Making lead weights

[Dustdew]

I've got a question maybe someone can help me with. I am getting ready to melt some lead for weights and I have two 35 lb blocks of lead in a 4x6' rectangle. I need to cut the blocks in small slices to fit in the melting pot. What would be the best method of cutting the blocks down? I was thinking a saw zaw but thought I'd get some other opinions.

[jim.b]

ask scott peterson? he made a bunch of them actually a sawzall sounds good to me.

[minner magic]

Torch em into the melting pot no residue lost

[racn35]

it may work ... but the faster the blade the more friction and the cut will melt right back together if it cuts at all.... dont buy any lead either ... i have 100s of pounds that i will never use

[bigjim5589]

I've done a lot of lead pouring. You did mean 4X6 inches, not feet, correct?

The sawzall might work, but chances are the teeth of the blade will clog with lead, since you'll need to use a metal cutting blade & the teeth are usually small, so you'll need to wire brush the teeth. That will produce a lot of lead particles, which is not an ideal situation health wise.

A torch would be the best bet, either an acetylene or a Mapp gas torch. Propane will work too if you have a large one. The little hand held propane torch will take forever to get the lead hot enough to melt.

Another possibility would be an old pot, on an electric or gas stove. I use a double burner electric stove and an old pot for melting bulk lead down sometimes. I have an ingot mold, but a small muffin tin will work too for making ingots. The "mini" muffin tins work great!

Just don't use a pot or any other utensil that is used for food prep. Ingesting lead or lead dust is not a good idea, and no matter how well you clean it, you can't be sure all the lead has been removed. Once you use it for lead, only use it for lead.

Once you get the lead to sizes to fit the melter, make sure you pour somewhere with lots of ventilation too. Breathing the fumes from hot lead is not good for you either.

[Dustdew]

Thanks for the responses fellas.
BigJim I like your idea and yes I did mean 4x6 inches.
Racin not sure what you mean when you say you wont use lead. Whats the alternative?

[bigjim5589]

One other thing I just thought about I forgot to mention. When I melt down bulk lead, I've found it's best to put some small pieces in the pot first & let that melt. Once the bottom of the pot has some molten lead in it, I add the larger pieces. The molten lead causes the large pieces to heat up & start to melt faster than just placing them in the pot.

[racn35]

i mean that i have 50,000 sinkers and 100s of pounds of bulk lead with several molds and 2 melting pots .... i wont ever make sinkers again and have more than any man alive you be allowed to have ...

[crappie]

Some good info here thanks. Hay Jamie so when can i come get all that lead you dont need ? I think i can put it to use for ya.

[freeflow_23]

I'd be interested in pouring some small bank type sinkers if someone has a mold. I could contribute a little lead, my burner, propane and melting pot.
I'd like to get my stock back up of 2,3,4,5,6 oz.

Wish I would have held on to a couple big blocks of lead that I had laying around for years. Figured I had enough sinkers to last a lifetime kind of like Jamie.
Pooring parties are a great way to stock up. I have a bunch of different types of sinkers. Some I know I'll never use.