Lead storage

[MikeACP]

Ok, dumb newbie question of the day. But I have to ask. Is there any problem to storing lead ingots in a garage during cold weather. (unheated)?

[Three44s]

No problem.

Belated welcome to the forum and there are NO dumb questions!

Best regards

Three 44s

[lwknight]

If its kept away from chemicals it should be OK in your garage for several billion years.

[bumpo628]

Just be careful adding lead that may be wet to a hot pot. You could put a plate of steel over half the pot to serve as a pre-heating area if there is any doubt.

[MikeACP]

Great, I thought this was the case but wanted to make sure, Godd advice also about the moisture.

[thegreatdane]

... cold fingers when you have to move it.

[a.squibload]

Could be a problem if you leave the garage door open at night.

Where is your garage, exactly?

[MikeACP]

Could be a problem if you leave the garage door open at night.

Where is your garage, exactly?
LOl, I have enough of a problem with that kind of stuff. About a year ago I chased a guy out of my yard, he was walking away with the gutters I was replacing.

[evan price]

Best advice here is- have a place in mind they can sit long term, moving them a few months later sux... :)

[Stick_man]

You can actually store ingots? :lovebooli

[Bulletlube]

I have access to all the plastic buckets that I want and now store all my lead in them with paper lables so I know what is in each bucket.

[Lead Fred]

My ingots sit on a board on the floor like FT Knox, they have been there for years.

[mold maker]

Ok, dumb newbie question of the day. But I have to ask. Is there any problem to storing lead ingots in a garage during cold weather. (unheated)?

They will still be cold long after the Spring thaw.
Seriously, if you have a permanent place picked out, milk crates will contain them from scattering, but ya cant move a crate full. If in ingots the crates will hold the equivalent of a cubic ft of lead. If I remember correctly that's just under 750 lbs.
They also stack, even full ones.

[Suo Gan]

NO problem storing lead in an unheated outbuilding.

[clintsfolly]

i store my lead in a unheated barn in the winter when we have a casting party i set piles of ingots on the top of the wood stove. this preheats and drys of they have drawn moisture. where ever you store them make sure that it will hold up the weight. had a buddy try store 400lbs in old kitchen upper cabinet!! Smashed all his beer and pop bottles what a Mess!clint

[MikeACP]

I'm gonna need to clear a spot......If I can find some.

[44fanatic]

Ive got mine in the garage in milk crates on dolly's. Easier to move around when "cleaning/straitening up"...meaning trying to find the reloading/casting bench, fishing and hunting gear.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Wait a minute now! There was a post on here awhile back that had a link to the EPA video on You tube. It showed how a WW that fell off a car would deteriorate in just a week. Maybe that was because it fell on dirt and not concrete or maybe that was just a bunch of........... well you know. Really. Lead will store for longer than you will need it to. Welcome Mike. This is a great site with a bunch of great people on it. Have fun.

[zuke]

I have mine stored along my back fence.
Kinda hard to see them in the summer with all the grass growing over them.

[lwknight]

There are things that can destroy lead. I got a roll of sheet lead and inside it in the middle of the roll it was corroded into some kind of red crud that was crumbly.
I have no idea what it was exposed to but I did save the red powder crud to try to smelt with sawdust back into lead. I just have not got there yet.

[mustanggt]

Be careful storing lead exposed to the elements. Before we went to sealed lead shot blankets for shielding we used raw sheet lead and bricks. They would oxidize easily getting a white powdery glaze on them. This stuff goes airborne upon handling and if you get a snoot full, it won't be good. Ingesting lead from smoking or not washing after handling is bad enough but inhaling it can be worse. So take precautions not to get it in your lungs.

[hydraulic]

I store my ingots outside on the walk-in wall. They get dirty. I wash them off and set them on the wood stove for a day or two, and then they set around for a few days, usually, and even then when I drop them into a hot casting pot they still have moisture in them. I set a piece of iron on top of the pot, lift up an edge and drop in an ingot, drop the lid and listen to the boiling. I learned to do that the hard way, after watching lead vomiting out of the pot like Old Faithful.

[casterofboolits]

I cast my ingots in cast iron muffin pans when smelting, then dump them into large SS serving pans. Once the ingots cool, I transfer them to metal five gal buckets. I use a dolly to move the buckets close to my casting area. Each bucket has about 250 pounds of ingots.

I store my indoor range scrap in plastic five gallon buckets which weigh 100 to 150 pounds and use the dolly to move them to the smelting area.

In the winter time moisture on the ingots can be a problem so I pre heat the ingots prior to putting them in the lead pots. A visit from the tinsel fairy will make you pay attention real quick!!!

[idahoron]

I store my lead in army ammo cans. They all have labels on them so I don't have to open every one to find what I want. I poured several hundred fishing weights about a week ago. Ron

[mold maker]

It's not always that the ingots contain moisture. It works just like your iced tea glass on a warm day. When you bring cold ingots into your warm-er casting area, the difference in temperature condenses moisture on the cold ingots.

[MikeACP]

Whats the best way to warm them?

[mtgrs737]

I have three 3 foot square wooden pallets that have been reinforced to handle the weight. I can store about 2000 lbs. of ingots on each pallet and still move them around with a pallet mover/jack. I lay a sheet of foam over them to keep most of the dust off them while in storage. I have a picture of them on my aviatar.

[Echo]

Whats the best way to warm them?

