Red Lead- Caulking

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Impalatech

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Hi everyone, I have a Herreshoff Neria that needs a wee bit of attention to the hull. The caulking was completed some 6 years ago and I have some seams that are weeping very slightly. Everyone mentions red lead putty and making red lead primer but no where can I find a recipe :confused:that gives the quantities of putty, linseed or red lead. Does a recipe exist? :) Thanks heaps for your help
 
Hey Impala

Classic Marine in Martlesham, Suffolk sell the red lead powder that you need to mix into the linseed putty, http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/ and the ratio is about 10 parts putty to 1 part red lead powder, and add a tiny bit of grease and raw linseed oil so it stay soft for a little longer, it should be a salmon-ish colour after its all been mixed up.

I have had to this too this year and its labourious job when you've finished its very satisfiying.
 
I just noticed that you're in NZ so Martlesham isn't really that easy to get to, and even then i am not sure what the laws are regarding bringing lead-powder on to an areoplane, it being flamable and all.
 
secretofaldeburgh said:
Hey Impala

Classic Marine in Martlesham, Suffolk sell the red lead powder that you need to mix into the linseed putty, http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/ and the ratio is about 10 parts putty to 1 part red lead powder, and add a tiny bit of grease and raw linseed oil so it stay soft for a little longer, it should be a salmon-ish colour after its all been mixed up.

I have had to this too this year and its labourious job when you've finished its very satisfiying.
Click to expand...

Ditto the above. I do find, on the rare occasions when I've done this, that spraying the seam lightly with WD40 is a great way to get the Red Lead mix putty to stick to bare wood and "flow" into awkward gaps, and helps to get the top surface liquid enough for a smooth finish. WD40 also evaporates quite quickly on a warm day leaving the putty with a smooth paintable surface after a few days.
 
According to a book I have on preserving old boats, published by the Norw. Custodian General, the ingredients for red lead are linseed oil, chalk and red lead. It does not mention the quantities, only that the purpose of the lead oxide in the mixture is to prevent drying out of the linseed putty. The general recipe for linseed putty is to mix linseed oil and chalk until you have the right consistency. I suppose you would then add an appropriate amount of read lead to that mixture.

The book mentions well stocked art supply stores as a probable source for red lead oxide.

I also found another recipe on a Swedish web site. Although it is a politically correct recipe for iron oxide putty, I understand it works equally well with lead oxide:

Mix 1 liter oxide powder with 3dl linseed oil. Use a masonry mixer on a drill to blend it thoroughly. Add 1 liter of melted sheep tallow to the mix, and blend until the mix hardens.

And, please, don't forget to wear proper protective gear if you're attempting this!!!
 
We used to use :
9 parts linseed oil putty to 1 part red lead with 'a finger full of grease' ;
We used boiled linseed oil to thin it down , if necessary, and whiting (finely ground chalk) to dry it off.
Sometimes we added 'Terrebin' driers to make it go off more quickly. Also gives a better 'skin' which is why we used boiled oil rather than raw as the raw will not skin so easily.
Always prime the seams and let it dry and sometimes in very wide seams we would reprime and putty up onto the wet paint.

Good luck
 
Thatrs great help thank you. I suspect that I can get red lead in NZ, I am sure I have seen it advertised. Salmon rings familiar bells, I tried getting my windows out and the sealer was salmon coloured and two out of 12 I couldn't shift so decided that if they were that stuck they were probably better off left alone! haha

cheers
Don
 
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