Can I melt lead?

[JoshAGS]

I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
should I still do it outside?

--
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using PolytechForum's Web, RSS and Social Media Interface to
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[mike]

On 7/2/2015 8:18 PM, JoshAGS wrote:
> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
> about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
> should I still do it outside?
>

OUTSIDE!!!

[Larry Jaques]

Please stop scaring the potential Darwin Awardees, mike. Well, at
least you didn't tell him not to use a food pan to melt it. ;)

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood

[Rudy Canoza]

On 7/2/2015 8:18 PM, JoshAGS wrote:

> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
> about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
> should I still do it outside?

Search: molten + lead + toxic + fumes

Results:

https://www.google.com/search?q=molten+lead+toxic+fumes&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Several of the sites contain comments that lead melts at a little over
600 degrees Fahrenheit, and doesn't produce toxic fumes until it boils
at 1200F. However, another site that looks much more authoritative says
that lead doesn't boil until over 3100F:

https://www.conncoll.edu/media/website-media/offices/ehs/envhealthdocs/Lead.pdf

[Rudy Canoza]

On 7/2/2015 9:01 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Thu, 02 Jul 2015 20:29:43 -0700, mike <ham...@netzero.net> wrote:
>
>> On 7/2/2015 8:18 PM, JoshAGS wrote:
>>> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
>>> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
>>> about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
>>> should I still do it outside?
>>>
>> OUTSIDE!!!
>
> Please stop scaring the potential Darwin Awardees, mike. Well, at
> least you didn't tell him not to use a food pan to melt it. ;)

We used to melt lead fishing weights to add needed weight to our
Pinewood Derby cars in Cub Scouts. I think we used an empty "tin" food
can - maybe a Campbell's soup can, or perhaps a Starkist tuna can. We
did it right on the stove. I am not aware of anyone in my community
then suffering any effects of lead poisoning.

Seeing this thread and having found a few pages in a search, I think I'd
do it outside today.

[John G]

mike formulated the question :

70 years ago no-one worried and we did it all the time to make "tin"
soldiers etc. On the kitchen gas stove in jam tin.
Got the lead from dead car batteries etc.
Do the math and see how dangerous that could not have been. l-)

--
John G Sydney.

[whit3rd]

On Thursday, July 2, 2015 at 8:18:04 PM UTC-7, JoshAGS wrote:
> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes.

Negligible fumes from lead at simple melting temperature. If you
make dust, that's a problem, which is why smelters have scrubbers
on their stacks.

'Fumes' means vapor, you can't survive breathing anything as hot as
evaporated lead, even if it weren't toxic.

[pyotr filipivich]

JoshAGS <0f8503901d844703ee...@example.com> on Fri, 03
Jul 2015 03:18:01 +0000 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the
following:

>I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
>It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
>about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
>should I still do it outside?

Depends on who you talk to. Having melted enough lead to fill a
pop can on a gas stove - I'd say an ounce is likely to be no problem.
Just don't use the good cookware, and wash your hands afterwards.
OTOH, there are those who will react as if you were handling
molten plutonium, and insist you follow all the EPA/OSHA/Sierra Club
regulations as would applied to M. A. Metal Corporation, or Government
Motors.
--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

[pyotr filipivich]

John G <joh...@green.com> on Fri, 03 Jul 2015 15:32:31 +1000 typed in
rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

OTOH, my brother managed to strip the wax off the kitchen floor
when he spilled a quarter pound of molten lead off the stove. Didn't
get a drop on him, but we found lead under the fridge when we moved
out.

[Steve W.]

JoshAGS wrote:
> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
> about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
> should I still do it outside?
>

I melt lead all the time indoors. I do have a common range vent hood
over the bench. Just grab a small iron or stainless ladle toss in the
lead and apply low heat. Once it melts fully pour it into your mold. 1
oz. isn't much lead, what is the final use?

--
Steve W.

[Spehro Pefhany]

Many years ago we melted lead ingots outside using a propane burner.
Probably get jailed for 20 years now for some environmental crime.

We were pouring parts of massive lead shields for gamma ray sensors.