When I add ingots to the pot, I put them on top of the pot to warm up. When I put one in, I put another up to warm. Cast a few molds full, put in another ingot, put another ingot on top, repeat. I have had ingots start to melt (!) on top and had to add them quick, to keep from having them droop like a Dali watch.

[Suo Gan]

l it was corroded into some kind of red crud that was crumbly.



Lead ii oxide and lead iii oxide are both red.

[Suo Gan]

Whats the best way to warm them?

I use a weed burner and blast them off F-16 style (KUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH!!!) you can see the surface of the lead burn free of condensation. You can do a few hundred pounds of scrap in a few seconds, works good on wasps too.

[Tom Herman]

Lead ii oxide and lead iii oxide are both red.

Not correct! There is only one red Lead Oxide, and that's Minium, which is Pb3O4, or a combination of SesquiOxide (Pb2O3) and the Monoxide (PbO).
Here are the other Lead Oxides and colors:

PbO: Litharge, Lead Monoxide, yellow in color.
PbO2: Plattnerite, Lead Peroxide, Bronze in color.
Pb2O3: Lead SesquiOxide, orange-yellow powder.

There is also a lead sub-Oxide, Pb2O that is black in color.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[Tom Herman]

I like the idea of storing ingots in sealed containers. I've started storing finished casting alloy in five gallon buckets with lids.
Out here in the Land of Perpetual Rain (8+ months a year), I've had ingots stored in my garage begin to slightly oxidize after very little time (1-2 years).
I think the mechanism is due to thermal cycling: Cold ingots being hit with humid air during the day, and water condensing on them facilitating corrosion.
It's still to early to tell how well the sealed ingots will do, but I think they will hold up better unless I can put the rest of the ingots into a place where I have dehumdified air.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[BruceB]

My ingot mould was built to make ingots to a specifically-planned size for storage in .50-caliber ammo boxes. At 10.5 inches long and triangular in section (angle-iron mould, makes four at a time) the ingots fit the can neatly WITH FINGER SPACE AT THE ENDS to enable easy removal. Without the space, tightly-nested bars are difficult to lift out.

The ammo boxes are left out in the weather, and so far this has given no difficulty. At +/- 100 pounds per can, it's easy to keep track of alloy on hand. I paint an initial on each can ("L" for pure lead, "W" for wheelweights, "LT" for linotype). The paint will not weather like tags will. Each bar is also marked with a felt marker at the time of casting.

K-I-S-S...that's me!

[Tom Herman]

Each bar is also marked with a felt marker at the time of casting.

K-I-S-S...that's me!

Bruce, I was concerned about the marker washing or wearing off at some point, so I bought a cheap metal stamp kit and stamp the letter "L" into lead bars, "W" for wheel weight ingots, and "A" for final alloy... Works GREAT!

-Tom

[Suo Gan]

Not correct! There is only one red Lead Oxide, and that's Minium, which is Pb3O4, or a combination of SesquiOxide (Pb2O3) and the Monoxide (PbO).
Here are the other Lead Oxides and colors:

PbO: Litharge, Lead Monoxide, yellow in color.
PbO2: Plattnerite, Lead Peroxide, Bronze in color.
Pb2O3: Lead SesquiOxide, orange-yellow powder.

There is also a lead sub-Oxide, Pb2O that is black in color.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

Sorry, not the first time I have been wrong as the boss will vouch for! I know I have had red, yellow, and a few other colors on ingots...its all lead rust to me. For some reason I remember that when lead rusts the oxide color could be different due to the amount of heat involved in the reaction, and the oxides did not differ other than that.

[BruceB]

Tom, good morning.

In my case, I don't worry about "losing" the identity because the bars are only removed from the cans when they're to be used in casting bullets. There's just no time for the ID markings to get defaced or removed.

The metal stamps are a very good idea if the ingots are stored outside of a dedicated container, though.

[midnight]

I smelt range lead in lots of about 125lbs ea. and use a muffin pan for ingots. each ingot is 1.6 to 1.7 lbs. I cast a few flat nose 45-70 bullets at the same time and check hardness with Saeco. Lots run from Saeco 4 to 7 and ingots are so stamped. About 30+ lbs fit in a metal coffee can. The cans can be stacked 4 high and are easily moved. The lids are labeled RL (range lead) and hardness is also noted. Works for me.

Bob

[MikeACP]

I have heard of using muffin pans. Why don't they stick? Is there a certain kind?

[bumpo628]

I have heard of using muffin pans. Why don't they stick? Is there a certain kind?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51p%2B2GJnOVL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

I think the clean and shiny ones do stick to the lead. Cast iron would be the best, but apparently well used standard pans will not stick.

[thegreatdane]

Bruce, I was concerned about the marker washing or wearing off at some point, so I bought a cheap metal stamp kit and stamp the letter "L" into lead bars, "W" for wheel weight ingots, and "A" for final alloy... Works GREAT!

-Tom

I do the same.

[Tom Herman]

Sorry, not the first time I have been wrong as the boss will vouch for! I know I have had red, yellow, and a few other colors on ingots...its all lead rust to me. For some reason I remember that when lead rusts the oxide color could be different due to the amount of heat involved in the reaction, and the oxides did not differ other than that.

No problem! We're probably splitting hairs in the real world... I imagine that you'll find any combinations of oxides and colors, with indistinct hues and combinations of red, brown, yellow, and orange... It's probabaly seldom pure anything.
I mention the Lead Oxides from the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics just to keep the theoretical stuff straight.
Happy Shootin'!

-Tom

[MikeACP]

:lol::lol: Thanks