If someone wanted to buy all your lead...

[CoolHandMoss]

So my dad builds boats for a living. They just dropped a new boat in the water, floats high in the stern, they need 253 lbs quick. I've got about that much on hand. I spent roughly $0.80/lb on it at a scrap yard and somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 hours if not more melting it down, cleaning it and pouring ingots. Not to mention the $10 at least worth of propane I burnt. This is a $1,000,000+ boat and they need it to float right by Tuesday. I am in a good bargaining position but I also want to be reasonable. I am thinking that about $2.15/lb would be reasonable? I know that to order lead and have it delivered is upwards of $3 usually. Their usual go to for small amounts of ballast in a hurry is lead shot from the local LGS which doesn't carry nearly enough, though that would cost under $2. Obviously it depends on the person what it is worth to them, but to those that have been privy to the lead market for longer and have a better idea of the value, what would you recommend?

[VariableRecall]

So my dad builds boats for a living. They just dropped a new boat in the water, floats high in the stern, they need 253 lbs quick. I've got about that much on hand. I spent roughly $0.80/lb on it at a scrap yard and somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 hours if not more melting it down, cleaning it and pouring ingots. Not to mention the $10 at least worth of propane I burnt. This is a $1,000,000+ boat and they need it to float right by Tuesday. I am in a good bargaining position but I also want to be reasonable. I am thinking that about $2.15/lb would be reasonable? I know that to order lead and have it delivered is upwards of $3 usually. Their usual go to for small amounts of ballast in a hurry is lead shot from the local LGS which doesn't carry nearly enough, though that would cost under $2. Obviously it depends on the person what it is worth to them, but to those that have been privy to the lead market for longer and have a better idea of the value, what would you recommend?

Looking at Rotometals (Expensive, but they have to guarantee purity), they sell their pure lead at about $4 a pound. The rush-order of $2.15/lb seems reasonable to me.

[para45lda]

Give it to him and ask him to replace it next time they order lead.

Everybody is happy and he gets to brag on you a little

Wes (a Dad)

[CoolHandMoss]

I would but I don't think they have any regular source they order lead from!

And to be clear, my dad is an employee and I am selling to his employer. He is not the business owner otherwise I would probably just be giving it to him.

[jsizemore]

Where are you located?

[RogerDat]

Shot runs about $2 a pound but I can almost guarantee it won't stay in the bags. Might I suggest easiest way to find it is send spouse down below barefoot.

Ingots at $2.15 is not a bad price. IF there is a scrap yard in the area they MIGHT have lead in a form that can be used for around a buck a pound. Have seen 300# rolls of sheet lead on a pallet getting scrapped before as well as the occasional 1/2 inch thick x-ray wall lining in quantity that will meet the use case.

Otherwise you are saving them money compared to a rush order. If they were going to buy shot they might want to look into reclaimed shot. Suitable for their use and less expensive.

If they will pay $2.15 it is worth that price if they think it is too expensive then it isn't worth that price. Also they don't care about alloy, you may have stuff such as COWW that will cost you more to replace than plain lead.

[Adam20]

figure out what it is going to cost to replace it from a supplier, rotometals ect. and add at least 20% like any other business with inventory would do. They will understand that. They want lead quickly cost is not much of a concern to them.

[Winger Ed.]

figure out what it is going to cost to replace it from a supplier, rotometals ect. and add at least 20% like any other business with inventory would do. they will understand that.

^^^ this^^^

Every one knows if ya gotta have it right now---- it costs extra compared to having time to shop around.

In the overall, big picture, its toll road change compared to the value of getting that much boat in the water.

[Burnt Fingers]

How do you spend 12 hours melting down 250 lbs of lead?

That's no more than 1-2 hours max.

[MOA]

Have them go to Roto Metals for half a pig or so, or charge of $5/lb.
Roto has ballast lead for 97 bucks for a 50 lb bag.

5x50=250
5×97= $485 bucks

[CoolHandMoss]

How do you spend 12 hours melting down 250 lbs of lead?

