any way to cut up a 25lb lead "pig"?

Ellsworth MacDoogle · September 25, 2009, 05:30:33 PM

Is there a way to cut up a 25lb block of lead into smaller pieces, so they'll fit into my small, 10lb melter? Or do I need to melt it down in a cast iron pot, and pour into ingot molds - just wondering if there's a way to just cut it up...

Thanks for responses and advice!

Delmonico · September 25, 2009, 05:32:41 PM

Last time I had such a thing I got out the cutting torch and just melted chucks off it.

Ranch 13 · September 25, 2009, 05:40:49 PM

Whack chunks from it with a good sharp ax. Or use wood splitting wedges and a maul

Delmonico · September 25, 2009, 06:05:05 PM

I also used an air chisel like bodymen use one time, worked good.

Ranch 13 · September 25, 2009, 06:32:20 PM

Dang stuff sure gums up the blade on a sawzall.

Delmonico · September 25, 2009, 06:33:37 PM

Quote from: Ranch 13 on September 25, 2009, 06:32:20 PM
Dang stuff sure gums up the blade on a sawzall.

I got a hand hacksaw stuck one time.

Delmonico · September 25, 2009, 06:41:27 PM

Ya ever see one of them really big ingot they haul in a gondola car? Was eatin' supper one night and a train went by had about a dozen of them, each in it's own car.

I know the country well where it was headed, some lonly spots, just don't know how I could have got them back home, things were bigger than the box on my pick-up.

Ranch 13 · September 25, 2009, 06:45:06 PM

Boggle the mind when you try to figure just how many bullets one of them thing's would make.

Always sort of hoped when I worked for Uncle Pete that if there had to be a derailment, one of them cars laid over on its side would be a handy thing......

Doc O · September 25, 2009, 08:24:21 PM

I've done the same as Ranch 13, works OK.

Doc

Dick Dastardly · September 27, 2009, 08:16:56 AM

I cut up the lead shielding from a beta ray counter. Thank you Will Ketchum for that lead. Many of the pieces were at least 25 lb. I used my hydraulic wood splitter. It worked very well, wasted no metal and was very safe. I put a hard maple block on the shoe to act as an anvil and simply sheared the chunks off with the ram axe. Quick, easy, safe and no waste.

So, if you have a hydraulic wood splitter, or a friend that has one, you're in. You will chunk up that 25lb real quick and be lookin' for more.

DD-DLoS

Cuts Crooked · September 27, 2009, 04:53:25 PM

Quote from: Dick Dastardly on September 27, 2009, 08:16:56 AM
I cut up the lead shielding from a beta ray counter. Thank you Will Ketchum for that lead. Many of the pieces were at least 25 lb. I used my hydraulic wood splitter. It worked very well, wasted no metal and was very safe. I put a hard maple block on the shoe to act as an anvil and simply sheared the chunks off with the ram axe. Quick, easy, safe and no waste.

So, if you have a hydraulic wood splitter, or a friend that has one, you're in. You will chunk up that 25lb real quick and be lookin' for more.

DD-DLoS

+1 on the wood splitter!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have gotten some counter weights from those vehicles they used to move jets around at miliitary bases years ago. Those run about 90lbs. My B-I-Ls hydraulic log splitter makes short work of them!

Ellsworth MacDoogle · September 28, 2009, 06:58:54 AM

Thanks for the replies! The wood splitter sounds very interesting...and I have a wood burning fireplace, so may be useful now and then for actually splitting wood

Short Knife Johnson · September 28, 2009, 11:43:42 AM

I just had the visual of the lot of you holding up a train for the cargo of lead. "No! leave the gold! It's the lead we're after." Wouldn't that make a dandy 6 o'clock news story.

Dick Dastardly · September 29, 2009, 08:14:15 AM

I'm told that old sail boats have lead in the keel. If that's so, it's likely cast in one piece. That might be another good candidate for bullet lead.

DD-DLoS