- Location
- Alberta Free State
Hello all,
I was offered two slabs of lead, each approximately 14 inches x 14 inches x 2 1/2 inches thick. (rough guess). With visions of making ingots for later use in my Lee Drip-O-Matic dancing in my brain, I accepted the offer. Little did I know....
Each slab has a "handle" of bent steel flat bar embedded in the middle - they appear to have been cast in a rectangular pan or mold - the surfaces are pretty uneven.
At a guess, they weigh about 175 lbs apiece. It took two of us and a lot of grunting on each end of a crowbar to unload them from the pickup. We managed to get one down the basement and left one outside to be cut up. (You young folks may be able to lift one in each hand, but my friend and I are 55-ish old farts.
Now, I have a challenge: how to cut these slabs into manageable (possibly 40 lb?) chunks to go in my big cast iron pot, or better yet, smaller blocks that would fit directly into my casting melter.
I have tried the following (wearing gloves, lead filter mask, safety goggles, steel-toed boots, and coveralls):
- various grinding and cutting wheels in an angle grinder - lots of sound and fury, but not much cutting.
- a sharp cold chisel and a heavy "lump" hammer, chiseling a "line" across the slab with repeated overlapping strikes. I touched up the edge on the cold chisel about every 30 hits. After an hour, I had managed to cut a line with a depth of 1/2" to 3/4", and had pretty well worn out my arm and my patience.
- a woodworking sabre saw and conventional hacksaw - even the coarsest blades on both, being fairly fine-tooth, just load up with lead and won't cut at all after a few strokes, even with lubricant.
- various blades in my sawzall - the best cutting seemed to be with the coarsest of the blades labeled for cutting wood ("demolition" blades) - but it beat the living daylights out of my sawzall, as the blade would bind frequently. (It's a single speed machine, or perhaps more accurately, it was). I was able to cut about halfway down the previously-chiseled line before the business end of the sawzall came apart. No great loss - it was a Princess Auto super-cheapo special. However, this method is very slow, and a bit hard on the equipment and operator.
I have not, as yet, tried a circular saw with any type of blade. I like my circular saw - it's a good one.
I have also not tried applying a torch, either a handheld propane torch, or a much larger "tiger torch" to a corner of the block and putting a cast-iron pot or other receptacle underneath to catch the drips (if there were any).
I am hoping one of my fellow Nutz can suggest a method more effective than what I've tried so far.
I was offered two slabs of lead, each approximately 14 inches x 14 inches x 2 1/2 inches thick. (rough guess). With visions of making ingots for later use in my Lee Drip-O-Matic dancing in my brain, I accepted the offer. Little did I know....
Each slab has a "handle" of bent steel flat bar embedded in the middle - they appear to have been cast in a rectangular pan or mold - the surfaces are pretty uneven.
At a guess, they weigh about 175 lbs apiece. It took two of us and a lot of grunting on each end of a crowbar to unload them from the pickup. We managed to get one down the basement and left one outside to be cut up. (You young folks may be able to lift one in each hand, but my friend and I are 55-ish old farts.
Now, I have a challenge: how to cut these slabs into manageable (possibly 40 lb?) chunks to go in my big cast iron pot, or better yet, smaller blocks that would fit directly into my casting melter.
I have tried the following (wearing gloves, lead filter mask, safety goggles, steel-toed boots, and coveralls):
- various grinding and cutting wheels in an angle grinder - lots of sound and fury, but not much cutting.
- a sharp cold chisel and a heavy "lump" hammer, chiseling a "line" across the slab with repeated overlapping strikes. I touched up the edge on the cold chisel about every 30 hits. After an hour, I had managed to cut a line with a depth of 1/2" to 3/4", and had pretty well worn out my arm and my patience.
- a woodworking sabre saw and conventional hacksaw - even the coarsest blades on both, being fairly fine-tooth, just load up with lead and won't cut at all after a few strokes, even with lubricant.
- various blades in my sawzall - the best cutting seemed to be with the coarsest of the blades labeled for cutting wood ("demolition" blades) - but it beat the living daylights out of my sawzall, as the blade would bind frequently. (It's a single speed machine, or perhaps more accurately, it was). I was able to cut about halfway down the previously-chiseled line before the business end of the sawzall came apart. No great loss - it was a Princess Auto super-cheapo special. However, this method is very slow, and a bit hard on the equipment and operator.
I have not, as yet, tried a circular saw with any type of blade. I like my circular saw - it's a good one.
I have also not tried applying a torch, either a handheld propane torch, or a much larger "tiger torch" to a corner of the block and putting a cast-iron pot or other receptacle underneath to catch the drips (if there were any).
I am hoping one of my fellow Nutz can suggest a method more effective than what I've tried so far.
