Casting Lead?

[Little Rascal]

I'm thinking of making up a lead line as a back up to the echosounder.

I was thinking of pouring some lead into a piece of pipe or a wooden mould... How should I melt the lead? I have a powerful camping burner and an old saucepan will that be enough do you think?

Cheers!

 

[markju]

That would probably work but bear in mind that the fumes given off are toxic.

 

[Little Rascal]

I was going to do it outside...

 

[boaterbaz]

The cooker might be man enough to melt the lead but be careful of an old saucepan as a crucible. Think of the consequences if the handle comes off. Why not purchase a 2kg mackeral fishing weight or scrounge an old window sash weight.

 

[VicS]

It should be.
I must have melted the lead I used ( partly recovered from old batteries) on the camping stove as at the time I would have had no other suitable source of heat but
I dont remember what I used to hold the lead while i melted it but an old aluminium saucepan will be adequate.

Wood will just about be suitable as a mould although it will char somewhat I expect.
I actually used the cardboard tube from the centre of a toilet roll !


Beware of moisture in anything you use as a mould.

 

[maby]

Should melt easily with that. Don't get paranoid about the toxicity - you're only doing it once - but take sensible precautions - do it it a well ventilated space. Also wear some good thick gloves and tape the wrists - a friend of ours who worked in a foundary made the mistake of not taping the wrists, got a splash of molten metal into the glove and was off work for months!

 

[Little Rascal]

Why not purchase a 2kg mackeral fishing weight ....

One reason is that they aren't far off the price of a proper leadline lead. And I have some scrap bits lying about anyway...

 

[Rigger Mortice]

When I made mine I melted the lead on the cooker using and old iron pan. I made the mould using a bucket full of slightly damp sand pressed around a rolling pin. Pulled the rolling pin out leaving a hole about 2 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep. Poured in the lead and a few minutes later the job was done.

I cast a steel eye into the lead to tie the line to.

Important tip: Do it when SWMBO is out.

 

[Blue5]

I used a yoghurt drink pot as a mould set in damp sand, nice recess in the bottom to act as tell tale for the sea bed material.

Melted the lead with a blow lamp in a tin can with one side crimped to form a spout.

 

[Blueboatman]

I cast a new weight for a Hydrovane in an empty tin straight on the cooker once, the saucepan would be better having a wider base.
make sure the lead scrap is dry ( heat slowly to evaporate any water)

 

[Celtic Lass]

When I cast some fishing weights, the gas cooker wasn't hot enough but a propane torch fired into the top of the pot made the difference!

 

[sarabande]

please make sure the mould is dry (unless it's sand) as molten lead will convert the water to steam and cause blow back. Lead blobs on the kitchen work surface are not going to endear you to SWMBO... Lead blobs in the hair, well......

 

[Giblets]

Why not find a 6" section of old lead pipe, drill holes through one end for the cord and use the other end filled with talow for seabed sampling. No heat, no risk!

 

[cliff]

but an old aluminium saucepan will be adequate.

I am suprised at you Vic - advising using an Aluminium pot to melt lead - the melting points of lead and Aluminium are not that far apart - there is a good chance of melting a hole in the pot - how do I know? - don't ask but there was a big puddle of molten lead on the floor....

 

[VicS]

I am suprised at you Vic - advising using an Aluminium pot to melt lead - the melting points of lead and Aluminium are not that far apart - there is a good chance of melting a hole in the pot - how do I know? - don't ask but there was a big puddle of molten lead on the floor....

327 for lead 659 for aluminium should be far enough apart to be able to do it with just a little care esp as by the time you get to 659 it'll glowing red.

Cast iron pan if you have one but i cannot remember what i used.

I am sure i did it at home not at work. A long while ago though

 

[BobPrell]

I made a mould out of MDF, old plywood would do.

The reason was I wanted a taper. I was worried the casting might not come out of a cylindrical mould.

The mould was two wedges between two flat sheets. I lined it with aluminium foil so the charring would not leave carbon on the lead.

I found out that they did not have to somehow, make the recess in the bottom of the lead. As it cools, it shrinks in the mould, leaving the recess just how it is needed.

 

[Iliade]

i used old tobacco tins to both melt the lead & cast fishing weights as a child. Nobody smokes nowadays though..

 

[lw395]

I made a lead anchoring weight in an old aluminium camping canteen.
I heated it on a primus.
To avoid the bottom of it melting before the heat go through to the lead, I melted the first bit of lead with a blowlamp. Once there is liquid lead all over the bottom of the pan, I don't think there is much risk of the pan melting.

Bear in mind that plastic handles on pans may melt or go weak!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I spent many happy hours at the age of 18 melting lead to make a box for a geological specimen of pitchblende the school had that I had discovered to be more highly radioactive than the licensed sources we had in the physics laboratory!

Lead melts easily over a Bunsen burner flame. I think I used a steel container to melt the lead; as others have said, lead and aluminium can both be melted in a blue flame, and I'd worry about aluminium dissolving in the molten lead. I am not metallurgist enough to know if this is feasible or even likely, but enough metals are mutually soluble for it to be a possibility. A cheap "Tesco Value" stainless pan would be better, or a tin can with a spout if you aren't worried about impurities!

One thing I discovered is that lead oxidises readily when molten, and repeated melting will result in a loss of material.

Wood makes a perfectly adequate mould; it will only char slightly as the lead will cool rapidly on being poured.

If recycling old lead pipes, the presence of a solder join will reduce the melting point of the lead, and you may get tin separating out as the metal cools.

 

[CreakyDecks]

Do it outside, wear leather gloves, long trousers, boots and safety goggles and make sure that whatever you use as a mold is ABSOLUTELY bone dry. If you take those precautions it is a doddle. I recently made some clock weights and used the bottom part of aluminium deodorant cans as molds. Drill a close fitting hole (or two) in the centre of the can's bottom for the wire loop. Bend the wire inside the can so it can't pull out.
I left the can on for a shiny finish, they look really good after trimming off the rough edge on a lathe. You could just peel the can off with pliers after the lead sets and cools down.