Pouring a 4.5 ton lead keel

[dragon813gt]

Stumbled across these videos on YouTube. There is nothing professional about them. Figured it would be interesting to quite a few here.

Shorter video showing the pouring of the keel.
https://youtu.be/K1cpJBtWnQg

Longer video showing how they set it all up.
https://youtu.be/rJS5w2xO2As

And in case you were wondering how they moved it. This one had me cringing at times.
https://youtu.be/lAFNcyEIxtg

[SciFiJim]

I was also cringing watching them shove cold lead sheeting into the liquid pool of lead in the mold. They were very fortunate to avoid a visit from the tinsel fairy.

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=s: Hi Dragon.I have seen the two first videos.Most interesting.They all had me cringing at times.
They sure built one heck of a smelter.Just what we cast booliteers need in the back yard:redneck:.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[sparkyv]

Very informative.

[Hogtamer]

my back hurts

[WILCO]

Great music rotation. Very well done.

[Radialshave]

didn't you guys get a laugh watching them walk through the big fog banks of melted lead vapor?

On a side note, why do I get the impression an EPA visit to the smelter site soon?

[dubber123]

didn't you guys get a laugh watching them walk through the big fog banks of melted lead vapor?

On a side note, why do I get the impression an EPA visit to the smelter site soon?

Lead doesn't vaporize till over 1,000 degrees, so I doubt there was any actual lead vapor. Plenty of other stuff in that cloud that's not great for you, but probably not much lead.

[root]

Man that's a ton of bullets or in this case 4.5 tons of them!!

Rich

[dragon813gt]

didn't you guys get a laugh watching them walk through the big fog banks of melted lead vapor?

On a side note, why do I get the impression an EPA visit to the smelter site soon?

EPA won't be paying them a visit. And that want lead vapor. They didn't get the lead anywhere close to the vaporization point. Most of it was from the lead scorching the wood form. Bad for you to breathe but not lead vapor.

[SciFiJim]

Reading the comments on the videos are hilarious.

"ARHHHG! You touched LEAD, you are all going to DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH!"

[lightman]

That would have put a big dent in my lead stash! Lots of Southern Engineering in that video!

[Three44s]

No wonder there is a lead shortage!

Three44s

[Radialshave]

how much 22 shorts at 29 grains a pop would that be?

[dragon813gt]

how much 22 shorts at 29 grains a pop would that be?

2,172,413.793103448

Doesn't seem like that many once you do the math.

[StolzerandSons]

There are a lot of things about that pour that made me cringe but I like to see younger people accomplish things/goals with just their own ingenuity, it gives me hope that this country still has a few people in the next couple generations that are capable.

[skeettx]

WOW
What YOUNGER folks can do :)

[oldred]

Interesting for sure but I can think of a much better use for all that lead!!!! :bigsmyl2:

[salty dog]

With the speeded up video when he was sitting on top of it pulling the come-along lever toward him it looked for all the world like he was doing a pantomime of rowing a boat.

They seemed like thoughtful folks so I suspect they didn't take too many risks despite the cringe worthy spots. I did wonder about all the dross on top of it, but they were working with a makeshift lead pot literally over a 1000 times bigger than I've ever used, so I'll cut them some slack.

[salty dog]

Just did the math, that would be over a quarter of a million bullets at 250 grains apiece. Too many for me, I can't afford the primers.

[merlin101]

That was something for sure, I could've told them not to use plywood! They should've called me:)

[Traffer]

2,172,413.793103448

Doesn't seem like that many once you do the math.

About a weeks worth of shooting with full auto.

[Plate plinker]

That was something for sure, I could've told them not to use plywood! They should've called me:)



They had reasons for using plywood that made sense. There is another video addressing the concerns of using other materials and problems that can arise with those at a later time when the boat is assembled and used in the salt water.

As for the dross they are planning on using a router to clean of the surface of the keel, so we shall see how that works for them. I have been watching this build for awhile as well as the Tally Ho rebuild. I think the British guy doing the Tally Ho makes a great video.

[jakharath]

What a waste of tons of 185 grain .452 SWCs!

[Lloyd Smale]

they weren't dummys. Just the rigging and moving took a lot of ingenuity for young inexperienced riggers. I wonder if they then build the boat around that keel or if they lift it into the hull of the boat?

[Elkins45]

they weren't dummys. Just the rigging and moving took a lot of ingenuity for young inexperienced riggers. I wonder if they then build the boat around that keel or if they lift it into the hull of the boat?

I’m guessing they built around it. I base that on seeing how much effort they put into moving it into that one exact spot.

How big is a boat that needs a 9000 pound keel?

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=s: I believe it`s not so much the size of the boat,as how tall the masts are and how much sail is on them.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo