where do you get your lead?

I scrounge lead from scrap yards, can be wheel weights, certain vehicles have a chunk of lead bolted to the steering column. I also pick up bullets at the range and the one oz shotgun slugs, those are nice to find.

Some of the older houses around here have roofing lead, will pick it up as garbage if an older house is getting renovated.
 
legi0n said:
I buy it from battery recyclers.
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ouch.... if you are casting using recycled battery lead which has lots of toxins in it, you are killing yourself in a most unpleasant manner.......

check out castboolits.com for more info

The warnings about smelting automotive batteries to recover the lead they contain needs a bit of explanation. Doing so really does have the potential to harm or even kill you and here is why. Maintenance free/low maintenance batteries use calcium metal-doped lead to catalyze the hydrogen gas generated from water electrolysis back into water. That is what makes the batteries low maintenance or maintenance free, you don't need to add water to the cells as often like in the old days. When the battery lead is melted down there is enough sulfuric acid from residual electrolyte trapped in the lead dioxide and lead framework of the battery plates to react with the small amount of calcium metal in the lead alloy. Normally when sulfuric acid (or water) gets in contact with calcium metal it undergoes a rather vigorous reaction that generates hydrogen gas. In and of itself this is no big deal, hydrogen is a simple non-toxic asphyxiant that is also flammable. But the lead alloy used in batteries also contains a bit of antimony and even arsenic to help harden and strengthen the lead to withstand the vibration and general knocking-about batteries have to withstand in order to survive normal automotive use. When hydrogen comes in contact with arsenic and antimony, or compounds of these two elements, the hydrogen reacts to form ammonia analogues called arsine and stibine, AsH3 and SbH3. Both of these are heavy gases and both have the similar characteristic odors of rotting fish. In World War One the Germans experimented with these, along with phosphine, another rotting-fish-smelling gaseous ammonia analogue with formula PH3, as war gases. As such they were highly effective since they are deadly in amounts too small to easily detect. In even smaller amounts that are too small to immediately kill they cause rather painful lung damage that often eventually leads to emphysema and lung cancer.
So, leave smelting car batteries or using lead smelted from them to professional recyclers. Many folks including myself have successfully smelted batteries and lived to tell about it, but the risk is just too great to mess with the stuff.
 
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I cast WW using a 3m respirator for organic fumes. all that oil and paint burning is enough to make you feel quite sick. with the respirator, it just doesnt smell anything, I love that thing.
Still would not touch car batteries....
 
if he is buying lead from battery recyclers then all the toxic stuff (discounting that lead is toxic) has been removed by them, so there are no issues.....
 
n
Spawn-Inc said:
if he is buying lead from battery recyclers then all the toxic stuff (discounting that lead is toxic) has been removed by them, so there are no issues.....
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not correct, all toxins can't be completely removed and are always present in trace amounts. recyclers are there to make a buck only so any quality control is hit n miss at best


your choice but why take a chance with your health to save a few bucks on lead and win a darwin award for your family.


i had an uncle who died a very painful death from breathing in something that was 'completely healthy,|
 
gregc said:
not correct, all toxins can't be completely removed and are always present in trace amounts. recyclers are there to make a buck only so any quality control is hit n miss at best


your choice but why take a chance with your health to save a few bucks on lead and win a darwin award for your family.


i had an uncle who died a very painful death from breathing in something that was 'completely healthy,|
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I have a friend's girlfriend's twice removed cousin's sister grandfather who just died while I was casting some lead bullets made of recycled lead.
Chill down. Nobody lives forever.
 
legi0n said:
I have a friend's girlfriend's twice removed cousin's sister grandfather who just died while I was casting some lead bullets made of recycled lead.
Chill down. Nobody lives f orever.
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h

hey, like i said, it's your choice for the darwin award, have fun casting......
 
legi0n said:
hey, stop being a chicken little
with guys like you we'd still be in the stone age. 'cause you know, metal smelting releases all those toxic fumes...
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hahaha,

don't know why you're so eager to get into a pissing contest but have at it......
 
gregc said:
n



not correct, all toxins can't be completely removed and are always present in trace amounts. recyclers are there to make a buck only so any quality control is hit n miss at best


your choice but why take a chance with your health to save a few bucks on lead and win a darwin award for your family.


i had an uncle who died a very painful death from breathing in something that was 'completely healthy,|
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you took the chance on it, so why can't i?

any articles, etc proving that there are still contaminants in it? lead is the most recycled material so i strongly doubt there is enough crap in it that is going to cause an issue that exceeds the dangers of melting it in the first place.
 
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