Lead and mercury?

[Thompsoncustom]

I'm changing out my old thermostat and wonder if it's possible to soften lead by adding mercury to it? Mercury's boiling point is below leads melting point so it's not looking good but I figured if it had been done someone on here has probably tired it. So what do ya think? Don't know if there would be any reason but I have some lead and some mercury so why not mix them.

[P.K.]

NO!!!

I'm pretty sure what you would have is Mercury vapor at high enough temps and it's just plain bad stuff to fool around with. Dunno where your at but around here they EVAC the school's if a nurse breaks a themometer.


Boils at 674 degree's

[leadhead]

Years ago, I used a lab thermometer filled with mercury that hung from
a piece of wire in my 150 pound lead pot. I hit it with the ladel by mistake
and it broke. Totaly screwed up the whole batch in an instant.
Keep mercury far away from lead.
Denny

[firefly1957]

Mercury will dissolve small amounts of lead it used to be a accepted method to remove lead from the barrel of a gun. Lead in 1 or 2 % by weight will actually harden lead look into the old NRA books on casting and you will find the information. I would like a better explanation of what you are doing before saying it is a good or bad idea. Like are you talking about a little lead on some threads or a pot full?

[scrapcan]

The old timers used it to remove leading from a barrel. It will dissolve and carry lead. Also used it to collect gold. You can find some interesting stuff in old chemistry manuals and assay books.

But all of that was before it was found that mercury readily crosses the barriers from outside the body to inside the body and the resulting outcomes.

[P.K.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning

[Oreo]

Mercury is really, REALLY bad stuff. With a new-born in the house I won't even use fluorescent lighting because of the mercury hazard. Even a little bb of mercury can get in the crevices of your house & emit vapors for years. Far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't matter how awesome mercury would make your boolits, it's not worth fooling with when there are other options.

[cbrick]

Heat mercury to the melting temp of lead and one good whiff can kill you. Soften lead with mercury? At room temp mercury is liquid, at lead melting temp it's boiling.

The old gold prospectors used to heat it in a iron skillet to remove gold from rock. It also removed many old prospectors from the scene.

I don't know what your trying to accomplish but I strongly suggest not doing it. On the other side of the coin however, I hear there is no lead shortage for bullet casters in the hereafter, ya can have all ya want. Kinda like the 72 virgins for muslims except this is lead for casters.

Rick

[leadhead]

Oreo, You know those new twisted bulbs that the government is so
set for everyone to use have mercury in them. No different the
regular fluorecent tubes.
Denny

[Thompsoncustom]

thanks for the info I wasn't planing on doing anything at this point just wondering what everyone's thoughts were.Seems that everyone agrees its bad

[evan price]

As bad as melting maintenance-free batteries.

[runfiverun]

actually the mercury was mixed with the gold bearing crushed quartz or black iron oxides.
the gold being in concentration but too small to separate by water [floated]/air/or agitation.
this was placed in a halved and hollowed potato [the two halves cut like meshing gears] and it was then placed in a fire and cooked.
the mercury gathered the gold, vaporized in the fire, and was absorbed by the potato.
separating the gold from the carrier.
and making the use of the mercury safe for the miners.

[firefly1957]

Mercury is often misunderstood it is not as dangerous as some would have you believe probably about as bad as lead. mercury does not have a vapor at room temperature despite what the media says. Some of the mercury myths are as true as man made global warming and al gores inconvenient lie.

With that said there are proper safety precautions to take when using mercury and there are many times more mercury in the strait light bulbs that have been in homes since the 1950's than in the little curly ones.

[leadbutt]

not trying to hi-jack but someone once told me that if you put a small amount of mercury in a hp and cap it with wax it made a nasty bullet. can anyone confirm or deny this?

[leadbutt]

boolit... sry.

[cbrick]

not trying to hi-jack but someone once told me that if you put a small amount of mercury in a hp and cap it with wax it made a nasty bullet. can anyone confirm or deny this?

Probably would. I've also heard of using battery acid the same way.

Should I ever need to shoot someone my goal and my only intent is to put a stop to a threat and in no way to see how much misery or suffering I could cause.

Might just be me but such ideas go right over my head. Why would anyone want to do such a thing? :veryconfu

Rick

[firefly1957]

leadbutt I can confirm that, about 1976 me and a friend made some mercury bullets we used Sierra 110 gr. .357 JHC filled with Mercury then epoxied a card board wad over it total weight was a 125 grs if I remember correctly. we fired some the next day they destroyed water filled steel cans and other soft targets . We were shooting at close range with maximum loads in a S&W model 28 4" barrel and thought some of them were not hitting were we wanted but it was hard to tell. The one we did not shoot self destructed the lead/mercury actually bubbled out of the upright jacket and destroyed the 357 magnum case it was loaded in . Mercury also attacks Zinc so it will damage brass if it come in contact with it. No I would not do this today knowing the bias and truths about mercury.