That's no more than 1-2 hours max.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong. My kettle handles about 22 lbs at most. I have 3 ingot molds. I melt and clean (thoroughly) about 22 lbs give or take, pour the 12 lbs that 3 ingot molds accommodates, then start melting down more. Wheel weights have to be added a handful at a time I find which makes it slower. I also usually melt down new lead simultaneously with casting and go back and forth to give the flux time to burn off and give fresh additions of lead plenty of time to melt so that does add quite a bit of time. But if I had been rushing, 250 lbs would take me minimum 5 hours, with minimal cleaning.

[Chill Wills]

Your not doing it wrong. You are just getting started. Like we all did. No one comes into this game having it all unless it is a father to son deal.
This will process about 220 LBS safely but I am more likely to do 150 - 175 at a time.

If you stay with this casting bullets hobby, you will acquire better equipment. It just happens.

[MOA]

Yuppers. That's why I went to a bigger pot for smelting. A small pot just takes forever.

[poppy42]

I would not sell my clean lead to use as a boat Kiel! The first thing I would do is to go to the scrap yard and see if I could find zinc or zinc wheel weights. Mix them in with lead and melt them into big ingots. Zinc doesn’t even have to be melted as long as it’s suspended inside an ingot. But that’s just me I would hate to waste my good clean ready to cast lead.

[CoolHandMoss]

I would not sell my clean lead to use as a boat Kiel! The first thing I would do is to go to the scrap yard and see if I could find zinc or zinc wheel weights. Mix them in with lead and melt them into big ingots. Zinc doesn’t even have to be melted as long as it’s suspended inside an ingot. But that’s just me I would hate to waste my good clean ready to cast lead.

There are actually potential issues with zinc in a boat. I am not sure of the exact conditions in which it would matter but zinc is used sacrificially on boats. That is in a particular installation but I wouldn't want to risk it causing a problem. Something about static dissapation.

[GARD72977]

If the are selling a boat for that much then they can afford to let you make a good profit on your lead!

Dont sell it cheap. The rich guy that owns the business would not sell it to you cheap!

[44magLeo]

Galvanic reaction, The electrical current caused by contact of too different metals.
On boats used in salt water the zinc is used as a sacraficial anode on the drives lower unit. As the salt water acts on the alloy of the lower unit the zinc gets eaten away instead of the alloy case.
On fresh water it's not so much of a problem.
I don't think the zinc WW in the keel of a boatr will be much of a problem. They won't be in contact with salt water. I might suggest sending them to a auto salvage yard and getting cast itrn head and exhaust maniflods.
Some salvage yards you might find castiron sash weights. These are weights that used to be used on iold window frames. They counter balanced the weight of the windows so you could atually open and close them.
Leo

[CraigOK]

If the are selling a boat for that much then they can afford to let you make a good profit on your lead!

Dont sell it cheap. The rich guy that owns the business would not sell it to you cheap!

I agree. Million dollar boat? They shouldn't bat an eye. Make sure you can replace it for what you get for yours

[garandsrus]

The other thing’s is that I can’t imagine a couple hundred pounds of weight changing anything on a boat that big. 1000 pounds, maybe, but not a couple hundred.

[uscra112]

Demand $1000 surety, to be returned to them when they replace your lead. In cash.

I lived in Rhode Island for a time. Learned never to trust boat-builders. Half of them were virtually bankrupt most of the time.

[GhostHawk]

Give up my stash for cash? Never happen.

As to the weight distribution, that is a simple solution.
If it is down at the bow start sending people on board one by one, walk towards the stern.

When it is balanced add up the weights and note the location. That is how much you need and where.

The ship itself was probably balanced as designed, but changes in decor could easily add up to 250 lbs needed to bring it back into balance.

[MOA]

That's why Roto sells "ballast lead". Doesn't get any easier than that.

[sqlbullet]

I regularly sell all but my reserve (about 500 lbs). Price is 4X my fixed costs. Those costs vary a bit, but my regular customers are happy with what they get from me.

