Cutting large chunks of soft lead.

[james nicholson]

I came across a 42# chunk that looks like it was melted into a large can and then dumped out. It is cylindrical and about 10" in diameter. It is soft enough to scratch with your thumb nail with little pressure. Now to get it into usable pieces. I have an electric chain saw that could use a new chain, has anyone ever tried this?

[OldBearHair]

My thought is use and axe and wedges ie:no lead sawdust flying everywhere! Wide wood chisel to finish cutting into small squares?

[OldBearHair]

Bottom half of old propane tank,wood fire, melt lead, pour into ingots. Less work.

[tja6435]

Chainsaw with a tarp under to catch the shavings, there will be quite a bit of shavings.

[quail4jake]

Careful with that chain saw! They grab and buck in soft stuff like that. I put the slab over the pot and use the prestolite torch to melt off bit by bit, important to get the whole slab hot first because the acetylene/air flame is hot enough to vaporize lead if you hold it in one place. Good luck!

[country gent]

The propane tank pot is the easiest way. One can be made from an out dated tank with a little work. for one time use simply build a coal or hardwood fire under it and a shop vac for a blower. Youll be surprised how fast it melts. A wind shield around it from concrete blocks helps a lot.
Depending on thickness a sawsall, portable band saw, Even a heavy chisel and 4 lb hammer will work. On the saws use beeswax to lubricate the blade and keep it from loading up. Use a coarse blade and lube it good. A piece of fire wood 20-24" in dia and cured to set it up on will give it good support for the hammer and chisel to work best. The big thing is to work safe and not get hurt.

[Bookworm]

I used a reciprocating saw (Sawzall) with a fairly coarse blade. Lubed with bar soap first, then just used a squirt can to shoot a bit of 30 weight in the kerf occasionally.
I put a small tarp under it to catch shavings.

It worked well - I cut up a slab about 4" thick, 10" wide, and 2 1/2 feet long, in about 20 minutes.

[runfiverun]

42 lbs will fit in a 5qt dutch oven easily.
i's just set it in the pot light the fire and use the propane torch to shape the edges to fit in the pot.

[labradigger1]

Hydraulic wood splitter. No shavings, no mess, no problem.

[lightman]

Everybody has about covered the popular methods. I'm going to say that this might be a good excuse to go ahead and get a smelting set up big enough to handle that chunk. I you stay at this hobby long enough you will get stuff that large occasionally. Its nice to be able to melt it without a lot of work.

I also agree with the others, Be Careful if you use a powered saw.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Axie and sledgehammer would work, but is quite a bit of work. The propane tank and burner method is fine if you expect to do it again, but is also troublesome to do only once. The log splitter might be best if you have a log splitter. It's the same with a chainsaw, and the chips will alight in piles far more neatly than wood chips, due to their weight. Kicking back and rearranging your anatomy mostly happens when you aren't expecting it. But if it worries you, do it underneath a piece of two by four.

The one I don't like the idea of is the oxy-acetylene cutting torch. It will do the job quifckly and easily, but is locally far hotter than the danger level for an overheated lead point. I think there would be great danger spreading lead oxide ar-float fineness, which is far more dangerous than metallic lead.

[Grmps]

+1 Get an ugly 12" pot @ a thrift store.
Safer than cutting and reusable for big smelts

[OS OK]

208532

An old fashioned 'limb saw' with a little wax in it's teeth will run through that Pb like 'buttah'...this is linotype I cut to exact weight for blending.
You can't get in a hurry, if it wants to stick...either you are going too fast or pushing too hard or it needs another dose of wax, but it'll getterdone!

The best advise so far is to set yourself up with an adequate pot to smelt large batches and if you can get a lid for your pot, that'll speed things up too.

[popper]

you probably will burn out the motor, they have no clutch.

[RogerDat]

Log split once and then use Harbor Freight Dutch oven to melt each half One thing to remember is you can melt big chunk over a campfire or charcoal. Either in a pot of some sort or just setting on a bent or tilted piece of metal for the molten lead to run off of. Even if the molten lead just runs off one side into a puddle and you turn the plate it is on 4 times you will have 4 hardened puddles when you are done. Those puddles should be of a manageable size. A line of bread loaf pans next to steel sheet over fire grate that tips toward the pans will give you 3 ingots at approx. 15 lbs. each. Or into a piece of channel or a ditch dug with a trowel. When you re-melt those smaller dirt mold pigs in a pot the dirt will rise and float on top of the molten lead for skimming off.

My first choice would be buy the Harbor Freight Dutch oven, good price and should get years of use out of it. The 40# can chunk might even just fit right into it.

[Geezer in NH]

uh 45 pounds is not a "large chunk" IMHO you need to add another zero on the right end.