--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
Amazon link for AoE 3rd Edition: http://tinyurl.com/ntrpwu8
Microchip link for 2015 Masters in Phoenix: http://tinyurl.com/l7g2k48

[et...@whidbey.com]

On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 11:33:18 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<spef...@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:

>On Thu, 02 Jul 2015 22:59:41 -0700, pyotr filipivich
><ph...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>>JoshAGS <0f8503901d844703ee...@example.com> on Fri, 03
>>Jul 2015 03:18:01 +0000 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the
>>following:
>>>I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
>>>It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
>>>about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
>>>should I still do it outside?
>>
>> Depends on who you talk to. Having melted enough lead to fill a
>>pop can on a gas stove - I'd say an ounce is likely to be no problem.
>>Just don't use the good cookware, and wash your hands afterwards.
>> OTOH, there are those who will react as if you were handling
>>molten plutonium, and insist you follow all the EPA/OSHA/Sierra Club
>>regulations as would applied to M. A. Metal Corporation, or Government
>>Motors.
>>--
>>pyotr filipivich
>>"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."
>
>Many years ago we melted lead ingots outside using a propane burner.
>Probably get jailed for 20 years now for some environmental crime.
>
>We were pouring parts of massive lead shields for gamma ray sensors.

When I was about 8 years old one our neighbors was doing some gold
panning. I watched him heating what looked like black sand in a
stainless pan over a coleman stove out in the driveway. I couldn't
figure out how he could melt gold from sand. Even though I was so
young I knew metals needed to get red hot to melt and he wasn't
getting the pan red hot. I asked my dad about it and he had no idea of
what our neighbor was doing. Years later I realized he was probably
cooking off the mercury he used to get the gold dust from the sand.
Eric

[Tim Wescott]

On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 03:18:01 +0000, JoshAGS wrote:

> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
> about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine
> or should I still do it outside?

I wouldn't do it where food is prepared, and I'd make sure to wash my
hands afterwards. But as you can see, opinions vary.

You can melt an ounce of lead with really simple tools -- I'm not sure
that you could do it with a Bic lighter, but I know from experience you
can do it with a small alcohol burner. A propane torch, a tin can, and a
pair of pliers would certainly be enough to do the deed.

Lead toxicity is a cumulative thing. If you're only going to do it once
in your life then you could probably roll in lead powder and come out
OK. OTOH, if you're working with lead day in and day out then you need
to pay attention to toxicity.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

[DoN. Nichols]

On 2015-07-03, JoshAGS <0f8503901d844703ee...@example.com> wrote:
> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
> about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
> should I still do it outside?

Have you ever done any electronic/electrical soldering? You are
melting an alloy of lead and tin to do that. (Yes, a bit lower
temperature than the melting point of pure lead -- or of pure tin -- but
considering how much electronics soldering I've done over the years, no
worry.

Melting pure lead I did as a kid outdoors - because there was no
safe place to do it indoors -- from the hazards of spills, not from
fumes.

You are using a small enough quantity so it is no worry.

Just wash your hands after doing this before conveying anything
to your mouth. (Again, not really a problem for a single event, but for
regular practice, yes.)

For that matter -- if you cast bullets, there is an electric pot
which will melt lead on your workbench, and squirt it into molds as you
lift a lever. Again -- no problem other than wash your hands after
using it.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: <BPdnic...@d-and-d.com> | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

[JoshAGS]

replying to JoshAGS, JoshAGS wrote:

> JoshAGS wrote:
>
> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
It's
> possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt about 1
once
> worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or should I still
do
> it outside?

Everyone stop freaking out? I'm only melting an ounce of lead in a small
skillet I bought for melting zinc. I'm only going to melt lead once in my
life and this is only a small amount. I'm melting it for display so I can
put it in my element collection.

[Jim Wilkins]

"JoshAGS" <0f8503901d844703ee...@example.com> wrote in
message news:1dc49$5597344b$43de0cc0$19...@news.flashnewsgroups.com...

> replying to JoshAGS, JoshAGS wrote:
>> JoshAGS wrote:
>>
>> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my
>> stove.
> It's
>> possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
>> about 1
> once
>> worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or should
>> I still
> do
>> it outside?
>
>
> Everyone stop freaking out? I'm only melting an ounce of lead in a
> small
> skillet I bought for melting zinc. I'm only going to melt lead once
> in my
> life and this is only a small amount. I'm melting it for display so
> I can
> put it in my element collection.
>

We have to be careful of what we commit to the permanent record.

The walls have ears.