In your case that works out to $3.44/lb or $869.60 for 253 lbs according to my math (.8*253 = 202.4 + $15 for propane for 12 hours, total of 217.4 fixed costs X 4 is 869.6)

That is still a deal for them. They won't bat an eye, and if they do, stand your ground, the are just negotiating. And while you may be thinking that $54/hour is good wages to run a pot, you aren't just running a pot, you are running a business processing hazardous material. You would be lucky to charge $54/hour to buyers for processing and pay $20 an hour to an employee and still cover FICA, insurance and overhead at a profit.

[imashooter2]

Since it isn’t your relative that is in a bind, it isn’t really your problem. Don’t sell your lead unless you want it gone. If you do sell it, sell it for a premium over replacement cost. Not what you could scrounge it for, what you could go to a dealer and buy right now today.

[MrWolf]

I would put a really nice premium on it coming close to Roto's price including delivery. You have it now and all you are doing is asking slightly below market rates as a favor to your father. I would let the owner know only reason you are doing this is for your Dad. You don't need to sell but you will need to replace.

[oley55]

for what it's worth mixing employer, employee and family in with business transactions can very often cause inadvertent harm to the ones you love.

[kerplode]

Go over to Rotometals and price out the cost of the equivalent weight of their hardball alloy, then add 50%. Sell for that amount, then use the cash to re-buy from Roto.

it's just business...Father or not, there's no reason for you to sacrifice your stash at cut-rate prices to fix someone else's lack of planning. If they need it now, they'll be willing to pay. If not, then it's not your problem.

[kerplode]

for what it's worth mixing employer, employee and family in with business transactions can very often cause inadvertent harm to the ones you love.

This is absolutely true...

[CoolHandMoss]

I definitely agree. In this case I have no concerns. My dad has worked there 25 years, is firmly the most valuable employee, and I have worked there myself in the past so it's really like I'm a subcontractor and my dad being an employee is incidental in this case.

[centershot]

I'm with GhostHawk, no way I'm selling my stash!

As far as boat ballast, concrete is cheap.

[imashooter2]

I'm with GhostHawk, no way I'm selling my stash!

As far as boat ballast, concrete is cheap.

This is an excellent point. I’m fairly positive they could get 4 bags of cement at any home store tomorrow. Problem solved.

[CoolHandMoss]

It's a really nice boat. They want something clean and removable. They're looking for lead, I'll give them lead. After reading replies to this thread I'm thinking about more like $2.30/lb

[dtknowles]

It's a really nice boat. They want something clean and removable. They're looking for lead, I'll give them lead. After reading replies to this thread I'm thinking about more like $2.30/lb

At that price you make a few hundred dollars for your trouble but depending on what your alloy is you might not be able to replace it for that price. I would say if it is mostly pure go for it but if it is high in tin or antimony hold on to it.

Tim

[CoolHandMoss]

It's mostly pure lead with maybe 35% or so wheel weights. Insignificant amount of lino thrown in. I'll more than cover what I spent on it all for sure. It's roughly a 120% profit on my investment which covers my time at $30-40/hr

[dimaprok]

The mentality of business people who have 1 mill boats is to solve the problem quickly. Convenience will trump the time spent looking for better deals. They are not going to go to the scrap yard looking for unprocessed dirty lead because they want to save a hundred bucks, they know too well that hiring someone is it going to cost a lot more to process the lead so charge them below what they could acquire new lead and don't under sell yourself as money is probably not an issue to this guy. $2.30 is cheap

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Burnt Fingers]

Maybe I'm doing it wrong. My kettle handles about 22 lbs at most. I have 3 ingot molds. I melt and clean (thoroughly) about 22 lbs give or take, pour the 12 lbs that 3 ingot molds accommodates, then start melting down more. Wheel weights have to be added a handful at a time I find which makes it slower. I also usually melt down new lead simultaneously with casting and go back and forth to give the flux time to burn off and give fresh additions of lead plenty of time to melt so that does add quite a bit of time. But if I had been rushing, 250 lbs would take me minimum 5 hours, with minimal cleaning.

I use an inexpensive dutch oven. It holds ~150 lbs. I use a turkey/crab cooker for heat. I've accumulated many ingot molds. For casting alloy I use my Redneck Gold/Cast Boolits molds. I have four of those. That's 40 lbs of ingots at a time.

