Cutting lead?

[sasquatch76]

I got a shipment of COWW lead and it's in huge 30lb slabs. I only have a Lyman 10lb pot so I need to cut it down. I got one slab cut into manageable pieces but destroyed two sawzall blades, lost a good bit of lead to filings flying everywhere and dang near burnt up the saw, so that's a no go. Tried a jigsaw, nope. Hacksaw wouldn't cut it either. How do you guys cut up large pieces of lead?

[Driver man]

Have you tried an axe.Works fine for soft lead

[jsizemore]

Hatchet or ax or chisel and 2 lb hammer. 6x6 under the lead being operated on.

[mikeym1a]

A log splitter will do a dandy job in short order, if you have one. mm

[bangerjim]

Spend a little money.........buy one of those double cut saws Harbor Freight sells...........you will love it for lead and just about everything else you will ever cut!

Goes thru ~3" of lead like a knife thru butter and does not throw your back out of whack like using an axe.

If thicker, just turn it over and cut again from the backside. I have cut gobs of BIG lead hunks with mine. Just lay a tarp down to catch the "sawdust" to melt also.

No kickback, not struggles, just clean fast cuts.

That saw is my go-to tool for cutting everything....... from lead to steel to pipe to wood to plywood to plastic.....even "the cheese!" HA.....ha!

banger

[cdngunner]

I just used a bow saw....throw on a little soap and water to keep the blade cool.

I also hear chainsaws work really well.

[sasquatch76]

I'll have to try the hatchet or ax method. Don't have the money to spend on any power tools right now.

[sasquatch76]

Grabbed my ax ,a mini-sledge, and some elbow grease. Got it cut up into manageable pieces, 4 more slabs to go. Thanks for the advice.

103444

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Had to cut a huge slab of WWmetal into manageable chunks that would fit into smelting pot. Decided to go the log splitter route as I have one rated at 22 ton which isn't the biggest but it isn't the smallest either. It worked although slowly and didn't appear to strain the machine at all. I know people who have used the chain saw, but it throws a lot of chips everywhere and it isn't the best for the chain. An axe is ok if you don't have a lot to do and the pieces aren't too big to start with. LLS

[10 ga]

hatchet, axe, limb loppers, hammer n cold chisel will usually take care of anything short of a boat keel. No dust or filings to worry. 10

[BNE]

Banger, i have never heard of a doublecut saw before. Just watched a video. Pretty cool. Thanks

[jsizemore]

Same method works to split cable sheathing.

[Springfield]

A skilsaw works well also but you have to be able to hold the piece. If you are going to get a lot of these large pieces you might want to invest in a turkey fryer to make smaller ingots with.

[sasquatch76]

I actually thought about that, Springfield. I have a large propane burner just need to get a big iron pot for it.

[62chevy]

I actually thought about that, Springfield. I have a large propane burner just need to get a big iron pot for it.

http://www.hensleygibbs.com/TCD/articles/castingpot.htm This may give you some ideas on building a pot.

[bangerjim]

Banger, i have never heard of a doublecut saw before. Just watched a video. Pretty cool. Thanks

There are several purveyors and brands of that kind of saw. I needed it for another function all together and just grabbed one with one my hundreds of 20-25% off coupons from HF and fell in love with it! I use it for just about everything that does NOT require a precision square cut. It does plunge cuts like a hot knife thru butter. NO kickback. And it does not rattle your bones to the core like a SawzAll.........I just hate those things!


But there are those on here that still want to break their backs with an axe or sledge or something else. God Bless 'em....... & power to 'em.

I plowed thru a 2½" thick piece of hard lead 18" wide in under 20 seconds with that saw. Try that with an axe.

banger

[jsizemore]

There are several purveyors and brands of that kind of saw. I needed it for another function all together and just grabbed one with one my hundreds of 20-25% off coupons from HF and fell in love with it! I use it for just about everything that does NOT require a precision square cut. It does plunge cuts like a hot knife thru butter. NO kickback. And it does not rattle your bones to the core like a SawzAll.........I just hate those things!


But there are those on here that still want to break their backs with an axe or sledge or something else. God Bless 'em....... & power to 'em.

I plowed thru a 2½" thick piece of hard lead 18" wide in under 20 seconds with that saw. Try that with an axe.

banger

Does that 20 seconds include the time to get up the lead dust from cutting? or pulling out the power cord? or putting it up?

[bangerjim]

Does that 20 seconds include the time to get up the lead dust from cutting? or pulling out the power cord? or putting it up?

There is no "dust". The large chips it makes fall on a tarp.....just like they would from a bone rattler SawzAll or hacksaw, or band saw. Scoop 'em up and dump them in the pot.

And no, nobody I know of includes set-up and breakdown time in anything they do, unless you are a clock-punching union laborer.

My outlets are right outside my shop door for my pot, hotplate, and any saws/blowers/etc I use. No extensions cords needed here. And all my tools have a neat dedicated location where they hang or sit, so no digging thru piles or garbage to find them or put them away.


So by the time someone locates an axe or hatchet (I could not even find mine if I wanted to!), gets scrap wood located and laid down on the ground just right, and positions the hunk of lead, my set-up time is probably less.

Just mainly boils down to people just do not want to spend money these days! Stimulate the economy!!!!!! I know I sure do!

banger

[ndnchf]

I've used a small electric chain saw to cut big blocks of lead. It worked well, but threw lead chips all over. I never heard of the double cut saw, but just looked at the video on the HF site and read the reviews. I'd say its a pretty impressive saw with lots of uses. I've got a couple big chunks of isotope lead that I've thinking about how to cut up. There is an HF store in town, i may just take a ride over there this weekend. Thanks for the tip.

[bigjake]

An -AIR CHISEL- theres no chips or dust. you can buy those at horror freight cheaply. You lay down the lead on a piece of plywood and let it have it. you make a line of chisel holes then break it off. if its thick, you chisel the other side.

[Green Lizzard]

air chisel worked great for me

[BAGTIC]

Do you have a radial arm saw, circular saw, of table saw? I believe getting a metal cutting blade for one would work. I have a metal cutting circular saw and its blade cuts steel up to an inch almost like wood. No dust just lots of chips. Might also try one of the above with a regular blade installed backwards like sheet metal workers use. It cuts by friction, teeth are almost irrelevant.

[Eddie2002]

I've run slabs of lead through my bandsaw which is set up with a metal cutting blade. Works OK but throws a lot of chips and the saw got a little plugged up. Had to cut some hard wood like oak to knock the lead out of the teeth.

[louism]

I just run it through the bandsaw with a wood cutting blade. Like butter.

[dikman]

I had some pipe and bars in the last lot of lead I bought from the scrap yard, so I just used an old axe to chop through it - rough, but effective (I'm very wary of using power saws to cut lead as they have a tendency to jam/catch).

[62chevy]

Got my son in law to cut my lead pipe up. The only problem with is he didn't same any of the chips, oh well it was free labor.

[gtgeorge]

Wood blades work for me on a circular saw inside a large box to contain the chips. Of course I have not had to cut anything larger than a 50# pig so far.

A few years back I was told of a lead table and stools I was going to carry by chainsaw along for as well as a trailer to carry 10K at a time. The stools were supposed to be 2' blocks times 8 and did not get the dimensions. 350 miles each way and hope it pans out one day. It was a foundry table I was told the workers poured for break time.

[plmitch]

Chain saws and sawzall work great.

[triggerhappy243]

If you have a large propane weed burner, that will melt it to just run off like water. Let the pieces cool, then roll them up like paper and put it into your pot.