How to cut THICK lead plates?

[dangerranger]

I'm getting an old hospital ready to demo, And have found the X-ray rooms are covered in lead plates that are 1" thick and 2x3 feet. These plates seem to weigh between 300 and 400 lbs each. I need to cut them into pieces that can be carried up a few flights of stairs as the elevators are out of commision.

I need to cut them using hand tools, a Grinder, Sawzall, or Circular Saw, ETC....
Any ideas what would make easy work of this? How course of saw blades? I only have a few days before the scrap contractors come in. What do you think?

[Dunkem]

Chainsaw, electric one of the exhaust fumes are an issue.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

[NoZombies]

Sawzall with a course blade will do the trick, but make sure you're using a short blade, and lube the blades regularly.

[retread]

Sawzall with very coarse tooth blade.

[marcel909]

Sawzall with very coarse tooth blade.

sounds great.

[Walks]

Do ya get to keep any ?

I'd sorta hate see it go to a scrap yard.

They'd probably sell it to the chinese.

[dangerranger]

Thanks Guys I'll try that tomorrow! I'll let you know how it works! DR

[osteodoc08]

Agree with sawzall.

[merlin101]

I use to cut aluminum sheets with a circular saw with a carbide blade turned backward, it would rip right thru without catching and binding IDK how it would do with 1" lead.

[labradigger1]

Wood splitter, no chainsaw shavings either.

[kevin c]

I have used a Sawzall with a coarse wood cutting blade. It seemed to cut better by lubing the cut with WD40. Lots of vibration, or maybe I just wasn't using the best technique. I also have used a counter rotating dual blade rotary saw. Easier in my experience, with less vibration/fatigue (but I'm a scrawny, little guy). Lots of chips to catch with a tarp with either tool.

ETA: that was for cutting up to 3/4" flat and cylindrical pure lead sheet.

[jdfoxinc]

A Jack hammer with a spade bit goes through lead like a hot knife through butter.

[country gent]

even though the elevators are not working the shafts are still there. could a block and tackle be rigged to lift them up the shaft to ground level then a dolly to remove them.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've used a Circular Saw with carbide blade.
Lube the blade with wax.
I'd make a cut/score about 1/2" deep and try to break it...if that doesn't work, try a little deeper. no sense cutting more than needed.

[Walks]

I know this is no help. But I once split 4 25lb lead "bricks" in half with a bow saw with a wood blade & 30w motor oil.
21yrs old - young and stupid.

[lightman]

I know this is no help. But I once split 4 25lb lead "bricks" in half with a bow saw with a wood blade & 30w motor oil.
21yrs old - young and stupid.

I've cut many a piece of telephone company cable sheathing with a carpenters hand saw. Admittedly, its a lot thinner that what either you or dangerranger are talking about. About any power saw with a course blade should work ok. I would be temped to try the chainsaw.
The stairs are going to add a good deal of work to this score but it should really pay off. Nice find.

[MaryB]

They make a pruning blade for Sawzall's that goes through lead like butter and the huge teeth don't load up...

[725]

pruning blade on a reciprocating saw, chainsaw, general purpose carbide blade on a circular saw

[triggerhappy243]

when i have to cut my thick ingots I use a circular saw. spray penetrating oil on the blade as it spins..... both sides. it coats the teeth and the lead does not stick.

[jonp]

sawzall using a demo blade and a can of wd40 or some other lubes for the blade

[jonp]

They make a pruning blade for Sawzall's that goes through lead like butter and the huge teeth don't load up...

those work great with a cordless on bushes and small limbs.

[10 ga]

My quick and dirty lead cutter on sheet, hatchet for thinner, AXE for thicker. 10

[Ed_Shot]

My quick and dirty lead cutter on sheet, hatchet for thinner, AXE for thicker. 10

Absolutely, use an axe.

[Tripplebeards]

I had a friend cut up some for me with a cement type cutting blade on what looked like an industrial circular saw.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Wood splitter, no chainsaw shavings either.
Hydraulic Wood splitter...I have a little story.
While this doesn't help the OP, unless he has a small electric splitter that can be brought to the level where the Lead plates are?

Yesterday, I tried the woodsplitter (on Lead) for the first time.

About 4 years ago, I bought 450 lbs of dimensional Lead. This is pure lead used by a manufacturer for some product they were making. What I got was the "drops" (Scrap leftover pieces) were 1/2" thick and 1" to 4" wide and four feet long, some were thinner. There was one piece that was 1/2" thick that was two foot by four foot..that was Heavy !

I mangled the large piece while I was figuring out how to cleanly cut and not bend the thick lead sheet. Once I got it figured out...
Two hours later, I had 4 buckets of Ingot sized pieces. It sure beats melting 400+ lbs of Lead and pouring ingots.

[John Boy]

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[mold maker]

Applying that kind of heat directly to lead is a guaranteed way to send lead oxides and vaporized lead into the air we breathe. While it's fast and it works, it's not recomended. As casters we want too live long ehough to shoot the lead we melt.

[Grmps]

This is a nice problem to have :)

I would use a worm drive with the coarsest blade I had, well lubed and something to catch shavings.

remember a good respirator, eye, and ear protection and an outer garment you can remove and bag so you don't drag shavings everywhere.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Guard a drop zone and throw them out the window? Demo debris gets thrown down all the time...

[triggerhappy243]

Silvercreek farmer, i can tell you did not read the original post. He has to haul them up a few flights of stairs............. Meaning they are in the basement.

[Chill Wills]

Guard a drop zone and throw them out the window? Demo debris gets thrown down all the time...

To Thomas Jefferson: It's America! We can have our plows AND our guns!
Just not our Doctors....

BTW- your senator Graham just made my Hero list...

