Lead getting hard to find

[abunaitoo]

Lead is getting hard to find here.
Most of it is being scooped up by guys making fishing weights.
Went by a fishing shop a while ago and saw some of what they were selling.
All that I saw had a purple tint to it. $10 a pound.
Talked to the guy and found out they dump any lead scrap they can find into the pot.
Batteries, wheel weights, roofing sheathing, old fishing weights found in the ocean, anything that looks like lead and will melt.
State had ruled that lead is now a hazardous material and must be paid to be disposed of.
I used to get wheel weights free from tire shops.
It now has to go to a recycler to be disposed of.
I'm guessing the recyclers are making a killing on it.
Don't understand how a recycler can resell something that is a hazardous material.
I'm thinking lead here will be harder and harder to find in the future.

[toallmy]

Become a has-mat lead handler then people will pay you to hall away lead , just specialize in very small jobs on the weekend .

[merlin101]

Become a has-mat lead handler then people will pay you to hall away lead , just specialize in very small jobs on the weekend .
That could be a very good idea, but I bet there's more licensing regulations for hauling it than there is to become a licensed dealer.

[lightman]

Its getting harder to find here too. You gotta always be on the hunt, it shows up in unexpected places.

[Ken in Iowa]

I was going to make some business cards stating that I was doing small lot recycling of tin, lead and antimony.

Found the mother lode, so I am set for life now.

[6622729]

I was going to make some business cards stating that I was doing small lot recycling of tin, lead and antimony.

Found the mother lode, so I am set for life now.

Since you are set (I actually am as well), where does one find the motherload?

[Bob in St. Louis]

If the local government has it labelled as "special", then you're behind the eight ball. Sorry to hear.
My local metal recycling guy has 400# of lead shot that was used at carnivals in the "machine guns".
I told him I'd buy it all, a little at a time as money allows.

[mold maker]

If you become a " licensed" recycler, you are creating a paper trail and will have to show what you do with the "hazardous material".
The whole thing is to create an income for the regulators and a job for pencil pushers who feeds lawyers information.
Just quietly continue to search and eventually you will find. Telling all your friends and coworkers of your need is probably the best and longest lasting method. It's even a reason to make new friends.
I've been at it all my adult life and folks still call and say "come and get it", or bring it by.

[Iowa Fox]

I was going to make some business cards stating that I was doing small lot recycling of tin, lead and antimony.

Found the mother lode, so I am set for life now.

I'm set with ingots myself but wouldn't mind stumbling into a mother lode of good stuff. I don't even haul wheel weights home these days as they are mostly junk.

[dtknowles]

Lead is getting hard to find here.
Most of it is being scooped up by guys making fishing weights.
Went by a fishing shop a while ago and saw some of what they were selling.
All that I saw had a purple tint to it. $10 a pound.
Talked to the guy and found out they dump any lead scrap they can find into the pot.
Batteries, wheel weights, roofing sheathing, old fishing weights found in the ocean, anything that looks like lead and will melt.
State had ruled that lead is now a hazardous material and must be paid to be disposed of.
I used to get wheel weights free from tire shops.
It now has to go to a recycler to be disposed of.
I'm guessing the recyclers are making a killing on it.
Don't understand how a recycler can resell something that is a hazardous material.
I'm thinking lead here will be harder and harder to find in the future.

Lead is very easy to find, many sources will sell it to you, even some members here. Of course you will have to pay for it.

Tim

[Hardcast416taylor]

I actually have stopped taking the free 5 gal. pails of used weights from my friend that has a car dealership and repair shop. The pails were getting to be close to 75 - 80% non lead weights. I am already sitting on approximatley 2000 +/- lb. of 4 different type leads so I don`t think I`ll be needing more in this lifetime. Sorry it is getting that bad where you are.Robert

[Ken in Iowa]

Since you are set (I actually am as well), where does one find the motherload?

A pair of former casters fixed me up.

[abunaitoo]

How much are the recyclers selling lead for in your parts????
Last I checked it was $10 a pound here.

[imashooter2]

Don't flat rate boxes make it to Hawaii? I still see about a buck a pound in our Swapping and Selling.

[shoot-n-lead]

There is plenty of lead out there...just got to let people know that you are looking for it.

[RogerDat]

Don't flat rate boxes make it to Hawaii? I still see about a buck a pound in our Swapping and Selling.

I was wondering the same thing. US Postal Service Flat Rate Box - It fits it ships, one flat rate. People in the swapping and selling forum sell lead and tin/solder/pewter on a regular basis. Buck a pound for plain or WW lead, more for printers lead or solder/pewter.

Heck I have some Lyman #2 I was selling from there and I was under $2 per pound to be competitive in the market. And in the Vendors forum check the Captains sub forum. Send her a PM I'm sure she would know about shipping USPS flat rate box to Hawaii, sells a lot of WW and plain lead, in clean ready to go ingots I think at about $73 for 60 lbs. shipped. There was also some premium lead in the Swapping and Selling over the last week. Might have to browse over a few pages to find them all.

US Post Office I think will ship to you for same price as anywhere else in a flat rate box, just takes longer.

