X-ray shielding - what's its' composition?

[uscra112]

I just stumbled into 250+ lbs of discarded X-ray shielding for a price I just could not refuse. :-D (No it wasn't quite free, but. . . )

Question for the metallurgist experten out there - is this pure lead, or is it likely to be some sort of soft alloy? It certainly feels soft enough, but I'm still a little afraid to hope that it might be pure enough to be treated as such.

[chunkum]

X-ray shielding is close enough to pure lead that you may as well consider it as such when figuring out casting alloys using it.
c.

[Buckshot]

X-ray shielding is close enough to pure lead that you may as well consider it as such when figuring out casting alloys using it.
c.

............Ditto. The places casting these containers for sure do not deal with scrap yards, but foundrys since they deal in tons at a time. I'm sure pure lead is what they spec.

.............Buckshot

[454PB]

If it's the flat sheets, it's most likely "pure" lead. However, I have some radioactive isotope containers that hardness test the same as wheelweights.

[GLL]

I have 10 kilogram size shielding blocks (bricks) and they also test about the same as wheel weights BHN=12-13. The melt behaves and fluxes like wheel weights so I simply treated them as wheel weight metal and have had no problems.

Someday I will run a quantitative analysis on them and see what they really contain. Hopefully nothing bad ! :) :)

Jerry

[chunkum]

To facilitate communication it's always best to define your terms. A good picture also helps eliminate confusion. This picture shows some "lead" I salvaged myself when an old X-Ray unit in a local clinic was being replaced. The large piece on the left served as some sort of counter weight in the old apparatus. The "sheets" on the right were used as lining" in the walls of the X-Ray room. I've tested it all and it's all close to pure lead at BHN of about 4 or 5. Technically, I reckon, only the sheets qualify as shielding, but it all tested the same.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/PhilHarris/Lead1s.jpg
Now Radiation containers and Radiation Shielding material/bricks for use with radio isotopes as oppsed to medical X-Ray produced radiation may well have a different composition. With the variation I've been getting in wheel weights lately, I don't take the hardness of anything for granted unless I can test it. Someone did give me some old plumbers lead the other day and it was pure as the driven snow. BRN of 3
Best Regards,
Chunkum

[uscra112]

Thanks guys. This is all in thin sheets, about 3/32 thick. Had some sort of vinyl sheet glued to it, and was obviously stripped from room walls or something. Took me an hour to peel all that vinyl off, and now it's cut up into manageable pieces for my pot. Joy!

[yodar]

I got a couple hundred lb of flat sheet 1/2" thick rad-shielding which analyzed virtually pure lead. It was a b*tch to alloy UP to hardness of wheelweights. I finally traded it to a cast bullet shooter for his refined wheelweight ingots

Yodar

[chunkum]

I've been sucessful alloying the Xray shielding lead 2/2/1, PB/WW/Lino with about a half tblspn chilled shot and 3/4 to 1 oz tin (sometimes) per 10 lbs of alloy. Water dropped it's plenty hard. My notes are down stairs but I think it was BHNs 10.5 - 11 air cooled and 14 -15 water quenched. I'm fortunate, I reckon, to have a pretty good stock of linotype.