Lead smelting help

[Kdog]

A buddy offered me some lead (free) a couple days ago and of course I said yes. I even offered to come get it and he said its at a job site and he would drop it off later in the week. This AM I was out running errands and he dropped it off. He called me and said he was at the house and where should he put it. "I said on the concrete pad next to the truck."

I got home and wish someone had a camera to take a picture of my face when I saw it. 2 chunks ~4 foot long and 16 inches square and yes it is nice soft lead. Unfortunately, I cannot handle them and need to break them down.

Chain and tractor, could not budge them with the bucket. I did get them behind the barn (one at a time I might add). Per my calculations these chunks will weigh in at about 4900 pounds each.

Now my problem is how to break these down into manageable chunks for my smelting furnace (big old cast iron cauldron about 5 gallon capacity, with a heavy duty propane burner).

Anyone have an idea of how to break these down? Help!!!! My neighbor suggested a chain saw. I said he could try and he wants to use mine. NO. I have a sale pending for the lead but it needs to be in smaller pieces
2"x2" x 12" or smaller. Guy buying is making down rigger weights and will take all I got and offering a good price,

Normally I melt it down and make 1X1X4 ingots which I love for casting, Right now, I cannot melt it because its too big. So please, let the ideas come forth!

 

[AtticaFish]

Rent a log splitter.

What in the world would a 4', 16" lead beam be used for? I understand why they use it in hospital X-Ray rooms in the walls or whatever..... but a 16" beam???

 

[hookup]

I got a couple big chunks (nothing like yours) and started cutting them into 2x2 pieces with a hack saw.

Sounds like your buddy just gave you a part time buiz - smelt them down & sell them on eBay.

 

[Ron Don]

Got a torch?

 

[Jay Wirth]

Lucky! a hack saw or jig saw will cut this just fine. Sometimes I get some big scrap pieces and cut them on my band saw. Its nothing fancy just a small one I use for wood working but cutting soft lead is no problem.

 

[CrappieHappy]

sawzall, wear glasses, and respirator, and some old clothes. you will have dust flying everywhere

 

[Kdog]

These were ballasts from some type of commercial elevator. Buddy has never seen them before but they cannot sell them with the scrap metal.

Jig saw and band saw are out due to size. My log spliiter would probably hold the weight but that is a lot of mass to force apart.

My solution is gonna be to melt them as they sit. I have a gantry crane with chain hoist from the farm 10 ton capacity. Use that to pick one up and use a couple 55 gallon drums as a wind/heat shield. Lean the bottom barrel slightly and cut a small hole in edge at bottom of tilt so metal can drain into a ingot mold. Have a 4" propane torch head and will cut a hole to slide it in on opposite side of barrel. Will break the things down one way or another but sounds like the easiest way to go. Gonna be interesting to see how long a 100# propane tank will last. I'm hoping I can melt both with 1 tank. Also thought about just using a barrel and a bunch of firewood but decided against it for the time being.

Since I am just breaking it down, I dont gotta be fancy. I'll keep a couple hundred pounds for me and my buddies and sell the rest. Muzzle loaders go thru a lot more lead than than I do making jigs. 12 - 20 per pound of lead. Once I have it in ingot form, I can easily clean what I want for jigs.

 

[Lost Pole]

If I lived a lil closer and didn't have the flu …I'd come over and snap em up over my knee for ya.

 

[toadfrog]

This is what I do . (Here come the screams about danger .) I fear nothing . ahem except jail and the big guy called Bubba . Spread one of those cheap tarps on the ground around the lead at least ten ft wide . Fire up the ole chain saw and go at it like cutting wood . I hope I don't have to say safety glasses and gloves a must . Those chips are HOT!

 

[Pepop]

Easiest way I can think of would be to dig a hole under the end, put a coffee can or other metal container in the hole & take a torch & start melting from the top down. As the end gets hot enough & the top starts melting it should drip into the can. A good hot torch could have it flowing pretty good. Now if you try this and by some freak of nature it actually works, I'd take a couple cans for the "Quiz Contest" Prize Winner! LOL! Good luck bud.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Or, you can just hire a welder with proper cutting equipment and negotiate an exchange.

Sounds like you wouldn't miss a coupla hundred pounds.

 

[Jungleboy]

Looks like the Chainsaw would work alright . Worst case ,you sacrifice a chain I suppose.

 

[Kdog]

My propane burner and barrels worked just fine. Took a little over 3 hours for the first one and after some modification, second one was done in 2 hours. Chain wrapped around end to hold the chunk in the air was great until the amount below the chain was less that the amount above the chain. Crash, Bang, Boom! Fortunately nothing serious happened just crushed my burner. A little hammer work and none the worse for wear.

What ended working best was a 55 gallon steel drum on concrete blocks with a tap out hole and plug ~ 3" from the bottom. The burner head was about 10" from the bottom of the barrel. Lit it and after 20 minutes had a good amount of molten lead up above the tap out.

Pulled the plug and filled ingot molds for a lot longer than I would have thought. Keeping a good pool of molten lead in the bottom sped things up quite a bit.

After seeing the chain saw video glad I did not even try it.

I kept 100 ingots all piled up in back of barn for later melting and fluxing and breaking down into my preferred 2# ingot. It may be pure lead but sure has some funny looking dross so I wont take the change. Will melt and clean before moving to my casting bench.

Friend called from the scale house and said it was 9700 pounds and would have my check in the AM. Whooopeeeeeeeeeee.

 

[toadfrog]

Looks like the Chainsaw would work alright . Worst case ,you sacrifice a chain I suppose.

Yep that is the way its done . The chain will dull but it won't completely ruin it . I use a chain that is nearly to worn to cut wood with . It is not necessary to have a really sharp chain . Also filing the chain on a 35 degree cut helps it grab into the lead better . That guys chain was to loose . If the chain sags down on the bottom its too loose and can jump off the bar potentially slapping back on your hand . All that stuff is HOT . Those little chips will sting your shins even through jeans .

 

[CandiCane]

Did you take any before pictures of the lead? I'd like to see that.

 

[smalljaw]

sawzall, wear glasses, and respirator, and some old clothes. you will have dust flying everywhere

I had a plumber that was my next door neighbor for years until he retired and he would give me good plumber lead but if was doing a job in an old house with lead pipes he would bring them home and give me the old pipe. I spread a 12'X12' tarp on the ground in my yard and took the sawzall, aka reciprocating saw, to it and then I would melt it down and pour into my ingot mold. If you don't want to use the chainsaw then you can use a hatchet, it will take longer but it will work.

 

[plateboater]

9700 lbs.....How crap man. You are set for at least a year!!!!!!

 

[Kdog]

9700 lbs.....How crap man. You are set for at least a year!!!!!!

9700 is what I sold, I kept ~2200 for mself