[SOLD] 3,186 lbs of lead

[c.K.]

Originally Posted by Mexican Hat

I find myself in the position of having had to settle for a large lump of lead as the only option for payment of a debt. South Texas turns out to be an interesting place in many ways... This is the keel lead from a Hunter sailboat, clean and in one piece.

So if anyone's building a boat and needs lead for a keel, is starting a casting or diving weight business, has a very thick wetsuit, is REALLY worried about the war in Ukraine going nuclear, needs some dense ballast to settle the suspension on that new 1 ton truck, is tired of using cement for those boots or is still playing with Newton's alchemy formulas, I may be your man!

Located in Rockport Texas. Can help with delivery within a 250 mile radius for a reasonable amount. Can help with loading onto a truck. Would prefer to sell the lead intact but if there's demand will consider cutting it up. I don't know what would work, anyone got any experience in the field of lead cutting? It's too big a piece to melt.

Asking $3,186 obo

Use a chain saw !

[MicHughV]

When I built my boat, I latched onto a lead keel shoe that came of a British boat, constructed out of wood. Weight of lead was around 6,000 lbs.
I went to a tool rental store to rent a chainsaw. The owner asked what I planned to cut. Without blinking an eye, I told him a big tree. When I returned the saw later, it was clear that I had not been cutting a tree.

Having cut the keel in three pieces, I still had to transport the pieces, 60 odd miles, one at a time. This turned out to be quite the mission, involving the Highway Patrol, who took a dim view of my lead transport arrangements.

Then I fabricated a small furnace with a vacuum cleaner on "blow" to provide sufficient heat to melt the pieces. It was quite the process. Hoisting a ton of lead into the air so it could be fed into my furnace.
My furnace was equipped with a spout, and I used bread pans to cast leak ingots, weighing around 60 lbs each, which were remelted into my keel void.

Interestingly enough, the original keel manufacturer had thought to "cheat" a little, and had inserted a steel anvil, plus other odds and ends of steel bits and pieces in his pour.

Steel has the unique ability to "float" in a vat of molten lead. I don't think the original manufacturer had ever considered that his cheating ways would one day be discovered.

I relate this story only to provide any prospective buyer of some of the hurdles that need to be crossed.

My keel story took place in the early 80's....I think lead was around 0.35c/lb as I recall.

[Oeanda]

Anvils are very hard on the chain!

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by Mexican Hat

I find myself in the position of having had to settle for a large lump of lead as the only option for payment of a debt. South Texas turns out to be an interesting place in many ways... This is the keel lead from a Hunter sailboat, clean and in one piece.

So if anyone's building a boat and needs lead for a keel, is starting a casting or diving weight business, has a very thick wetsuit, is REALLY worried about the war in Ukraine going nuclear, needs some dense ballast to settle the suspension on that new 1 ton truck, is tired of using cement for those boots or is still playing with Newton's alchemy formulas, I may be your man!

Located in Rockport Texas. Can help with delivery within a 250 mile radius for a reasonable amount. Can help with loading onto a truck. Would prefer to sell the lead intact but if there's demand will consider cutting it up. I don't know what would work, anyone got any experience in the field of lead cutting? It's too big a piece to melt.

Asking $3,186 obo

The rebuild of Tally Ho on Youtube, he just used a chainsaw and it cut through like a knife and butter. As with Leo, put a tarp down to catch the chips.

[crooks]

Originally Posted by garyfdl

Well, it is Texas...

And actually? It's mostly target shooters who cast their own 'boolits'. When you shoot hundreds of rounds a month, buying bullets gets pretty expensive. Hunters don't actually shoot much (when hunting), and the technology in today's modern hunting bullet is literally centuries ahead of a solid lead bullet.

Lead is nasty stuff/hazardous material and should be treated as such. I used to load shotshells years ago when I shot skeet (again, cheaper than buying factory loads). Had a Dr. on the league, who said don't handle the shot with bare hands, wear surgical gloves. After loading a few hundred rounds, they were black from the lead dust and powder. I also used to cast lead bullets, fishing sinkers and lead-head jigs. Again a very dirty operation, gloves were always black. Made sure that I had good respirator, ventilatlon, had a small fan in the window of my 'gun room' to pull the dust fumes out. Also requested a BLL (blood lead level) test at my annual physical.