I like to scrounge for lead, and Mich. has some old infrastructure that used lead, and still allows lead WW's but get right down to it I'm not sure paying $40 for a bucket of WW's, sorting and smelting them into ingots myself is all that much of a better deal than buying ready made ingots from the forum at $1 per pound. Some scrap yards charge $1 a pound for lead so I'm only going to buy premium stuff from them. Forum bought is same price and already in ingots.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yip, $1 a pound here, and that's not even in ingots.

[JMtoolman]

Abunaitoo look at your boat yards for a old sailboat to be scrapped, check it for lead keel. Good luck, the toolman.

[scotner]

Abunaitoo look at your boat yards for a old sailboat to be scrapped, check it for lead keel. Good luck, the toolman.

I tried that here. They wanted me to take the boat too.

[dbosman]

He's in Hawaii. Shipping can be high.



Lead is very easy to find, many sources will sell it to you, even some members here. Of course you will have to pay for it.

Tim

[dbosman]

So, how big a boat? ;-) I have scrapped doors and windows by breaking or sawing them in to trash bag sized pieces. Wood boats burn or compost. A wood chipper and some manure would probably take care of things in a year. Metal is all recyclable. Fiberglass boats can be cut into landfill sized pieces. A 2000 pound keel would solve your lead issues. You'll need a chain saw on it in to melt size chunks.


I tried that here. They wanted me to take the boat too.

[imashooter2]

He's in Hawaii. Shipping can be high.

USPS flat rate boxes are the same price to Hawaii as down the street.

[TexasGrunt]

He's in Hawaii. Shipping can be high.

USPS Flat Rate is the same to Hawaii as it is anywhere else in the US.

[scotner]

So, how big a boat? ;-) I have scrapped doors and windows by breaking or sawing them in to trash bag sized pieces. Wood boats burn or compost. A wood chipper and some manure would probably take care of things in a year. Metal is all recyclable. Fiberglass boats can be cut into landfill sized pieces. A 2000 pound keel would solve your lead issues. You'll need a chain saw on it in to melt size chunks.

I did not ask about the size of the boat. The lake is about 20 to 30 miles from here depending on which side of the lake the marina is located. It would be too far for repeated trips and the neighbors would come unglued if I dragged a dead sailboat home and began an autopsy in the yard. I decided that scrounging wheel weights would be easier. I found three buckets at one shop last week and the lead content has been high enough to give me a good supply. Also found linotype nearby. I am set now other than smelting the wheel weights.

[triggerhappy243]

[QUOTE=mold maker;3897336]If you become a " licensed" recycler, you are creating a paper trail and will have to show what you do with the "hazardous material".

kinda like what hillary was supposed to do with the emails. LOL

[dolfinwriter]

Sirs, I'm going to post this on the Buy forum, but I have a source who has 2700 lbs of sailboat keel lead and I have neither time, no space nor free $ at present to buy it. Torrance, CA area.

[fredj338]

Welcome to the new liberal norm. Pretty much impossible to buy scrap lead here in Kommifornia. The entire country will eventually get there. So get what you can & stack it deep.

[BlackRat]

I've been calling a couple of scrap yards here in northern Kalifornia and they are asking 1.25 a pound... if you add to that the time and effort to sort, smelt and discard steel, zinc, etc it's cheaper and a lot more convenient to buy here at the S&S forum.

However, I am trying to contact a guy near Sacramento who is selling reclaimed lead shot at $1 per pound. That would be interesting.

[triggerhappy243]

lots of antimony and arsenic

[Eddie Southgate]

dBosman,
There is an old sail boat setting in my MIL's back yard . It has been a catch all for junk since my FIL died a few years ago . It is over 20ft but under 25 ft . How much lead would you expect it to contain and how do you get to it ? The wife and her sister were going to call someone to haul it off . Can it be got out without damaging the hull to the point that it can't be hauled on the trailer ?

Eddie

[TexasGrunt]

I've been calling a couple of scrap yards here in northern Kalifornia and they are asking 1.25 a pound... if you add to that the time and effort to sort, smelt and discard steel, zinc, etc it's cheaper and a lot more convenient to buy here at the S&S forum.

However, I am trying to contact a guy near Sacramento who is selling reclaimed lead shot at $1 per pound. That would be interesting.

When I buy scrap lead I'm allowed to pick through it. Nos zinc, no steel. Just lead.

[KenH]

dBosman,
There is an old sail boat setting in my MIL's back yard . It has been a catch all for junk since my FIL died a few years ago . It is over 20ft but under 25 ft . How much lead would you expect it to contain and how do you get to it ?Eddie

Eddie, it depends on type of sailboat. If it's a fixed keel it might well be lead and perhaps a few hundred pounds of lead. But - if it's a center board type, then it's most likely cast iron keel. Since the boat is scrap anyway, "IF" it's a fixed keel, drill a small hole (1/4", 3/8") from outside thru hull into keel and see if lead shavings come out, or iron shavings.

[dbosman]

As KenH said, drill a hole. If lead comes our, drill several sample holes and take the separate samples some place with an XRF "gun" for an analysis. If the samples are consistent and lead, celebrate.

[Eddie Southgate]

Thanks Ken .

[KenH]

Eddie, be sure to let us know what you find when you get a change to check that sailboat. I'm an old "boat bum" - was a live-a-board for 25+ yrs.

KenH >