Remove lead from silverware?

[glw]

I received a silver-plated spoon from a previous caster. He used the spoon to stir his lead. Is there a way to clean the spoon so that it can be returned to table use?

Thanks!
Glenn

[novalty]

You're joking right?

Would you want to put a spoon used to stir lead in your mouth? :shock:

[Full Mold Jack]

The short answer is no.

The long answer is no, no, no, no......

[garym1a2]

Lead will make an intermettalic bond to silver. Only way to get it off is to acid etch the lead and the silver than replate it.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

,,,...

[starmac]

I have to ask, what is so special about this spoon. Is it one of a complete set or what???

[searcher4851]

It wouldn't be worth the effort or expense.

[jcwit]

Lets make this simple, would you clean & use a spoon that was found in the bottom of an outhouse?

[bangerjim]

Outhouse spoon.....................now that's funny!

Either use it for skimming or throw it away! DO NOT eat out of it. Soft moist tissue absorption (mouth, eyes, nose, etc) is the fastest way to get lead & it's oxides in your system. Just having it on your hands is not bad...just wash your hands B4 your touch any of the aforementioned body parts (and not just limited to the ones mentioned [smilie=s: !!!!!!)

bangerjim :guntootsmiley:

[glw]

Wow, what a tough crowd! :-) The spoon is nothing special so I won't use it. I figured if anyone would know if there was a safe way to cleanse the spoon, someone here would know it. Nothing lost by not using it. I'll return it to its previous use, stirring lead.

Glenn

[bangerjim]

Just lookin out for a buddy's health!!!!!

bangerjim

[Jeffrey]

Silver plate or sterling silver? Silver plate - I might stir lead with it. Sterling silver... At over $22.00 / oz... http://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html A sterling silver spoon big enough to stir a lead pot would buy a LOT of lino.

[SciFiJim]

Since it is not safe to clean and reuse for food, please make arrangements for it's destruction after your passing.
I would hate to have it dropped into other silverware for sale at a yard sale and someone use it for food.

I have clear instructions for the destruction of the casting and smelting equipment I have that was previously food service equipment.

[Cactus Farmer]

I use a wooden handled homemade spoon as the handle of a metal spoon can get hot and a silver spoon will get hot even faster due to the silver carrying the heat better. Rate of conduction? I think it's called? P.S. My spoon is iron/steel and conducts the heat slower. But it still gets hot!

[Echo]

I remember watching my GP cast sinkers in the kitchen. He was a great surf-fisher, and cast his own weights. Anyway, I remember the time he used one of his wife's silver spoons to pull the dross off. I remember the look he got, and his very embarrassed grin - and that must have been 75 years ago, so it really made an impression.

[zxcvbob]

Lets make this simple, would you clean & use a spoon that was found in the bottom of an outhouse?

Yeah, actually I would. But that's different than a silver spoon contaminated with lead.

And that's a good point Jeffrey made about Sterling vs. plated. If it's Sterling, you want to sell it as scrap.

[bangerjim]

Over the years, I have found, collected, and own items of real "stirling" silver. Silver is relative soft....a pure stirling spoon can be bent relatively easily, and it is fairly light compared to the cheap silver plated brass you probably have. There are alloyed solid silver products with copper and other elements added to make it harder, just like in gold jewelry.

Also.........REAL silver is always hallmarked and marked VERY well on the bottom/shank/side. You cannot mistake real silver for silver plate.....just read the printing.....and feel the weight. Even the stuff I have from the 1700's is very well hallmarked by the makers.

Silver was very popular for a lot of things in years past, hence the big "silver mining boom" in the West in the 1800's. Once technologies allowed for the electroplating of brass and other base metals, cheaper silver plate flooded the markets in the 1900's, making the "feel & look" of premium silver products available to the masses, not just the rich.

Today pure silver is still only worth ~$25/ troy oz. (I wish it would move up, like all the metal peddlers on TV claim it will!) I prefer gold for precious metals!

