Bandsaw on lead sheet

[slughammer]

Cut 250 lbs of lead sheet with my wood cutting band saw and a 6tpi blade in a matter of minutes. Dry, no lube; cut 1/4" and 3/8" sheet like butter. Had 1 piece of 1/2" thick and got concerned it would stick to the blade, but made it through OK. (If I had a bunch of 1/2 to Cut, I think a 3-4tpi blade would be better).
Got the 6tpi blade from Amazon, 2 for about $19. It was on the saw so I figured I'd try it out and it worked great.

https://i.imgur.com/zbbLyj4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uphWYy5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iZd0VCw.jpg

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[Winger Ed.]

What was that thick of Lead sheet used for?
1/8" is the most common I've seen and used for roofing & plumbing things.
In my travels, I'd never run into thicker stuff unless it was cast into a shape for something.

[slughammer]

What was that thick of Lead sheet used for?
1/8" is the most common I've seen and used for roofing & plumbing things.
In my travels, I'd never run into thicker stuff unless it was cast into a shape for something.

I saw Schrader fittings on a couple of pieces so I asked the seller. He said his dad worked for the phone company and this was used to to protect the installation. The Schrader fitting was used to pressurize the installation.

This was purchased in Southern Delaware, sandy coastal area.

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[ShooterAZ]

Bandsaws work great for cutting up lead. I was buying the 32 pound isotope cores, and melting them down in a large dutch oven. I tried cutting them into quarters that would fit nicely into my Pro-Melt, and it worked great!

[kevin c]

A few years back I bought lead in large ~30# ingots from Rotometals. I watched (they're local to me) as the staff used a honking big band saw to trim the last ingot to make the ordered weight. Pretty much a quick and effortless procedure.

[skeet1]

It works great for lead pipe too.

[slughammer]

Bandsaws work great for cutting up lead. I was buying the 32 pound isotope cores, and melting them down in a large dutch oven. I tried cutting them into quarters that would fit nicely into my Pro-Melt, and it worked great!

Any idea what TPI the blade was? I'd read on Practical Machinist about lead smearing when cut with a bandsaw; I guess they were using 14-17tpi metal cutting blades.
I used a 6 tpi wood blade and it cleared the chips just fine even with the high blade speed on my saw.

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[rbuck351]

I have cut a bunch of 1/8" sheet lead with my wood band saw. I don't recall what tooth count but it's a normal wood cutting blade. It cut the lead about as easy as wood.

[BJK]

I recently had a job where I had to cut a slab of lead approx' 1" thick. I sorta figured it would load the reciprocating saw blade and any other saw I had. I tried a pneumatic chisel but that was painfully s l o w. Then I got the bright idea to melt channels in it to get chunks and that worked better IMO. I suspended it over a tray to catch everything including chunks. But neither method was great. My lead cutting job is done now. Just for the grey matter... Other than a bandsaw with a blade with just a few teeth per inch is there another way to successfully cut lead?

TIA

[ShooterAZ]

Any idea what TPI the blade was? I'd read on Practical Machinist about lead smearing when cut with a bandsaw; I guess they were using 14-17tpi metal cutting blades.
I used a 6 tpi wood blade and it cleared the chips just fine even with the high blade speed on my saw.

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I don't recall the tpi, other than it was a wood cutting blade.

[garbler]

I’ve worked in the marine trades over fifty years and cut up and moved enough lead keels to drive the market price in New England to the basement during salvage and removals from hurricane ‘ Bob ‘ in 91. Generally use a chainsaw for larger cuts with high rakers on the blade. Don’t want an aggressive tooth/raker geometry on lead. Lube the cut periodically with turpentine, sounds weird but turps and lead react to create good working lubricity.

If using your home bandsaw you need keep your speed up to at minimum 3000 FPM but 4-6 K is even better. Keep blade tension set high as lead can grab and break a blade. Keep big heavy pieces off your table especially on saws like the little 14” Delta pictured or Chinese copies. The trunnions underneath are die cast and will easily break. Keep your upper guides close to your work the blades needs all the support it can get. Stop and clean your tires periodically to prevent lead particles from being embedded in the rubber and ruining the rubber or urethane tires. I like a skip tooth design blade as it clears the cut faster and between 5-8 TPI.