Lead bullets are harmful to shooters at a shooting range and harmful to the environment when shot outdoors. There are safer alternatives.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by crooks

Lead bullets are harmful to shooters at a shooting range and harmful to the environment when shot outdoors. There are safer alternatives.

Also outlawed in many states due to ground lead poisoning and definitely outlawed for hunting of game birds
But that hasn’t stopped a few from doing it anyway

[FoxIslander]

If you search the "Tally Ho" YouTube channel they have a number of videos about sourcing lead...cutting lead (yes with a chainsaw)...casting lead...removing the newly cast keel and re-casting it. Just about everything you want to know about casting lead.

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Also outlawed in many states due to ground lead poisoning and definitely outlawed for hunting of game birds
But that hasn’t stopped a few from doing it anyway

I'm a hunter and shooter. What states are these? The only ban on lead shot that I know of is for water fowl, and that's been around since '91.

[Tellie]

You got any money to lend? I got coal for repayment.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by garyfdl

I'm a hunter and shooter. What states are these? The only ban on lead shot that I know of is for water fowl, and that's been around since '91.

Exactly. I don't know of any bans other than water fowl. Indoor ranges use ventilation to handle fumes and lead dust. I know of an outdoor range that has been in use for decades that had tons of bullets in the impact berm. The area is tested frequently, including the water runoff, and there is no problem with lead. A few years ago, the range had a contractor come in and remove the lead from the impact berm. The range made a bunch of money from that lead as did the contractor.

The OP is very likely to make some money,, or at least find a quick way to get rid of the lead, buy contacting local ranges and shooting clubs. Reloader who make their own bullets would LOVE to buy chunks of that keel. Sure beats collecting and melting wheel weights.

Later,
Dan

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by dannc

Exactly. I don't know of any bans other than water fowl. Indoor ranges use ventilation to handle fumes and lead dust. I know of an outdoor range that has been in use for decades that had tons of bullets in the impact berm. The area is tested frequently, including the water runoff, and there is no problem with lead. A few years ago, the range had a contractor come in and remove the lead from the impact berm. The range made a bunch of money from that lead as did the contractor.

The OP is very likely to make some money,, or at least find a quick way to get rid of the lead, buy contacting local ranges and shooting clubs. Reloader who make their own bullets would LOVE to buy chunks of that keel. Sure beats collecting and melting wheel weights.

Later,
Dan

On the same page. Slickest range I used to shoot at actually had a 'waterfall' system to trap the bullets and minimize dust, along with a massive air handling/filtration system.

My club has looked at getting the trap range 'salvaged' for lead, but the contractor says prices are too low right now to be cost effective.

That keel lead (and I'm still betting it's from a Hunter 27) is way better than wheel weights. IIRC wheel weights have a other metals (in particular Zn) added to harden the metal. If that keel is the same as the one I took off the Hunter, it's soft lead.

[Kerryf]

Chain saw works really well for cutting lead. See YouTube tally ho project.

[Rothblum]

Originally Posted by hjohnson

The vapour pressure of Lead is actually very high, so unless you’re heating it way, way beyond the point where it melts, no significant lead fumes will be produced. The biggest danger to human health is having large amounts of molten metal around.

I have an acquaintance who passed out while casting the keel for his boat. Maybe not relevant, but also had a colleague who passed out while working in a water tunnel. The tunnel had been contaminated with mercury from blown-out mercury manometers used in testing propellers. My dad suffered from premature dementia, and he worked with molten lead for many years at the Government Printing Office. I wouldn't play around with "heavy" metal fumes.

[bstreep]

FYI: Buddy of mine needed 350 pounds of lead. Found a guy online that advertised "call us about our low cost shipping options". He bought 18 20 pound ingots. 3 20 pound ingots fits into a "if it fits it ships" USPS box! Yup. Shipped 6 60 pound boxes for about $15 each! Needless to say, his mailman was NOT happy.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by garyfdl

I'm a hunter and shooter. What states are these? The only ban on lead shot that I know of is for water fowl, and that's been around since '91.

Well at least in Wisconsin we had to remove all the lead shot from years of trap and from the range due to dnr rules concerning lead that birds were eating and dieing from that also kill other wild life when they themselves were eaten