I used a big pair of shears to snip the lead sheeting into pot sized bits as I worked it off, but a sharp razor knife could do the same job. Thank you!

James Galarowicz

[Emil]

I'm currently recovering a "lead wall". It's 8' X 12'. I figured that it's about 350-400 pounds. The contractor doing the demolition for my employer pulled it out of the dumpster for me after he told me it's in there and I told him that was likely illegal for the landfill. Anyway, the lead foil was glued and screwed to the wall. He had cut it pieces about 2' X 4' so it isn't too awful to work with. I've used a hard rubber mallet to break up the drywall into hand size pieces and peel the plaster off, leaving only the paper backing and some thin glue. Sometimes, the paper comes, too. Then, I pound out any kinks or curls to make the lead piece nice and flat and start folding it over in flat roll. Each time I make one fold over, I pound out the spaces with themallet to make it tight. I've got several of these rolls stacked outside my garage where I'm "processing" it. My plan is to cut up the rolls in "pot acceptable" chunks with a sawzall.

Now, I need to find some alloying tin and antimony!

/Emil

[a.squibload]

...I used a big pair of shears to snip the lead sheeting into pot sized bits...

Also try a tree pruner / limb lopper, works great.

[man.electric]

any idea what weight per square foot of wall/ceiling I'd be looking at?



I had all of the walls of a small xray dept that came in at 800 lbs. Most xray ceilings are not lead lined because radiation of that type travel sideways and does not bounce, so the vertical safety requirements are not as great, but that might change by machine and location.

[nanuk]

I'm getting kind of excited.

there are two such rooms, and it is from a '50s constuction, so could be thicker than I thought