ok i am still learning

[chewie]

where does lead come from or how is it made?

chewie

[oneokie]

Several sources for lead.

Galena is lead bearing ore. Galena is a square to rectangular shaped crystal.

Lead is a by-product of silver mining/refining.

It is also a by/co-product of zinc mining/refining.

Also, it is depleted Uranium, 0% radioactivity left.

[beagle]

Now, thanks to the tree huggers, most lead is from recycled sources and I imagine very little is mined anymore but it's out there. Illinois as well as I recall has huge deposits.

No matter what the EPA does, lead will be around for all of our lifetime. Us casters just have to get innovative about reclaiming it before the recyclers get to it./beagle

[Blammer]

that's easy, lead comes from the tire shop... :)

[mooman76]

I thought they extracted it from chinese toys!

[AZ-Stew]

High school chemistry class stuff.

Lead is a chemical Element, just as are Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Silver, Gold, Mercury, Tin, Antimony, Sulfur, Iron, Aluminum, Carbon, and a near hundred others. A chemical element is something that can't be broken down into smaller parts that have distinct characteristics. An element's atoms are unique. All atoms in a theoretical pure lead ingot are identical. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_element

Compounds are chemical combinations of elements, such as H2O (water, which is 2 Hydrogen atoms (H2) and one Oxygen atom (O)) or H2SO4 (Sulfuric Acid, 2 Hydrogen, 1 Sulfur and 4 Oxygen) or CO2 (Carbon Dioxide, 1 Carbon and 2 Oxygen). The atoms of the different elements in the compound are linked together.

A Mixture is a physical combination of elements and/or compounds, such as Black Powder, which consists of 75% potassium nitrate (KNO3, a compound, 1 Potassium (K), 1 Nitrogen (N) and 3 Oxygen (O3)), 15% softwood charcoal (carbon, an element), and 10% sulfur, another element. These are not chemically combined, just physically mixed, as in stirring them together in a container.

See Wikipedia for more information.

Bottom line is, lead is a basic substance, an element. It is not "made" from anything, in other words, you don't mix a bunch of stuff together to create it. It is, however, extracted from lead ore. Again, see Wiki for more info.

Regards, and I hope this helps,

Stew

[chewie]

it is cool reading the replies,,,,,,,,but alot of this is WAY over my head. but i guess i am learning more each day and with every post.

[45nut]

You will get an education here if you want one, sometimes even if you don't.

This site is not geared to turn away the new or the old, we welcome everyone and figure if you are here to learn, you will, and if you are educated in the field, you can share your experiences.

[44man]

If you believe the tree huggers you can walk the edges of roads with a lead magnet and find a million tons! :bigsmyl2:

[waksupi]

Chewie, go to http://www.castpics.net/

Look in the articles section, under "Where to find lead" It is a piece I put together for the page some time ago.

Check out the other articles and sections there. Very infomative site.

[docone31]

Campers,
I belong to a refineing forum also.
Being a jeweler, I accumulate scrap, both karat and plated and gold filled.
My preference, when I make a piece, is to provide the most comprehensive, finite, finished product possible.
I don't want to blow my own horn, as I have a vast amount of terrain to yet travel, however, if I asked a question such as What is Lead? Where do I get it? How do I work with it? What is it made of?, I would get smug slapped.
I just did such a thing.
Where this thread does not to me represent a stupid question, on every issue I have tried to open a door on, I get smug slapped.
I seriously respect this forum. I come to it every chance I get. Questions get answered! I have almost never seen sniping on a question.
I have to date, almost 5 gallons of Aqua Regia with perhaps 3/4 ounce of 9995 gold in it. I tried to find out how to drop the gold from the solution. It took me an act of congress to get any answers at all.
A simple thing like What is Lead, results in comprehensive answers, references. I applaud us all. There are people on this forum who have reached levels of proficiency I have only dreamed about. When they pitch in and help, they help.
We got some good people here.

[missionary5155]

Now, thanks to the tree huggers, most lead is from recycled sources and I imagine very little is mined anymore but it's out there. Illinois as well as I recall has huge deposits.

No matter what the EPA does, lead will be around for all of our lifetime. Us casters just have to get innovative about reclaiming it before the recyclers get to it./beagle

Yep Galena, Illinois was a long time producer... The French were known to "Stop by" and trade with our red predecessors going way back into the early 1700´s. It´s no wonder there were several shot shell factories nearby.