Pouring a Lead Keel (Pt 3) (Tally Ho / EP119) 'The Silver River'

[OS OK]

Here's what some of us have been waiting for...the actual pouring of 8 tons of lead. If my math is right, that is 497,777 - 225 grain cast projectiles!

Here is the 'Silver River' ...



Here they are working the last of the pour, skimming the surface of the new keel & adding more lead where needed to bring the surface flush along it's length...



I'm not trying to point out a negative aspect here...BUT...I am glad 'Ole'Murphy' was out of town during this process.
One thing that made me extremely anxious was their 'Pot Tender' standing so close to the pot as they lowered the old keel parts and 'bathtub ingots' into the melt. If one had slipped the chain or if the chain had come loose from the fork tongs this would have ended in a death by 'lead coating a human being'! No kidding, I can't believe they worked the pot this way...I would have had the pot tender stay back until the ingot was partially submerged before he approached the pot.
Other than this I thought it went very well...





Pretty impressive for a bunch of Sailors...

What do you boys think?

[David2011]

That pour was incredibly well done and incredibly expensive.

[Wayne Smith]

That pour was incredibly well done and incredibly expensive.

Yes, it reminds me of a definition of a boat - "a hole in the water into which one pours money".

[Oldfeller]

I watched this with about a half attention while resizing brass.

When did they flux the metal? I saw many partial shovel fulls of recoverable metal being skimmed off the top of the pot but NO deep stirring while adding any form of flux (not even sawdust was added to clean the metal).

I don't think these sailors knew much about purifying their metal to get maximum material utilization and the best mechanical strength. At least two of the big ingots they added also showed some signs of zinc contamination in the ingot as those two ingots were floating for a goodly period of time and were not readily melting and mixing in with the rest of the metal, and when it did it melt in was VERY gritty and grainy looking on that top layer of the melt. A lot of this slush all got shoveled off as waste, no flux was used on it at all to attempt to recover it ........

I realize it is a keel and not bullet metal, but waste is waste in either case. A sack of non-fuming kitty litter on top of the melt (with the kitty litter being removed just before the big pour) would have been "environmentally smoke free" and still would have purified a whole lot of that wasted metal.

[mrbill2]

Well I think they did one hell of a good job.

[Mal Paso]

I noticed moisture boiling off when they added another ingot. You could see the lead roiling next to the ingot. Having to take the time unhook each ingot probably saved them from the tinsel fairy.

[DonHowe]

As for fluxing the lead doesn't have yo be contaminent-free, it's just for mass. Just has to stay in one piece until bolted to the timber keel.

BTW, they are not necessarily sailors, just boatbuilders.

[ubetcha]

I've watched Leo's episodes right from the beginning. I'm not a boat enthusiast per se except for fishing or waterfowl hunting, I enjoy watching a skilled craftsman at work and teaching his trade to people who are willing to learn. A lot of time, love and money has gone into that boat restore. I too was cringing when they were doing the lead melt. I'm glad no one got seriously hurt.

[GregLaROCHE]

The first time they tried pouring the keel it was in a trench dug out and it leaked out. That was when I thought the Tinsel Fairy would show up from moisture from the ground.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

I saw this one last night. I don't even want to think about the lead contamination in that area. But at least they wore some protective gear, and it was fun to watch. Of course, the whole time I was watching, just thinking how many bullets that would make...

[OS OK]

Fitting the Lead Ballast Keel (Tally Ho / EP120)