[Martin Eastburn]

No problem. Get a pan that you will throw away. And keep the temp
low - just melting it and then some. Borax will do as a flux and keep
the fumes down. Keeping it cool - not over heated - will prevent fumes.

Hot plates outside is better. Be up wind and don't let it get over heated.

It should be done outside on a camp stove or BBQ. I use my furnace when
I have pounds of it to melt. Then, it is a alloy of metals for a
friend... :-)

Martin

[Gunner Asch]

On Thu, 02 Jul 2015 22:59:41 -0700, pyotr filipivich
<ph...@mindspring.com> wrote:

IVe cast bullets for aprox 35 yrs. On average when I do a rough
melt..turning wheel weights into ingots...I do about 2000 pounds at a
time. Ill do that at least once a year...x 35 yrs....70,000 lbs in 35
yrs.

I dont eat while doing the rough melt, I do it outside and I try to
stay upwind. Now remelting those ingots into bullets...I tend to do
that inside, but I have a "range hood" over my casting area and I suck
the smoke outside using fans. So Ill remelt that 2000 lbs at least
one more time...make that 150,000 lbs of lead melting. Ive had myself
tested for lead..and only once in all those years have I showed any
elevation whatsoever and it was so small it may have been a glitch in
the testing. Oh..and I wash my hands during the bullet casting and
then and only then light a cigarette.

Im small scale compared to a lot of guys..so melting lead wont make
your pecker fall off and it wont turn you into a Democrat.

Gunner

[Tom Gardner]

On 7/3/2015 1:59 AM, pyotr filipivich wrote:
>
> OTOH, my brother managed to strip the wax off the kitchen floor
> when he spilled a quarter pound of molten lead off the stove. Didn't
> get a drop on him, but we found lead under the fridge when we moved
> out.
> --
> pyotr filipivich
> "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."
>

My best is having a live primer somehow getting into the boolit reject
can then pouring the rejects into the melt pot. I still have lead spots
on the ceiling and not a speck got on me. I check everything that goes
in the pot very carefully.

[Tom Gardner]

On 7/3/2015 9:18 PM, JoshAGS wrote:
> replying to JoshAGS, JoshAGS wrote:
>> JoshAGS wrote:
>>
>> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's
>> possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt about 1
> once
>> worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or should I
>> still
> do
>> it outside?
>
>
> Everyone stop freaking out? I'm only melting an ounce of lead in a small
> skillet I bought for melting zinc. I'm only going to melt lead once in my
> life and this is only a small amount. I'm melting it for display so I can
> put it in my element collection.
>

You will die no doubt...just not from Lead poisoning. But, it might rip
a hole in the space/time continuum and destroy the Universe

[Tom Gardner]

On 7/2/2015 11:18 PM, JoshAGS wrote:
> I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
> It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
> about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
> should I still do it outside?
>

Lead oxide is the toxic thing to avoid, the white part of the dross that
comes from smelting lead. Clean up after and dispose of any waste
products responsibly.

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 21:54:12 -0700, Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com>
wrote:

Bbut, I thought you were registered Demonrat. ;)

Take it from me, guys. Gunner isn't too awfully dain bramaged after
all that lead work.

[Gunner Asch]

I am. Long story....but I stay a Demonrat because of all the cool
junk mail I get from DNC headquarters.

>
>Take it from me, guys. Gunner isn't too awfully dain bramaged after
>all that lead work.

bub...bubb...danks mistr!

Gunr

[Gunner Asch]

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 06:58:47 -0400, Tom Gardner <Ma...@tacks.com>
wrote:

Hold a steel container with vice grips over your favorite propane
torch..and simply wiggle the can around a little bit. For an ounce..Id
not bother even fluxing it. If you feel the need...drop in a pinch off
a beeswax candle and wiggle it around a tad. Hell..an ounce of lead is
about the size of your thumb from the tip to the first joint..unless
you have hands like me..then its 3 oz.

Gunner

[Neon John]

On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 03:18:01 +0000, JoshAGS

<0f8503901d844703ee...@example.com> wrote:

>I was wondering if it's okay to melt a small amount of lead on my stove.
>It's possible but I heard it creates toxic fumes. I only want to melt
>about 1 once worth of fishing sinkers into 1 solid piece. Is this fine or
>should I still do it outside?

