Roofing lead/flashing

[Curlymaple42]

I just scored a 5gal pail of roof flashing lead! Wuhoo! I will look around here and see about info on using that particular form of lead. I would say it was a successful trip to the dump!

[Muddy Creek Sam]

It is perfect for Muzzle loading BP guns. I shoot C&B pistols and look for it in particular.

Sam :D

[WILCO]

I just scored a 5gal pail of roof flashing lead! Wuhoo! I will look around here and see about info on using that particular form of lead. I would say it was a successful trip to the dump!

Congrats!

[docone31]

It is nice and soft. My Muzzle loaders, and Cap and Balls love it.
You can also either trade it for wheel weights. Lots of folks here have wheel weights.
Another thing you can do, is blend it with wheel weight to stretch out the mix. A good 50/50 makes a good casting lead.
Bravo on the score. I have to rely on contractors. Spotty at best. They just toss them out.

[jmsj]

Talk about missing the boat;
Ran into an contractor friend that I hadn't seen for a few years, got to talking guns and hunting. The talk turned to my newest addiction,casting. He then tells me "wish I had known that, this past winter we re-roofed an old house and all the valley flashings were lead as well as all the chimney flashings. There were 10 different valleys on that old house and he couldn't remember how many chimneys. He guesses they threw away at least 2000-3000 lbs of lead."
I almost cried. jmsj

[badgeredd]

Talk about missing the boat;
Ran into an contractor friend that I hadn't seen for a few years, got to talking guns and hunting. The talk turned to my newest addiction,casting. He then tells me "wish I had known that, this past winter we re-roofed an old house and all the valley flashings were lead as well as all the chimney flashings. There were 10 different valleys on that old house and he couldn't remember how many chimneys. He guesses they threw away at least 2000-3000 lbs of lead."
I almost cried. jmsj

I hope he remembers you the next time he runs into roofing lead! I'd love to get my hands on a good amount of the same. Besides being poor in the purish lead department, I need it to make my favorite alloy for hunting. 50/50 WW/pure with a bit of tin babbitt added.

Edd

[Fugowii]

I just melted some flashing and it came out harder than my WW melt. On the other hand I had
someone give me some lead covered cable and that came out softer than a baby's bottom.

[jmsj]

badgeredd,
He told me that from now on he going to call me if he comes across any. Although he says he very rarely sees lead flashing anymore even on old houses.

[pls1911]

I have a regular source from a contractor... I provide a handfull of boollets every couple of months in exchange for a 55 gallon barrel of take-off lead... sometimes two.
Smelt the trash off and store it separately from the drum of WW ingots and the drum of Lino& Mono I scored a few years back.
Mixed 50-50 with WW it casts to 10-12 bhn and heat treats to 25. VERY hard but not brittle.
Should stretch current supplies of alloys into infinity.
Big medicine on pigs...

[stubshaft]

I just melted some flashing and it came out harder than my WW melt. On the other hand I had
someone give me some lead covered cable and that came out softer than a baby's bottom.

FWIW - When I melt flashing I make sure to cut out all of the soldered joints. It can raise the BHN.

[pls1911]

Most of my piles of roofing lead have very little if any solder joints .. I'll find an error occasionally "fixed" with extra tar now and then, but mostly the first smelting pass smokes off all non lead based contaminants.
The remaining solder in the lead is insignificant, at least as measured by my LBT hardness tester.

[crabo]

Something like this? I paid 52 cents a pond delivered.

[geargnasher]

Yeah, Crabo, rub it in! :kidding:

You need some tin to go with that?

Gear

[crabo]

Yeah, Crabo, rub it in! :kidding:

You need some tin to go with that?

Gear

Gear, I have a friend that goes to a lot of estate and garage sales. He is always looking for solder for me. I usually end up paying about a dollar or two for a pound of solder.

I have thought about melting a bunch of my solder in my pot and casting some large boolits of tin so I could just drop a boolit or two as I need into my melt. I wish I had something larger than my 420 grain 45/70 mold, it looks like that 6 cavity would be the fastest way to do it.

That pile was 865 pounds. When it cools off I am going to have a large smelt day. I have another couple hundred of roofing lead, from the same guy, and 3 -5 gallon buckets of WWs.

Anyone tried the tin boolit idea? Does tin take any longer to cool than lead?

[geargnasher]

Crabo, I've heard of several others here doing that, the idea is to get a mould that will cast a TIN boolit at about 420 grains, but that would be like nearly 700 grains of lead! I'd shoot for 1/2 oz lead pills, might try a 340 grain mould or so, just guessing off the top of my head. Lead is 11.3g/mL, Sn is 7.28g/mL but you can do the math.

Gear

[bertus]

I got 100+ pounds of roofing lead in exchange for a bottle of german beer I think I was ripped off

[semtav]

Anyone tried the tin boolit idea? Does tin take any longer to cool than lead?


Yea, I did for a while when I was making smaller batches. Now I make bigger batches so I don't use them.

Just make sure you don't run your mold too fast or hot, cause that tin will creep out of every nook and cranny in your mold if you do.

[mckutzy]

Crabo- i like the pile, it looks a bit like mine but mine is smaller. :)

For all out there that want lead, make some friends with some roofers, like if they redo your roof, or neighbors or the guy down the street. give them something to drink or eat on a good they will most likely give u all u want, enough of an impression, they let u clean out the shop and that will keep them hauling the stuff to the scrap yard all the time.
For me it helps that my good friend has a roofing company and hes got more lead than i do time, gas, melting pot and ingot mold to do with.

[a.squibload]

I think you owe him another bottle...:drinks: