Lead pipe into ingots.

[Bibbyman]

Maybe a reloading topic but I figure pure (or at least soft) lead is often used with black powder muzzle loaders, this video may be of interest here.

On other forums, people are struggling to find components of all kinds. Some people are scrounging for lead and taking up casting for the first time. I've been casting for over 50 years and scrounging lead whenever wherever I've found it.

Here I'm converting lead pipe into ingots so they will be somewhat clean when I start to make balls.

 

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Bibbyman,

Nice video, what are you using for an ingot mold?
I once melted down some lead pipe which was given to me by an old plumber friend,
it was cut into about 18" length and folded into thirds.
I left it sit in the sun for a couple days before melting it down.
It wasn't completely dried out, and when the moisture hit the molten lead it looked like a volcano going off.
Luckily I wasn't to close to the pot at the moment, I just let it settle down & made my ingots.
A warning to anyone melting lead pipe, make sure it's dry.

AntiqueSledMan.

 

[Bibbyman]

Hello Bibbyman,

Nice video, what are you using for an ingot mold?
I once melted down some lead pipe which was given to me by an old plumber friend,
it was cut into about 18" length and folded into thirds.
I left it sit in the sun for a couple days before melting it down.
It wasn't completely dried out, and when the moisture hit the molten lead it looked like a volcano going off.
Luckily I wasn't to close to the pot at the moment, I just let it settle down & made my ingots.
A warning to anyone melting lead pipe, make sure it's dry.

AntiqueSledMan.

They are just cast iron corn muffin molds. (Obviously, none of these should be used to cook food again.)

Yes, I tried to stress the point of putting scrap lead in a cold pot and then putting on heat. Then get away until it's melted down. This was remarkably clean and dry for being pulled out of the mud puddle. But you never know.

 

[243winxb]

The lead pipe & flat plates i was given, didnt want to melt in the pot. Had to file and grind off the strange surface coatings/oxidation on it.
Then it slowly melted. First for me in 50 years of casting. It was on the soft side. Mixed it with linotype for 357 & 44 mag.

Photos https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/albums/casting-bullets.310/&page=2

 

[AlexanderA]

Where does one obtain lead pipe? I didn't realize it was even a thing.

 

[DM~]

LOT's of old houses had lead pipe...

I bought hundreds of pounds of sheet lead, when it was removed from hospital radiation rooms, for 10 cents a pound,...

DM

 

[243winxb]

Where does one obtain lead pipe?

My son bought an old house. Went around the small yard with a metal detector. Found buried a lead pipe trap from under a sink, ww & flat plates.

Buried treasure to some.

 

[Bibbyman]

This was so clean inside and being small diameter inside, I'm thinking it was gas line. I've had drain pipe and it was nasty.

 

[Risky buisness]

Finding pipes for melting is great, assuring that their reasonably pure is another. As this is a black powder theme its important to know. Lee makes an inexpensive hardness tester to make sure what your casting is close enough to pure as to obturate well enough to have accurate shooting results

 

[Bibbyman]

Finding pipes for melting is great, assuring that their reasonably pure is another. As this is a black powder theme its important to know. Lee makes an inexpensive hardness tester to make sure what your casting is close enough to pure as to obturate well enough to have accurate shooting results

There are ways to judge the hardest. Cut with a thumbnail is a, well, "rough cut" method. A set of lead pencils in an array of hardness my get closer. If a pencil makes a mark, the lead is harder than the pencil. If the lead is scored by the pencil, the lead is softer than the pencil. A chart relates the pencil to the Brinell scale.

 

[Risky buisness]

There are ways to judge the hardest. Cut with a thumbnail is a, well, "rough cut" method. A set of lead pencils in an array of hardness my get closer. If a pencil makes a mark, the lead is harder than the pencil. If the lead is scored by the pencil, the lead is softer than the pencil. A chart relates the pencil to the Brinell scale.

Great idea thanks for sharing that...
I was casting for several years before starting to use scrounged materials and just purchased alloy in the desired mix, that would have simpled that up a bunch in finding pure lead for round balls.

 

[armoredman]

I confess - I have a Doe Run secondary smelter around the corner and I pay extra for certified bullet metal I can always get. I also have chunks of mystery metal left over from a freebie deal that I have laying about in the garage I need to test. Not much, maybe 15 pounds.

 

[whughett]

Hello Bibbyman,

Nice video, what are you using for an ingot mold?
I once melted down some lead pipe which was given to me by an old plumber friend,
it was cut into about 18" length and folded into thirds.
I left it sit in the sun for a couple days before melting it down.
It wasn't completely dried out, and when the moisture hit the molten lead it looked like a volcano going off.
Luckily I wasn't to close to the pot at the moment, I just let it settle down & made my ingots.
A warning to anyone melting lead pipe, make sure it's dry.

AntiqueSledMan.

I make it a habit to start a cast iron pot, I have two, cold, filled with what ever I’m smelting, in my case rage back stop lead that’s been washed. By the time the material in the bottom of the pot has started to melt the rest is up to a temperature where any moisture has evaporated. Nothing gets added to the pots that hadn’t been pre heated.

 

[ThomasT]

My dad had his house replumbed and gave me around 300 pounds of lead sewer pipe. I let it sit outside for a long time because I wasn't really interested in casting bullets. But I read up on it and bought a Lee 158gr SWC mold and that was the thing that cracked the door wide open for me. Now I have 23 bullet molds and around 1400 pounds of assorted metal like wheel weights, dead soft lead and about 40 pounds or Linotype.

I have several thousand bullets on hand I have cast up including lots of BP balls and conicals. I really enjoy casting bullets. And shortages don't have much affect on me. I can keep nearly every gun I own running with cast bullets.

If you have house moving dealer near you that has old houses sitting on his lot ask if they have any of the old lead pipe laying around. He may give it to you to get rid of it or sell it at a cheap price. I used to buy wheel weights from the tire stores but I'm not sure if they will sell it anymore. And a lot of wheel weights are now made of zinc. I had new tires put on yesterday and the balance weights all look like zinc or some other non lead material to me.

 

[AzShooter1]

Unfortunately my casting days are over. That being said, I would have in excess of 1000 pounds of lead in the garage waiting for casting. When I would find pure lead ( plumber's lead ) I would take the time to fill out my Lee ingot molds.

Wheel weights were very common and I would take a day to convert them as well. Lino Type would just be weighted and dropped in when I wanted a harder bullet.

The trick is getting your pot to the right temperature for each type of lead you are using. I liked a Waage furnace because I could keep the lead within + or - 5 degrees.

 

[DM~]

I always melt my scrap lead the first time, to clean it. I then pour it into these molds I made,



they drop a 20 pound ingot. My electric pot will take a 20 pound ingot, so with the now clean lead, I can put the ingots later, directly into the electric pot.

DM