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Rando
08-26-2009, 03:06 PM
A friend dropped off a 4x8 foot sheet of lead the other day. I think it was part of an x-ray booth they were taking out of a medical facility of some sort. Should I be concerned about any sort of radiation hazard?
RayinNH
08-26-2009, 03:31 PM
Only if it glows in the dark...Ray
Dale53
08-26-2009, 03:35 PM
Lead does NOT absorb radiation. It is just impervious to it. It is a simple shield. The lead should be fine. I have used a good bit of shielding lead in the past. No problem.

Dale53
44man
08-26-2009, 03:38 PM
Lead does NOT absorb radiation. It is just impervious to it. It is a simple shield. The lead should be fine. I have used a good bit of shielding lead in the past. No problem.

Dale53
I don't know Dale, I see what looks like tracers clear over here in WV when you shoot! :kidding:
AZ-Stew
08-26-2009, 03:38 PM
X-rays are not nuclear radiation. They simply hit the lead and lose their energy before they can pass through, due to the density of the lead. That's why lead is used as a shield. The energy is dissipated as heat. The X-rays do not remain in the lead or contaminate it in any way, nor can they be re-radiated as X-rays because they've lost their energy. Just like light hitting a black wall. The light energy is absorbed, then re-radiated as heat.

Regards,

Stew
Dale53
08-26-2009, 03:43 PM
44man;
You're BAD!!:mrgreen:

Dale53
Rando
08-26-2009, 04:35 PM
Awesome. Thanks, guys.
mroliver77
08-26-2009, 05:29 PM
44 man
I almost shot spaghetti out my nose when I read that! I dont care who you are, that waS FUNNY!
Jay
MN91311
08-26-2009, 06:16 PM
Xrays are like gamma and beta radiations in one sense, you have to be there close when the rays strike anything. There is no residual on the lead sheet from these three types of radiations.

This assumes that the lead does not have other radioactive materials on the surface. This occurrs with lead shielding at nuclear power plants, but not with x ray machines in medical offices.

I work a lot at a nuclear power plant, in the high radiaton areas, so we get a lot of training on this issue.









A friend dropped off a 4x8 foot sheet of lead the other day. I think it was part of an x-ray booth they were taking out of a medical facility of some sort. Should I be concerned about any sort of radiation hazard?
Jim
08-26-2009, 07:26 PM
As for the quality of shielding lead, I can tell you it is of the finest quality. I have installed it in the walls of radiology labs and it comes marked something like "99.99" on the paper wrapping. Get all you can and be stingy with it.
montana_charlie
08-26-2009, 09:24 PM
If you're worried about it, check it with a geiger counter.
But, I hope the one you use is better than the one I was able to borrow.

I would turn it on and it would count, 'one geiger, two geigers, three geigers...ptui!'
Then it would start over...

How many geigers does it take to hurt a guy?
CM
Rando
08-27-2009, 06:10 AM
I cast about 8 dozen 1 oz slugs last night, and you can tell a world of difference between this lead and wheel weights. Or maybe my technique is just getting better. Either way, I've got a nice array of shiny, perfect slugs that just fell out of the mold. :D
Geraldo
08-27-2009, 07:34 AM
How many geigers does it take to hurt a guy?


That's like asking how many grits you get in an order of them. :razz:
Sturgell
08-27-2009, 10:26 AM
I cast about 8 dozen 1 oz slugs last night, and you can tell a world of difference between this lead and wheel weights. Or maybe my technique is just getting better. Either way, I've got a nice array of shiny, perfect slugs that just fell out of the mold. :D

Pure lead pours really nice shiny boolits.
StarMetal
08-27-2009, 11:03 AM
Isn't it that radiative material doesn't glow..only the gases of radiative material glows. Something the hollywood movies started showing radiative materials glowing. Take the tritium sights or numerals on watches, those little vials are filled with a gas.

Joe
brian
08-27-2009, 11:11 AM
Rando,
if i were you i'd pack that lead up and send it to me so you don't have to worry at nights. LOL.

it'll be fine. but still, if you're worried................


Brian
bohokii
08-27-2009, 10:06 PM
Isn't it that radiative material doesn't glow..only the gases of radiative material glows. Something the hollywood movies started showing radiative materials glowing. Take the tritium sights or numerals on watches, those little vials are filled with a gas.

Joe

uh the tritium gas doesn't glow it is a phosphor dot that is excited by the radiation

real radioactive stuff does glow but if you see glow you probably have already been fataly dosed
Trainmaster
08-28-2009, 12:19 AM
My profession for the past five years has been the installation and maintenance of x-ray systems. We do the NDT for a whole range of customers who need to see what is inside of their products. Study of radiation and it's affects is mandatory in the baseness. Lead sheet is inside all of our cabinets and enclosures to keep the ionizing radiation inside. Lead will absorb the x-rays, gamma, beta and so on, and in so doing degrade it into safe levels of heat. Once the energy levels are that low it will harm no one. Won't re-radiate it, don't store it. Safe as lead can be.

Come to think of it, we have over a ton of scrap lead (99.99 pure) in the back of the shop. All I need is some tin to alloy it and start casting.
JesterGrin_1
08-28-2009, 12:24 AM
44man;
You're BAD!!:mrgreen:

Dale53

I know James is Bad he told me those were falling stars but I have never seen falling stars go up and then down lol.:redneck:
Rando
08-28-2009, 09:57 AM
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/5767/p8270101.jpg


http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5245/p8270103.jpg

Taking Bambi down with my own this fall. I'll leave a few pounds behind at the range this weekend. :D
Dale53
08-28-2009, 12:36 PM
Rando;
In competition with the world, "Mine is bigger than yours", YOU win!!

My 300 gr .454's and .44 Magnums look positively pitiful in comparison.:drinks:

Dale53
Lead Fred
08-28-2009, 12:46 PM
Dont confuse rays with fallout.

rays pass through, fallout cooks from the inside out.

you have ZERO chance of exposure
MT Gianni
08-28-2009, 01:01 PM
Welcome Trainmaster. Nice informative post.
1874Sharps
08-28-2009, 04:54 PM
Rando,

Too cool! Good luck this fall with Bambi.

AZ-Stew,

I'll bet your were in the nuclear Navy, as you seem to know the ways of "zoomies"! I got to spend six days on a fast attack LA class submarine for cross-decking and it was about three days too much. I really got a feel for how hard a life that is!
AZ-Stew
09-09-2009, 12:25 AM
No, I was a Tin Can sailor in the oil-burning boiler Navy. There were three things I tried to avoid during my service: Helicopters (don't glide worth a crap), submarines (they have a head start on sinking) and engine/boiler rooms. Look up the USS Trenton. I was in Gitmo when the accident happened. The ones who died were cooked through to the bone in seconds.

I was a Gunner's Mate, attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer (E-7), and worked around tons of explosives constantly. I resigned myself to the fact that if anything went wrong, I'd just disappear and it would happen so fast I'd never know it.

Regards,

Stew