[Liberty1776]

Good information. I came into two giant lead ingots years ago. They're about 20 inches long and about 4 inches wide and high. They weigh...a lot.

They're too big to handle and too big to melt in my iron pot so I need to cut them down to usable chunks. Last time I cut too large. Don't remember how I cut them. They melted okay. I stood the chunk on end in the pot, but as it melted, it suddenly fell over and almost spilled the whole pot. Would have been a disaster. Need to work in smaller chunks.

6TPI wood blade is good to know.

[slughammer]

.
........ about 4 inches wide and high. They weigh...a lot.

........ Need to work in smaller chunks.

......6TPI wood blade is good to know.

6TPI started to concern me on the 1/2". I just cut an ingot of caulking lead about 1 inch and made it through 4 times. I then tried an unknown ingot of 2" thick and made it about 1 inch in before I stopped and backed out slowly. (Glad I made it out).

Be careful, see the post above yours; very experiencedinformation. I would recommend 3-4 tpi skip tooth for a 4" thick cut in lead.

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[Edward]

Sawsall does it quick and where it lays/Ed

[phidelt208]

Thanks for sharing the tricks and things you guys have tried. It's a huge help to me as a new caster. I often pass up large chunks of lead because I just have little idea how to cut it or melt it in a safe manner.

[vagrantviking]

Good information. I came into two giant lead ingots years ago. They're about 20 inches long and about 4 inches wide and high. They weigh...a lot.

They're too big to handle and too big to melt in my iron pot so I need to cut them down to usable chunks. Last time I cut too large. Don't remember how I cut them. They melted okay. I stood the chunk on end in the pot, but as it melted, it suddenly fell over and almost spilled the whole pot. Would have been a disaster. Need to work in smaller chunks.

6TPI wood blade is good to know.

I have some like in thehe picture. The bandsaw gets through them if you take it slow but its not happy about it. Really wanted to pull the blade crooked. I'll probably use the sawsall next time before I run out of luck and blow the blade.

[Chill Wills]

I have a powerful bandsaw I use for woodworking and milling logs. It is not ideal for log work but it has a 16" resaw height and the same for width. 5.5hp motor. The standard blade I keep on it is a 1" 3-4 tooth. It rips through any size lead I can lift on to its table.
For lead sheets that are too award to use the bandsaw, a sawzall with the demo blade cuts fast through with no trouble and it can be done in the trailer I hauled it in. Convenient. I am using that sawzall more and more.
A saber saw will work for the lighter stuff. Again use a course tooth blade. I never use any type of cutting fluid, just cut dry. I have used both a hatchet and then one time, an axe, for a 450 lb sheet of 1" thick stuff, just to get it broken down into weights I could bandsaw.

There is a theme here. The course tooth blades win the day.

[garbler]

Chill. I run bandsaws from 36” to 16” so I understand your advice but I was trying to advise some here that may have lighter 10-14” saws to be careful with (1) low tooth aggressive blades and (2) hook tooth blades and thicker pieces. Lighter saws with aggressive hook tooth blades can grab the work from you and the shock will break blades quite often and wet your shorts. Your machine runs resaw blades cause that’s what it’s built for, bigger horsepower, heavier guides etc. and 3-4 TPI 1- 1 1/2 wide heavy blades. Your machine is like comparing a farm tractor to a riding mower. Your advice works well in your world but not with lighter home owner hobby saws.

[Chill Wills]

No confusion here.

I hope I did not confusion many others either. I was not offering advice to hobby saw owners. Nor was I trying to correct anything you wrote.
The real advice I would offer is to use a sawzall type saw with a demo blade - which are plentiful and found in more home shops than the 14" Delta band-saw or its equal. I find the sawzall to work slick and are very safe.



Respectfully, Chill

[garbler]

No problem here Chill I understood your post the same way and agree. Over

Rick