Pure lead?

[Thumbtack]

Hi, new to this hobby, have a couple of questions.

I have a bunch of what I believe is pure lead from work. I use it there to line cabinets for X-Ray units for dentists. It comes in rolled sheets that are about 1/16" to 3/32" thick or there about. It has a blue/purple tint to it and is extremely soft. I use a razor blade to score it then tear it apart when I make the cabinet doors. I have a few hundred pounds of this stuff or more. I keep all the scrap since work does not like to pay to have it removed. They were surprised when I asked if I could have some of it, I was surprised when they asked if I could or would like all of it! :D

I will be making ingots with this stuff, but some it has glue (very flammable spray glue- definitely not elmers...) on it from making doors. Am I going to have any problems with this coming off when I melt this stuff down? I will be using an electric burner (1100w) and a smaller pan to do a little bit here and there.

What do I have to add to this when I cast to make bullets for my 1911 .45acp? I have been reading on how to cast bullets and make ingots, but there isn't much info on what or how much other material to add to make it harder.

Thanks.

[outdoorfan]

Hi, new to this hobby, have a couple of questions.

I have a bunch of what I believe is pure lead from work. I use it there to line cabinets for X-Ray units for dentists. It comes in rolled sheets that are about 1/16" to 3/32" thick or there about. It has a blue/purple tint to it and is extremely soft. I use a razor blade to score it then tear it apart when I make the cabinet doors. I have a few hundred pounds of this stuff or more. I keep all the scrap since work does not like to pay to have it removed. They were surprised when I asked if I could have some of it, I was surprised when they asked if I could or would like all of it! :D

I will be making ingots with this stuff, but some it has glue (very flammable spray glue- definitely not elmers...) on it from making doors. Am I going to have any problems with this coming off when I melt this stuff down? No, that suff will/should separate from the lead and burn off. Don't breath in those fumes (from the glue). The lead doesn't produce enough fumes at normal smelting/casting temperatures to worry about.I will be using an electric burner (1100w) and a smaller pan to do a little bit here and there.

What do I have to add to this when I cast to make bullets for my 1911 .45acp? I have been reading on how to cast bullets and make ingots, but there isn't much info on what or how much other material to add to make it harder.


Thanks.


You could mix that pure lead 50/50 with ww's and air cool, or you could mix enough tin in it to get what you want. Maybe 20-1 or better yet 30-1 lead/tin.

[dolang1]

I make 45, 9, and 38 with 50/50 wheel weight and lead mix. I make 2lb. ingots out of sheet lead that came from a hospital, and 2lb. ingots from wheel weights. I put these together in my pot and add a tin solder 60/40 pot sweetener bullet, that I learned about on this board. I made my pot sweeteners with a shotgun slug mold. About 1 ounce to a 4lb. pot. Seems to work for me. I don't have a hardness tester or a chrony. They all go bang with no leading.

Last winter when I was melting the sheet lead that had the glue and paper backing, there was a lot of smoke, but no problems that I recall.. Later Don

[13Echo]

That stuff is close to pure lead and is an excellent place to start to make defined alloys as opposed to unknown alloys of scrap metal. I use it alloyed with tin for black powder cartridge rifle. Elmer Keith used lead:tin alloys even for the 44magnum. A 16:1 alloy will get near maximum hardness for a lead:tin alloy. Get some tin and get some lead already alloyed with antimony from The Antimony Man (google him) and start making alloys to fit whatever you are shooting. It seems a shame to have such a high quality starting point and use it to make unreproducible alloys that will vary, often quite a bit, from lot to lot. However, a lot of people mix it with wheel weights to get a satisfactory alloy for shooting and I do find straight wheel weights with another .5% of tin makes dandy pistol bullets.

For rendering it down, I do it outside over a propane burner. The glue really stinks as it burns off, just be certain to stand upwind. The glue even seems to function as a bit of a flux and tends to tie up the other crud adhering to the lead such as wall board.

It's good stuff.

Jerry Liles