[rsrocket1]

I wish I had a wood splitter. A sawzall does fine. Use any kind of lubricant in the saw slot as it's cutting and it will be a lot easier. I use WD40 with the applicator straw simply because of the applicator straw. I also use one of those free Harbor Freight tarps to catch the lead "sawdust". It usually adds up to just over a pound of lead.

https://images3.imgbox.com/c3/49/Y7RXEi1z_o.jpg

https://images3.imgbox.com/b3/13/1TfM8iJZ_o.jpg

[Pardini]

I wish I had a wood splitter. A sawzall does fine. Use any kind of lubricant in the saw slot as it's cutting and it will be a lot easier. I use WD40 with the applicator straw simply because of the applicator straw. I also use one of those free Harbor Freight tarps to catch the lead "sawdust". It usually adds up to just over a pound of lead.

https://images3.imgbox.com/c3/49/Y7RXEi1z_o.jpg

https://images3.imgbox.com/b3/13/1TfM8iJZ_o.jpg

A bigger pot would be cheaper than a woodsplitter and eliminate most of the cutting.

[kevin c]

The excellent Mr. Pardini makes a good point. My Lee and RCBS pots have a maximum diameter of four inches and, having curved rims, that means most items need to be comfortably under that. The cut propane tank pot D Crockett sold me is twelve inches across and will take most of the scrap lead I find without cutting.

That being said, I did score some half inch sheet lead about 24" by 60" that I cut into chunks about 8" by 10" using a Sawzall and counter rotating dual blade circular saw. The dual blade saw was a lot easier, but the Sawzall could make deeper cuts and work any funny angles. Both threw chips like crazy.

[Lloyd Smale]

They built a new hospital and when they tore down the old one (my wife works there) I was offered the lead from the xray room. I had a BUNCH of it. So much that I quit taking it. It was in sheets like you have, some had drywall glued to it and some was sandwiched in the doors. The drywall thin stuff was a piece of cake with a saws all or better yet a skill saw. The doors I found the trick to them was leaving them out in the snow all winter and the wood kind of got wet and warped and pealed away from the lead. It was thin and easy to cut or even roll up and cut into sections with a chain saw. The thick stuff like you have hands down the chain saw was the tool. I cut up a BUNCH of it all with the same old saw with the same blade and only sharpened it once. It would cut through it not much harder then it would hardwood. Only disadvantage is you loose a bit of lead in the shavings when cutting but I had so much I didn't much care about a couple lbs of shavings. If your conserned put down an old sheet and put a set of saw horses on that and then do your cutting. I ended up with over 2 tons of lead and probably left that much there because I just got tired of doing it. Your pretty lucky though. there building a new hospital I a niegboring town (bigger town) right now. I asked about the lead. (they have multiple x ray rooms and ct scan rooms). they said that the removal of it is monitored by osha and they have to document every bit of it and send it to a hazardous waste facility. they said they wish they could give it away because it will cost serious money to dispose of it all but couldn't even sell it to me if I offered them a 100 bucks a lb for it.

[lightman]

I would like to hear how the OP came out on this project. Hopefully it was a great score for him.

[Rubino1988]

I used a torch to cut .75 in make sure you have a drip catcher under

[Hickory]

I'd move them with a two wheeled hand truck and do the cutting at home.

[sw282]

The pipefitters added a new layer of lead shielding 2'' thick to a HI RAD pipe line at SRS in 2013. ALL the cuts to the shielding were done with an ELECTRIC CHAIN SAW...They didn't let me keep any of the shavings:-( I did however see a sample of the lead wool they used to fill the seams/cracks. Best stuff l have EVER seen for removing rust from blue steel

[lightman]

I was hoping that dangerranger made a good haul from this and would maybe post some pictures.

[colchester]

Counter rotting blade saw like this
https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+R ank%2Cf&q=62448

[georgerkahn]

For what its worth, I had a similar paradigm, and using a Tiger Saw (Rockwell version of Sawzall) the blade I was using kept on getting coated with the lead, so it only worked for a short order before it stopped cutting. Only store open with blades was a Harbor Freight, and I picked up a package of their Tree Trim blades -- and not only did they work superbly, but seemed to not get dull. Working also in a Ryobi 18V sawzall clone, they functioned as well in this tool. Blades were hanging on wall peg-board, are listed as "9 in. 4-5 TPI Reciprocating Saw Pruning Blades", and come in a pack of five for a penny less than nine dollars.
geo

[white eagle]

circular saw would do it
I use my miter saw to cut isotope cores

[mold maker]

Depending on thickness, most any course slower cutting saw will do. Be sure to use a drop cloth to contain and collect the chips.

[Chainsaw.]

Axe will make short work of it.

[barrabruce]

I used a big cold chisel and hammer to cut through some boat ballast when the neighbour wouldn’t borrow me his chainsaw for the job.

A lot easier thanI thought it would be

[Yooper003]

I have good luck cutting thick lead with a single bit axe & 3 pound hammer. Just use the axe blade as a chisel.

[38-72]

+1 on the axe.

I cut up several 1" thick plates with an old single bit axe and a 5-pound hammer. Used the axe like a splitting maul, using the hammer to pound the axe. It didn't leave all the those lead slivers like a saw will do.

[lightman]

The original poster has not been on in several months. I hope he was able to score a good bit of this lead. Was looking forward to hearing about it or seeing some pictures.

[RidgerunnerAk]

I used an axe to cut the end off a 100# Bunker Hill lead ingot once....long ago... never again! That was a lotta work! I still have the brick after 40yrs and have not tried to cut a slice off it again. Nice pure lead too, straight from the smelter. I may try the sawzall thing.

[Sig556r]

make sure you get lead grains not lead (fine) dust when you saw them, i.e., large-toothed saw.