[Suo Gan]

I have a bunch of gold amalgum I found in a glass vial in an old barn. There are about 5 ounces of gold in it I reckon. The old miners used to cook it off in a gold pan on the fire, and try to stay upwind. A lot of the old miners got mercury poisoning from doing this. The stuff makes your teeth and hair fall out in clumps and you go completely looney. There were a lot of stories about the crazy old miners around here. Some of the old ghost towns still have the mercury chimneys, usually made of brick and stand about 80 or 100 feet tall. The mercury would collect and condense on plates they made inside the chimneys and they would re use it again for collecting fine gold.

As a child my siblings and I broke a thermometer and were playing with the pretty silver balls in our hands. My mom found out and came unglued. Sis has a masters degree and was valedictorian. She is a real 10 in good looks and has all her teeth and hair. Younger brother is a physicist and mathematician for the government, and very good looking chap. I am not as good looking or smart, but I graduated summa cum laude and am a successful entrepreneur. A little mercury ain't gonna kill ya even if you are a young kid, but its best to steer clear of it I think, especially if you are applying heat to it.

[leadbutt]

Should I ever need to shoot someone my goal and my only intent is to put a stop to a threat and in no way to see how much misery or suffering I could cause.

Might just be me but such ideas go right over my head. Why would anyone want to do such a thing? :veryconfu


If someone decides to harm me or my family (especially my lil ones) they deserve no less then total pain/destruction. Maybe its just me with my angry lead poisoning lol.

L. Bottoms

[cbrick]

Mercury is far more dangerous than lead. Why?

Mercury is a metal so why is it a liquid at room temp? Lead is a metal and at room temp is solid.

Mercury has a melting point of minus 37.9 degrees F. It has a boiling point of 674 degrees F.

Lead has a melting point of 621 degrees F. A boiling point of 3180 degrees F.

Your lead pot gives off very little lead fumes at normal casting temps even though it is melted but as you go past about 900 degrees it fumes far more even though you are still far from lead's boiling temp. The closer lead gets to it's boiling point the more vigorously it fumes and the more dangerous it is.

Mercury at room temp is already more than 100 degrees above it's melting point and gives off very little to no fumes even though it is melted and liquid. The closer mercury gets to it's boiling point the more vigorously it fumes and the more dangerous it is.

So both lead and mercury when just past their melting temps and in a liquid state fume very little, both fume far more as the temp goes up. Mercury at room temp is a little more than 100 degrees over it's melting temp. Lead at normal casting temps is a little over 100 degrees over it's melting point.

Problem is mercury is already boiling (and fuming tremendously) when the lead in your pot is only just ready to start casting but still well below the 900 degrees where lead fumes become more problematic.

The OP implied adding mercury to the lead pot. I have no idea if mercury would reduce in lead but at the temps involved this white haired old bullet caster would not want to be in the area to find out.

Even if mercury would reduce in lead and you didn't die trying, once you cast your bullets and cooled them to room temp the mercury is still over 100 degrees over it's melting temp and still liquid. That assuming that the mercury didn't all fume out while it was boiling.

Rick

[firefly1957]

Mercury is far more dangerous than lead. Why?

Mercury is a metal so why is it a liquid at room temp? Lead is a metal and at room temp is solid. Temperature above boiling point is not what decides vapor pressure

Mercury has a melting point of minus 37.9 degrees F. It has a boiling point of 674 degrees F.

Lead has a melting point of 621 degrees F. A boiling point of 3180 degrees F.

Your lead pot gives off very little lead fumes at normal casting temps even though it is melted but as you go past about 900 degrees it fumes far more even though you are still far from lead's boiling temp. The closer lead gets to it's boiling point the more vigorously it fumes and the more dangerous it is.

Mercury at room temp is already more than 100 degrees above it's melting point and gives off very little to no fumes even though it is melted and liquid. The closer mercury gets to it's boiling point the more vigorously it fumes and the more dangerous it is.