Your stove is fine. Any fumes generated will be the higher volatility
tin/zinc/antimony vaporizing out from impure lead. This is generally
not a problem if you don't overheat the lead.

Run your stove's vent hood and don't worry about it. Even if you did
overheat the lead enough to generated lead fumes, as the old saying
goes "The devil's in the dose". You're dealing with such a tiny
amount of lead that a significant amount of fumes could be generated,
in practical terms.

John

John DeArmond
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.fluxeon.com
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
See website for email address

[pyotr filipivich]

Tom Gardner <Ma...@tacks.com> on Sat, 04 Jul 2015 06:51:03 -0400 typed
in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Had a friend melting down pewter ware. Didn't know about the
hollow handle - big splash of pewter all over the basement.

Oh, and I once notices something odd about the 303 round - primer
was inserted backwards.

[pyotr filipivich]

Larry Jaques <lja...@invalid.diversifycomm.com> on Sat, 04 Jul 2015
04:48:35 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

No, the brain damage is why he started melting all that lead.

[Gunner Asch]

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 11:38:29 -0700, pyotr filipivich

Nah...empty wallet was why I started melting all that lead.

Just as debilitating and even more painful

Gunner

[Gunner Asch]

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 11:38:29 -0700, pyotr filipivich
<ph...@mindspring.com> wrote:

Doesnt go Bang very well in that orientation.

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 16:02:51 -0700, Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com>
wrote:

The question is: How do you press and seat one backwards without it
going off?

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 06:58:47 -0400, Tom Gardner <Ma...@tacks.com>
wrote:

That's what I have to worry about every time I ScarySharp(tm) an iron
for my plane. It puts a single-molecule edge on the things which, if
you wave it around too fast, will split atoms. And you know what
happens when you do _that_.

[Gunner Asch]

It takes more energy (usually) directly over the "anvil" to set off a
primer than slowly pushing it in (or out) takes.

If you find a loaded cartridge with an upside down primer, pull the
bullet, dump the powder and then knock out the primer as normal on
your press...just dont be surprised it if goes POP!. Do this in your
press and take a stout rag and put it around the depriming groove in
the back of the ram before pushing on the primer as occasionally that
tiny little "anvil" will come blasting out and it Hurts! if it hits
you in the face on the bounce.

Gunner

[pyotr filipivich]

Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com> on Sat, 04 Jul 2015 16:02:51 -0700

typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
>On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 11:38:29 -0700, pyotr filipivich
><ph...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>>Tom Gardner <Ma...@tacks.com> on Sat, 04 Jul 2015 06:51:03 -0400 typed
>>in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
>>>On 7/3/2015 1:59 AM, pyotr filipivich wrote:
>>>>
>>>> OTOH, my brother managed to strip the wax off the kitchen floor
>>>> when he spilled a quarter pound of molten lead off the stove. Didn't
>>>> get a drop on him, but we found lead under the fridge when we moved
>>>> out.
>>>> --
>>>> pyotr filipivich
>>>> "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."
>>>>
>>>
>>>My best is having a live primer somehow getting into the boolit reject
>>>can then pouring the rejects into the melt pot. I still have lead spots
>>>on the ceiling and not a speck got on me. I check everything that goes
>>>in the pot very carefully.
>>
>> Had a friend melting down pewter ware. Didn't know about the
>>hollow handle - big splash of pewter all over the basement.
>>
>> Oh, and I once notices something odd about the 303 round - primer
>>was inserted backwards.
>
>Doesnt go Bang very well in that orientation.

I did not test that hypothesis.

[pyotr filipivich]

Larry Jaques <lja...@invalid.diversifycomm.com> on Sun, 05 Jul 2015
06:31:24 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Very carefully? OTOH, them Hindus are a very clever people ... eh
whot?

[gerald...@yahoo.ca]

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 06:51:03 -0400, Tom Gardner <Ma...@tacks.com>
wrote:

I got VERY lucky and only got an "S" for STUPID on the back of my
right thumb during a "brain fart" when I thought it would be quicker
to cool my mold in water!
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada

[pyotr filipivich]

gerald...@yahoo.ca on Sun, 05 Jul 2015 14:49:31 -0400 typed in
rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

It wasn't the cooling in water which caused my brother's
experiments in home economics, it was failing to get it completely
100% dry before pouring the hot lead onto the licence plate we used
for messing about.

>---
>
>Gerry :-)}
>London,Canada