[slim1836]

Lead's going for $3/lb on Craigslist around here, Mine are not for sale at that price. Not with Biden in office, it may be outlawed to own in the near future.

Slim

[bruce381]

figure out what it is going to cost to replace it from a supplier, rotometals ect. and add at least 20% like any other business with inventory would do. They will understand that. They want lead quickly cost is not much of a concern to them.

yeah i would do this cause ultimatly you will have NO lead and have to start all over.

[remy3424]

If that is all you have, why part with it? Unless you can have double the amount delivered, I wouldn't consider it for a moment....not even sure double would make me consider it. If I were inclined to do something like that, I would have liquidated my primers already....maybe not the same, can't buy them back currently.

[CoolHandMoss]

I live 5 minutes from a scrap yard that regularly has plenty of lead available for $1/lb so I will immediately replace what I sold plus more after selling it. Just have to put in the work to melt that down then.

Side note. I got started on that today. Scrap yard happened to have a bunch of huge 55 lb pigs. I am not the most seasoned caster so I thought wow that's nice and clean lead that will be easy to melt down... What a mistake. Should have gotten more shower sheeting.

[uscra112]

After the fact, I'm wondering what kind of $1M boat is so sensitive to trim that a couple hundred pounds will set it right. A medium-sized man walking from bow to stern will change the trim as much or more. Open-sea race boat maybe?

[samari46]

Would never consider selling all my lead. Never could replace it for what I originally paid for it and in this current crazyness worth more to me anyway. Some of it is range lead from the pistol range berm I salvaged. Some of it was free wheel weights and a lot of roofing lead that was bought from a now closed scrap yard. Took some time to build a stash so that is another consideration. Frank

[CoolHandMoss]

After the fact, I'm wondering what kind of $1M boat is so sensitive to trim that a couple hundred pounds will set it right. A medium-sized man walking from bow to stern will change the trim as much or more. Open-sea race boat maybe?

It's actually just a 28' center console, but an extremely nice one. Yes, a man standing in the back will get it sitting right. I think what they want to avoid is for the water line to ever be sloped down aft to bow. I'll post a picture of it after I drop the lead off.

[farmbif]

why not sell if you are guaranteed payment where you could afford to just call up rotometals and get exactly the alloys that would be best for the types of shooting you do. your doing them a favor and they are making it right.

[Three44s]

Keep your cleaned lead.

Direct them to the junk yard for theirs. If I was in the business of building and selling million dollar boats ........ I would have the lead source at my finger tips!

Three44s

[jsizemore]

I live 5 minutes from a scrap yard that regularly has plenty of lead available for $1/lb so I will immediately replace what I sold plus more after selling it. Just have to put in the work to melt that down then.

Side note. I got started on that today. Scrap yard happened to have a bunch of huge 55 lb pigs. I am not the most seasoned caster so I thought wow that's nice and clean lead that will be easy to melt down... What a mistake. Should have gotten more shower sheeting.

And improve your capacity to smelt larger amounts of scrap faster.

[CoolHandMoss]

Yeah I have a good burner I just need to get a big dutch oven or something.

Ended up selling the lead for $2.40 a pound. I feel like that was a good profit for my time and investment. I could have gotten more with no questions asked but as some mentioned on this thread I wanted to be careful about creating tention due to the family/employment dynamic. Thanks to all for the good advice.

I'll still get a picture of the boat to post before it gets delivered hopefully.

[CoolHandMoss]

Not the best picture, but here is a shot of the boat.

282729

[Eddie Southgate]

I'd keep my lead and let them use scrap iron from the junk yard .

[CoolHandMoss]

Deal's done. They needed small ingots to be able to fit it in a tight space. No regrets. I made a decent profit on my time. Picking up some fresh lead at the scrap yard and melting it down today.

[bumpo628]

Adam20 has the right idea.

Place a replacement order with Rotometals for the total weight they need. Charge them the same amount (or higher). They get lead now and you get certified known alloy. Win win for both parties