So both lead and mercury when just past their melting temps and in a liquid state fume very little, both fume far more as the temp goes up. Mercury at room temp is a little more than 100 degrees over it's melting temp. Lead at normal casting temps is a little over 100 degrees over it's melting point.Not true because the Mercury alloys with lead same as tin does


Problem is mercury is already boiling (and fuming tremendously) when the lead in your pot is only just ready to start casting but still well below the 900 degrees where lead fumes become more problematic.Same as above with the exception if you pour Mercury in hot pot some may evaporate before alloying with lead

The OP implied adding mercury to the lead pot. I have no idea if mercury would reduce in lead but at the temps involved this white haired old bullet caster would not want to be in the area to find out. White haired or not Mercury used to be used in both cleaning lead out of the bore and at 1-2% levels it will harden lead (source old NRA book on casting) and chances are you have or at least had mercury in the fillings in your teeth and are still here

Even if mercury would reduce in lead and you didn't die trying, once you cast your bullets and cooled them to room temp the mercury is still over 100 degrees over it's melting temp and still liquid. That assuming that the mercury didn't all fume out while it was boiling. Again it alloyed with lead and will stay there

Rick

As you dissolve lead with mercury it gets more like sludge than mercury and of course turns solid at higher temperatures. No disrespect meant just trying to let you know what happens with the lead. I am not saying it is good to use but neither is lead when you consider it the same way but alternatives are not readily available for alloyed lead.

[cbrick]

I am not saying it is good to use but neither is lead when you consider it the same way but alternatives are not readily available for alloyed lead.

The difference as I pointed out is the differences in boiling points. Neither fume much at around 100 degrees over their melting point, mercury at 100 degrees over melting temp is room temp however at the temp of 100 degrees over the melting temp of lead (casting temp) is past it's boiling temp and fuming horrendously . . . just as lead would at 3,180 degrees, it's boiling point.

Rick

[GLL]

Just ask Alice about The Hatter ! :) :)

One problem in playing with hot mercury is the generation of soluable mercury salts which might be handled, inhaled, or ingested !

Jerry

[madsenshooter]

Like the rest of the metals we use to make alloys, Hg changes the properties of the melt. I broke a very large mercury thermometer in my melt once. If it became vapors, I'd already be dead. It alloys with some of the other elements in the pot, up to a point. It's not something to play with however. A small amount, as others have mentioned, acts as a hardener to lead, don't ask me how something softer can act as a hardener, but that's what I've read. I have some alloy that I'm having some problem with, it draws away from the mold as it cools and gives me banana shaped bullets. It may have some of that old mercury alloy mixed in with it. If heated to slightly over 1000 degrees, it'll make a tremendous amount of oxides, or there's something else in the alloy.

[uscra112]

Mercury is often misunderstood it is not as dangerous as some would have you believe probably about as bad as lead. mercury does not have a vapor at room temperature despite what the media says. Some of the mercury myths are as true as man made global warming and al gores inconvenient lie.

With that said there are proper safety precautions to take when using mercury and there are many times more mercury in the strait light bulbs that have been in homes since the 1950's than in the little curly ones.

+1 to that.

Remember the old phrase "mad as a hatter"? That came from the use of mercury in the process of felting wool for hats, using mercuric nitrate. A compound of mercury. Gold miners suffer badly if the mercury vapor that comes off the "roasting" process is ingested. The danger of mercury in fluorescent bulbs is that the broken shards give off mercury as a gas for about 8-10 hours. If the gas is confined, (as in a trash barrel), the concentration can be hazardous. The form of mercury that is so highly toxic to humans is methyl mercury, a compound which often is produced by bacterial activity on elemental mercury in the environment. This is why mercury emissions from power plants are such an issue. Methyl mercury is concentrated by fish, and this can lead to problems with humans if the fish are ingested.

But the pure mercury metal at room temperature is no more dangerous than lead. Maybe less. I've read that you can swallow it without ill effect, although I still wouldn't. As for the danger of mercury alloyed with lead, I can find no specific information.

[firefly1957]

That is why I had "With that said there are proper safety precautions to take when using mercury and there are many times more mercury in the strait light bulbs that have been in homes since the 1950's than in the little curly ones." As part of my post

If you ever wondered just how poisonous Mercury salts can be many years ago I Browned a set of shotgun barrels (Stevens 311 12 ga) and the rest of the container dried up into a white salt. the product was "Plumbrown".
There was about a 1/8 teaspoon of that salt left which was mostly HgCl (Mercury Chloride) I poured it into a garbage bag and put it out in the trash(at that time it was not illegal) a cat got into that garbage and died before making it ten feet away, I do not know how much the cat ate but was a bit shocked ate the result.

By the way when I lived in Pontiac Michigan that gun was stolen it had 18.5 inch brown barrels and a nickels receiver sharp looking gun if you see it . The stock was short and I added a slip on recoil pad with my driver's licence under it, as many of you may know the older shotguns did not always have serial numbers and that one had no Number. It was great for only 25 yds. with birdshot but shot buckshot and slugs quite well.