Gold........a little goes a loooooong way!!

bangerjim

[montana_charlie]

Wow, what a tough crowd! :-) The spoon is nothing special so I won't use it. I figured if anyone would know if there was a safe way to cleanse the spoon, someone here would know it. Nothing lost by not using it. I'll return it to its previous use, stirring lead.

Glenn
Speaking academically, it may be possible to remove all of the lead still 'attached' to that spoon by using a device like the Outer's Foul Out.

CM

[jcwit]

Yeah, actually I would. But that's different than a silver spoon contaminated with lead.

Do it if you wish but I've lived thru too many major sicknesses in my 70 years to even attempt the above. But then its your health, and your family's welfare.


Since it is not safe to clean and reuse for food, please make arrangements for it's destruction after your passing.
I would hate to have it dropped into other silverware for sale at a yard sale and someone use it for food.

I have clear instructions for the destruction of the casting and smelting equipment I have that was previously food service equipment.

Very good idea.

[bangerjim]

Speaking academically, it may be possible to remove all of the lead still 'attached' to that spoon by using a device like the Outer's Foul Out.

CM

Hey.........does that stuff work to get the "lead out" of my keester?

If it does.........PLEASE........do NOT tell my wife.

My "honey-do" list is getting longer with each passing day!

bangerjim

"God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things.
Right now I am so far behind, I will NEVER die!!"

[Blacksmith]

Over the years, I have found, collected, and own items of real "stirling" silver. Silver is relative soft....a pure stirling spoon can be bent relatively easily, and it is fairly light compared to the cheap silver plated brass you probably have. There are alloyed solid silver products with copper and other elements added to make it harder, just like in gold jewelry.

Also.........REAL silver is always hallmarked and marked VERY well on the bottom/shank/side. You cannot mistake real silver for silver plate.....just read the printing.....and feel the weight. Even the stuff I have from the 1700's is very well hallmarked by the makers.

Silver was very popular for a lot of things in years past, hence the big "silver mining boom" in the West in the 1800's. Once technologies allowed for the electroplating of brass and other base metals, cheaper silver plate flooded the markets in the 1900's, making the "feel & look" of premium silver products available to the masses, not just the rich.

Today pure silver is still only worth ~$25/ troy oz. (I wish it would move up, like all the metal peddlers on TV claim it will!) I prefer gold for precious metals!

Gold........a little goes a loooooong way!!

bangerjim

Not necessarily so! Markings were not required prior to 1906. I have coin silver spoons from the early 1800's that have a makers mark but no Assay marks. Many early silversmiths would melt down silver coins (coin silver 90% silver vs sterling silver 92.5% silver) to make a variety of silver objects tea sets, bowls, candle sticks, etc. in addition to flatware. Not all of it was marked but can be recognized by look feel etc. Foreign countries also mark silver (and gold) in different ways including symbols and numbers. I once bought a nice sterling collectors spoon at a very good price because the seller didn't recognize the English Rampant Lion sterling mark.

The Stamping Act of 1906:
http://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com/Msc/Metals.html

For more information on hallmarks try:
http://www.925-1000.com/index.html

http://www.silvercollection.it/ENGLISHSILVERMARKSXH3.html

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~silversmiths/makers/silversmiths/

If you have some to buy or sell:
http://www.antiquecupboard.com/

Here is the section on teaspoons sold by the piece, check the prices:
http://www.antiquecupboard.com/PatternsByPiece.asp?piecename=Teaspoon

[firefly1957]

I had a bunch of silver plate forks and spoons that were in a place that burned i would not consider eating off them again but cleaned up they are great to braze with the silver and brass make a strong joint. Borax is used as flux.

[montana_charlie]

Hey.........does that stuff work to get the "lead out" of my keester?

If it does.........PLEASE........do NOT tell my wife.

According to my dear departed Dad, the best way to remove lead from THAT location was for someone to administer a 'swift kick' in the 'keester'.

I wouldn't be surprised if your wife already knows of this 'cure', and will turn to it when all other options have proven fruitless.

CM