[james nicholson]

Thanks to all who replied, SWMBO has flowers growing in an old Harbor Freight Dutch Oven, now that the flowers have died, she may not even notice it has been used. Also thanks on the new to me knowledge about no clutch in an electric chain saw, even though it was cheap, I would hate to ruin it.

[quail4jake]

Hydraulic wood splitter. No shavings, no mess, no problem.
I love it! I just learned something new, thanks!:bigsmyl2:

[Texas by God]

I put my big cheese wheel of lead in the shop vise. I position a propane torch to melt it like candle wax into my Lee furnace. I work on other projects within a few feet in case something goes askew.
It requires moving the flame every 15 min or so.

[lwknight]

Weed burner works great on any size chunk of lead. Slow to get started but it goes fast once you get it to dripping into a pot or mold.
Cheap and simple plus good for many things.

[bob208]

I use a air powered chisel. like used in body work to cut of quarter panels. have also used a hammer and chisel.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I'd feel a lot happier about the propane or weed burner than oxy-acetylene. The gentler flame allows at to be conducted into the mass of the lead, while e you can't avoid extreme local overheating with oxy-acetylene. Lead is a far worse conductor of heat than the steel it is normally used on.

[Lloyd Smale]

I keep an old chain saw just for cutting lead.

[robg]

hatchet or saw

[lwknight]

I'd feel a lot happier about the propane or weed burner than oxy-acetylene. The gentler flame allows at to be conducted into the mass of the lead, while e you can't avoid extreme local overheating with oxy-acetylene. Lead is a far worse conductor of heat than the steel it is normally used on.

It is not bad to overheat with the weed burner being naturally aspirated because as soon as it is hot enough to melt , it runs off into the catch container. You might actually reduce some oxides with the flame.

[skeettx]

Yes Dutch oven and Coleman stove or fish fryer

[NavyVet1959]

I'd feel a lot happier about the propane or weed burner than oxy-acetylene. The gentler flame allows at to be conducted into the mass of the lead, while e you can't avoid extreme local overheating with oxy-acetylene. Lead is a far worse conductor of heat than the steel it is normally used on.

It's going to depend upon the type of steel you are talking about and the temperature range in question. Some steels are better conductors of heat, but some are worse. In the below data, a higher number means that it is a better conductor. You could use an oxy-acetylene torch to just melt the lead, but you would probably need to keep moving it around so to not heat up any one small area too quickly. Using a oxy-fuel torch to cut steel is not simply just melting it. You are getting it to a certain temperature point and then adding extra oxygen in order to cause the steel to *burn*, not just melt.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-metals-d_858.html

At 68F, 1.5% Carbon steel has a thermal conductivity of 21 BTUs/(hr-°F-ft).
At 752F, 1.5% Carbon steel has a thermal conductivity of 19 BTUs/(hr-°F-ft).

At 68F, Lead has a thermal conductivity of 20 BTUs/(hr-°F-ft).
At 527F, Lead has a thermal conductivity of 17.2 BTUs/(hr-°F-ft).

At 68F, pure Aluminum has a thermal conductivity of 118 BTUs/(hr-°F-ft).
At 68F, pure Copper has a thermal conductivity of 223 BTUs/(hr-°F-ft).
At 68F, stainless steel has a thermal conductivity of 7-26 BTUs/(hr-°F-ft).

[bangerjim]

I have found MANY of these at the scrap yard. 1$ a pound! Cut it to reasonable sizes with a HF dual cut rotary saw. Slices thru them like butter!
Put a tarp down to catch the "saw dust"!!!!!

Banger

[RED BEAR]

Use large toothed hand saw and lubricate with oil ( wd40 worked well). Do not use small toothed saw as it will clog up. Just keep plenty of oil on the blade and it will go right through.

[dogdoc]

Hydraulic wood splitter. No shavings, no mess, no problem.

That’s what I do. Works great . Cut into small enough to fit in pot

[Walter Laich]

I've used a chop saw with a bit of wax on the blade to cut up a bunch of lead with no problems

Put a tarp in and up the sides of my truck bed, put saw as far 'up' into the bed and still comfortably operate it, wax blade (no power--those some more brave than I do it while running--think Three-Finger Jack is one)

don't push it hard--just easy cutting. save the scraps in the tarps as they can add up to a significant amount of weight.

I do use hearing protectors--most of my friends are into hearing aids, so far I'm still using OEM equipment

[Blacktop]

I use a air powered chisel. like used in body work to cut of quarter panels. have also used a hammer and chisel.

^ This is what I figured out after hatchet, ax, saw ect. Did 700 lbs of pipe. Air chisel made quick clean work of it.

Also one of the reasons I'm here.