Purchased this Large 400 Lb. Block of Lead

L

LEC Guy

Active Member
dale2242 said:
I am questioning the weight of your block of lead.
A cubic foot of lead weighs 708 pounds. That would 12"X12"x12".
If your block is 18"X18" x18" it would weigh well over 1000 pounds.
BTW, Great haul.
I would go with melting it with a weed burner or some other heat source.
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OK. I'll go measure it. It was 400 Lbs on the scale at the metal recycler. I was at the office when I posted yesterday. Not with the block in front of me.

Bruce
 
P

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Assuming 0.41 pounds per cubic inch and 2366 cubis inches, using the above measurements, That should be close to 970 pounds.
If it is pure lead, and those dimensions are correct with square corners.
 
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Dusty Bannister

Well-Known Member
Check for alternative heat sources like wood fire. That much mass is going to take a huge amount of heat to begin a melt with the heat transfer through the remaining block. A daunting task with a big reward at the end.
 
Tom

Tom

Well-Known Member
Dusty Bannister said:
Check for alternative heat sources like wood fire. That much mass is going to take a huge amount of heat to begin a melt with the heat transfer through the remaining block. A daunting task with a big reward at the end.
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That was my thought. That's a lot of thermal mass.
I've never tried anything that big, but if I were presented with something like that, I'd probably start with an air chisel or a saw. If you used a wood fire and rigged up some sort of catchment for it, I'd think the outflow would be unmanageable once it started to melt. If one went that route, a leaf blower or wet dry vacuum will help increase the temperature a bunch.
 
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L

LEC Guy

Active Member
Petrol & Powder said:
Assuming 0.41 pounds per cubic inch and 2366 cubis inches, using the above measurements, That should be close to 970 pounds.
If it is pure lead, and those dimensions are correct with square corners.
Click to expand...
There is a steel sub structure in it to anchor the "I" hook and the lead is filled in around it. So volumetrically it is not all lead and the steel structure is mostly square tubing. I'll keep track for what melts out of it. I figure I'll get 370 lbs. If its more thats great too.

Bruce
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
yeah,, i had a scrapper weigh out a lino pig at 20 lbs.
i know they weigh 25.

he wanted to sell me the whole pallet and i wanted WW's, he couldn't understand the concept of not shooting pure lino bullets.
i finally relented for '400' lbs at 65 cents a lb. instead of the entire pallet of pigs at 50 cents.
which meant i got 100 lbs. for free.
 
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nanuk

Member
I had a chance to buy a semi load of pure lead ingots from a producing mine. I would’ve been able to get 16,000 to 20,000 pounds at $.20 a pound easy. Unfortunately, at the time, I did not have enough cash. I should’ve taken out a second mortgage!
 
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