Happy New Year to me!

[Monttexan]

Made a big score today! Local guy posted roughly 1000 pounds of lead on Craigslist yesterday. I guess nobody (me included) was paying attention to CL last night. I called right away when I saw the ad and got most of it. One guy was ahead of me, but he only wanted 2 bars of it. I ended up with 794 pounds of lead....paid 44 cents per pound. Most of it is in the bars, with a couple other scrap pieces as seen in the photos. It was cast into bars using sand molds so it has a bit of sand in it. The guy said it's pure lead otherwise as far as he knows. I compared poking one of these bars with my pocket knife to an ingot I know is pure lead and they feel very similar (how scientific is that!) I am suddenly much more content with how much lead I have on hand. Happy New Year to me!

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg238/heavybolterbob/DSCN0306_zpsee45418e.jpg (http://s249.photobucket.com/user/heavybolterbob/media/DSCN0306_zpsee45418e.jpg.html)

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg238/heavybolterbob/DSCN0307_zps94519650.jpg (http://s249.photobucket.com/user/heavybolterbob/media/DSCN0307_zps94519650.jpg.html)

[Beagle333]

Gee, that's a lot of lead! Happy New Year! :-D

[WILCO]

Gee, that's a lot of lead! Happy New Year! :-D

I'll say! Congrats on the score.

[NewbieDave007]

Nice score!

[el34]

Gee, that's a lot of lead! Happy New Year! :-D


I'll say! Congrats on the score.


Nice score!

Copy that!

[Miller]

I see some smelting and casting in your future!

[dikman]

Nice! And the other guy only wanted two bars?? :roll:

[472x1B/A]

Good going on your score. At least you didn't get attacted by the Craiglist seller. Good price too. So just for curiosity sake, what's your game plan on smelting these bars? Got a BIG pot? The reason I'm asking is, I procured a Doe Run (stamped in the ingot) lead ingot that weighs 135 lbs. I do not have a pot big enough for this.

[Monttexan]

Yeah, I don't know why the other guy only wanted 2....but I ain't complaining! :)

The smelting of this will be waiting 2 or 3 weeks at least. Still haven't accomplished our move back north to Montana. Should be by the end of the month. Crossed fingers appreciated! My dad has a pot that will handle 100 or more pounds so we'll be using it. He also has one of those nifty horizontal band saws that work under their own weight and shut off when they finish the cut. Will probably use it to cut these in half and make them a bit more manageable. With this stuff, plus the lino and other stuff he has to smelt down, it should keep us busy for a few days. He hasn't cast since I was about 5, so 40 years. He has a bunch of his old ingots and other lead he wants to melt/alloy/clean up. Better than sitting around watching the snow pile up!

I have had good luck with Craigslist overall. Never had any weirdos try anything....and even if I'm not carrying, I always have at least 1 really good knife on me and 20+ years of Kung Fu to fall back on! [smilie=1: The worst I've had happen with CL is I missed buying a Gibson SG for $200 about 3 years ago because I was raised not to call people that late at night....and it was gone by the time I called early in the morning.

[Alan in Vermont]

He also has one of those nifty horizontal band saws that work under their own weight and shut off when they finish the cut. Will probably use it to cut these in half and make them a bit more manageable.

I have one of those saws, don't expect very good results when cutting lead with. The fine tooth blades those use clog solid with soft materials like lead and bind the blade in the cut. Easiest way is to use a skilsaw with a carbide woodcutting blade. As thick as those are you probably should cut it in several passes, drip a little oil into the kerf between cuts. Cut over a tarp or a sheet of plywood so you can save the "sawdust". BTW, there isn't any real "dust" produced, the material comes out of the kerf as fairly coarse chips.

[Monttexan]

I have one of those saws, don't expect very good results when cutting lead with. The fine tooth blades those use clog solid with soft materials like lead and bind the blade in the cut. Easiest way is to use a skilsaw with a carbide woodcutting blade. As thick as those are you probably should cut it in several passes, drip a little oil into the kerf between cuts. Cut over a tarp or a sheet of plywood so you can save the "sawdust". BTW, there isn't any real "dust" produced, the material comes out of the kerf as fairly coarse chips.


Thanks for the tip. I can see how the soft material would clog things up. We both have Skil saws and never use anything but carbide tipped blades. If we're lucky we won't have to cut them down at all. Might be easier if we do though...the chunks I got are fairly long. They're probably not too much weight for his pot at one time, but the shape of the bars might be a bit awkward.

[tking308]

WOW, Nice find!

[myg30]

That's about as happy a new year can start ! Very good score.

Enjoy, be safe smelting.

Mike

[Daddyfixit]

Nice find! I like the lead whale in the second picture!

[Sgt Petro]

That's a really nice score!