Scored a 600lb fiberglass covered lead boat keel...

[colonelhogan44]

...for $100. How to crack it open is the next question. Has anyone done it before and have any secrets to share? I'd like to be able to get the fiberglass off somehow and be able to chop up the lead and drop it directly into my bottom pour pot.

https://i.imgur.com/chia1wA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uUFXWsd.jpg

I have no idea on what the alloy is, but I'm excited to have a bit more lead in the stash. It was a huge pain to load into the trailer, even with an engine hoist. 600lb is no joke.

[Conditor22]

Nice find, not to be a nay-sayer, sometimes boat keels are made out of "mystery alloy" never know what you got until you test it.

Id never put anything in my bottom pour without smelting it first fluxing it at least 4 times.

I'd cut it into smeltable size pieces with a chainsaw then use a big hammer and chisel to chip off the fiberglass.

[Winger Ed.]

Very good.

Catch something under an edge, the fiberglass should peel off pretty easily.

[Greg S]

Power chisel, sawzall, cut off wheel or just throw it in a fire.

[shootinfox2]

First, peel the fiberglass off. Next melt the lead with a melting pot or weed burner. Get a sample tested. Build your alloy from there.

[dangitgriff]

Power chisel, sawzall, cut off wheel or just throw it in a fire.

Chain saw works. Using an old chain, of course. Put a tarp up behind you to collect the lead chips.

[Chad5005]

4 inch grinder and cut off wheel

[F_L]

I have recycled a few keels like that. If you cut the fiberglass it should peel off the lead with a little help. There are a lot of ways to cut the fiberglass but my favorite is a 4" grinder with a diamond abrasive blade. Cuts fast with least amount of dust. I cut the lead with a chainsaw to fit my pot (~300 lbs). Then use an engine hoist to load the pot.

[Frosty Boolit]

Whatever it is, it's probably good enough for .38 special or..45 acp

[15meter]

You could try scoring the fiberglass with a Skil saw, carbide demolition blade set just deep enough to get through the glass. Cut multiple places I would suspect it will peel off pretty easily.

I've also cut thick slabs of lead with a Skil saw. 2-3" thick. Big tarp on the ground, cardboard "walls" to help contain the lead "sawdust" and lots of personal protection gear on.

If you make cuts from both sides then whack it with a sledgehammer, it may fracture between the saw cuts for you.

All else fails, get a bigger hammer!

[colonelhogan44]

Thank you all for your replies! I've always had pretty good luck casting with whatever alloy I happen to stumble across without ever testing, so this should probably be no different. I'll see if I can get the fiberglass off that tiny piece first. I may just sawzall the whole thing up into manageable chunks, fiberglass and all and then try to split the fiberglass from the lead.

[Green Lizzard]

I skinned one then cut it with a chain saw, it is a great alloy all by itself at around 12 bhn, an air chisel helps with the skinning

Bill

[Teddy (punchie)]

Get a c-canal make a fire and let the lead flow. We are going to make one for range lead. 7' long. Fire about 2' from end and then place lead on it and have a place made for it to flow. Smaller fire or coals down to where the pot or ingots are going to be. Last time spent way too time cleaning, watching and looking this way I can get hot, dump and walk away.

[IHuntDragons]

Nice find, and good luck with the peel.

[dverna]

Peel and heat

Just like shrimp but with an "h".

I would cast some bullets and see how the stuff melts/casts before getting it tested.

[mdi]

Don't use a grinder cut off wheel, just like a grinding wheel, soft metal will clog the disc and it'll get hot enough to come apart. If you've ever experienced a grinding wheel coming apart at 36,000 RPM you will never forget it, BTDT.

I've seen a couple keels in boat yards (I was owned by a 30' sailboat for a while) and the ones I saw, upwards of 10,000 lbs and all were enclosed in glass/gel to about 1/2"-3/4" thick, and 6"+ wide/thick. I would attack one of those with a jack hammer or a chain saw. The only requirement for a keel is weight so the alloy of the lead around a steel structure, could be just about anything and depending on the boat builder, even scrap iron and other junk in with the lead...

And yep, it should be cleaned like any scrap lead and not in the casting pot...

[Burnt Fingers]

Good find. I just hope it's not contaminated with zinc.

[colonelhogan44]

The boat was about 40+ years old, so I doubt there'd be zinc from making the keel from WW, at least.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Get a c-canal make a fire and let the lead flow. We are going to make one for range lead. 7' long. Fire about 2' from end and then place lead on it and have a place made for it to flow. Smaller fire or coals down to where the pot or ingots are going to be. Last time spent way too time cleaning, watching and looking this way I can get hot, dump and walk away.

Using a length of steel c channel over a wood fire is a great idea, at least for range scrap anyway.

[bangerjim]

Chain saw only. Other saws will clog up and you will spend more time cleaning the cutting wheels out that cutting! And a a SawzAll will loosen your fillings and your joints.....horrible things for cutting Pb.

Cut hunks small enough to fit in your re-melting pot. The Pb will melt easily out of the fiberglass if you cannot get all of it pealed off.

Have fun working that big monster down!

banger

[colonelhogan44]

I've never tried to chain saw through fiberglass...sounds somewhat sketchy. I have a chainsaw and may try it though...

[Pete44mag]

I have cut up two like you have, I used a skil saw (circular saw) with a course carbide framing blade (about 18 tooth). As stated above put down a tarp and use cardboard or plywood walls to catch the chips. Make sure you use a respirator, gloves and eye protection. It's not what you would consider a clean job, best done outdoors.

[lightman]

Be careful cutting that fiberglass with any tool that makes chips. The sawdust from fiberglass is not good for you. It will also get onto and into everything. I would try using my air chisel to skin the fiberglass shell off and then deal with the lead.

I probably would deal with a 600# chunk of lead by suspending it over my smelting pot and playing a weed burner over it, catching the run-off.

Nice Score, by the way!

[colonelhogan44]

I probably would deal with a 600# chunk of lead by suspending it over my smelting pot and playing a weed burner over it, catching the run-off.

I melted out the bit out of the tiny corner that was cut off with a propane torch and it came out really nicely. It's very soft, might be pure lead. With the dry summers here in CA, it's hard to find an area where it's safe to have a large flaming object...I'll probably hit up a buddy with a large irrigated area on his farm and have at it with a fire and something to channel the runoff. The more I look at that thing, the less I want to deal with cutting it at all.

I've also never dealt with more than about 50lb of molten lead, so the melting it out method is a bit intimidating too...

[Mal Paso]

I used a 20 ton log splitter to divide up some ballast bricks and 25lb fishing weights. I did 400 lbs that way. That sounds like a lot of lead, but it's all a faint memory now. LOL

[colonelhogan44]

The lead can be indented/scratched by fingernail, so I'm thinking it is pure or close to it. It should be good for black powder and low power smokeless loads.

[chickenpot]

Pure soft is hard to come by. You scored big if that's the case.. you can always mix up to harden your allot but not the other way around!

[tryingalot]

better wear gloves and a mask while doing any of it. lead is a skin-absorber and lead dust in your lungs is deadly, too. The fumes are bad news, but most casters know that already Get a 20 lb propane tank, big cast iron pot, and a turkey or fish cooker. they are cheap on Ebay. Melt 100 lbs at a time, flux it and cast it into cupcake or muffin pans as ingots. Wash your hands carefully, dont eat while doing any of it, get well away from all of it and clean up before you drink anything, too.

[colonelhogan44]

Pure soft is hard to come by. You scored big if that's the case.. you can always mix up to harden your allot but not the other way around!

I compared it to some stick-on WW I got from The Captain, and it seems about the same. I have a small amount of Linotype (probably 10-20lb), so I should be able to harden up a portion of it.

[kevin c]

I'd guess (but it's only a guess) that smaller lead keels are done in one pour, so that the alloy is the same throughout, but I've read that big keels are sometimes done in sections, making it possible that different parts done at different times are made from different batches of metal.

Still, what you've sampled is promising.

[colonelhogan44]

It's a well made commercial keel (not home-built) so I'd doubt a commercial keel maker would use scrap or varying alloys for a single keel.

I'm pretty confident it'll be dead-soft throughout. Now I need to rig up some scrap metal channel to melt it down into bread pans for marking and long term storage.

[shootrj2003]

I would not mind some of the lead but THAT job is not one I envy,I had a huge sheet and some pipe given to me years ago maybe 200 lbs total I gave some to a friend and just started using thsheet and I have some ingots and a 10 lb lead hammer for things that won't move!