[Odnar]

I have two slabs of lead, approx. 18x12x2 inches. Any idea on the best way to cut them into usable chunks? (Preferrably not more than 4" on a side)

I tried a Sawzall but gave up when it took 10 minutes to get about 3" into the first cut (using coarse tooth blade).

Lay it out on a train track? :D

I don't have a band saw.

[Sam1911]

Put it on something really solid, like concrete.

Use a type of wide cold-chisel usually called a "brick chisel". Set the chisel firmly on the line you wish to cut and smack it as hard as you can with the heaviest hammer you can swing. (Probably a 3-lb drilling hammer or small sledge. Not a framing hammer, that's just wasting your time!)

If you can strike in a line across one face you may be able to get it to break along that line if you keep working it for a while.

Maybe. The softer and more malleable it is, the less likely it is to fracture. The harder it is, the less you're going to feel like whacking it.

If at all possible, try to avoid hitting your fingers.

Let us know if it works!

-Sam

[Odnar]

I swung an axe at it a couple times but I didn't want to chip up my garage floor. Plus, I had trouble hitting it directly in the place I wanted to.

I have a good variety of chisels, but the biggest hammer I have is a 24 oz ball peen. (guess I've always been more of a finesse guy)

BTW, it's pretty soft lead, I think it's pretty pure.

Harbor Freight is calling my name!

[angus6]

Skill saw works great

[tank mechanic]

You could use a hole saw bit and have a whole bunch of 2" thick lead "coins".

[rcmodel]

You can't saw lead with a saws-all or band saw.
It gums up in the saw teeth faster then you can clean it out.

Maybe if you used a constant flow of cutting oil on the blade, but I doubt it?
Maybe an abrasive cut-off wheel would melt it in two, but I have never tried it?

I have used my acetylene torch & a rose-bud tip to melt chunks that were too big to get in the lead pot.

Maybe a hammer & chisel will work to get a groove started where you can break it?
But by the time you get a few chunks chisled off, you will be strong enough to tear the rest of it up by hand like the phone book trick!

rc

[Beelzy]

Score deeply with chisel then bend the piece back and forth a few times.

[ReloaderFred]

Here's how I do it, and it's fast and efficient. Lay out a cheap blue tarp and put a couple of 2x4's down. Lay the lead sheet on top of the 2x4's and use a coarse tooth carbide tipped blade in a regular Skill saw. Just saw along the lines for the size chunks you want and you'll be done in a couple of minutes. The blade will got through the lead like hot butter.

This will produce a large pile of lead shavings, which is why you do it on the blue tarp. The shavings will be "fluffy" and you can collect them in the tarp and melt them with the rest of the lead.

This is the only method I've found that will make short work of cutting up lead that is too large for the pot. Don't waste time pounding on it with an axe or hammer and chisel, as all you'll get is a sore back.......

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Odnar]

Really? Just a handheld circular saw? I think I have a carbide tooth blade for mine, I'll try that first.

[ReloaderFred]

Yep, that's all I use anymore. Just hold onto it tight and make sure the blade doesn't bind. As long as you make straight cuts, it will go right through it. Be aware that lead shavings are going to be flying, so wear eye protection.

The reason I use the carbide blade is the carbide tip is wider than the blade, so it's less likely to bind during the cut. You don't want to use a blade with a narrow kerf.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Zeke/PA]

At my place of employment a few years back, two lead scale dampners were being scrapped.
12" x48"x1".
I cut them both into melting pot size chunks using the toolroom bandsaw, a new 4pitch blade with a moderate blade speed.
Had no problems at all exceot for the initial heavy "lift".

[moosehunt]

The skill saw and carbide blade is the way to go. The carbide blade is important for the reason he stated. If you don't have a skill saw, an ax is the next best thing--provided you can consistantly hit the same place with full swings. Don't do it on concrete--put it on a block of wood, like a 24" diameter block. I cut up one with a splitting wedge and a double jack, but it was a lot more work than with an ax.

[stoveboltgunnut]

I used an ax to break apart some lead chunks. worked great.

[MissouriBullet]

I have two slabs of lead, approx. 18x12x2 inches. Any idea on the best way to cut them into usable chunks? (Preferrably not more than 4" on a side)

I tried a Sawzall but gave up when it took 10 minutes to get about 3" into the first cut (using coarse tooth blade).

Lay it out on a train track? :D

I don't have a band saw.
At Missouri Bullet, we cut our 58 lb. antimonial (6%) pigs with a Milwaukee sawzall, no problem at all. We use a demolition blade and anoint the cut with motor oil. The pigs are 4" thick by about 3 3/4" and we get through them in under 30 seconds.

We haven't had to change the blade after hundreds of cuts.

Just FWIW.

Brad

[TimRB]

You can always melt off chunks and blobs with a propane torch.

Tim

[Steve C]

When cutting soft metal or for that matter any soft material you need to use a saw blade with a wide gullet between teeth to allow the material to clear out of the blade. Fred described the right type rotary saw blade to use and MissouriBullet described the correct type blade for a sawzall. A typical metal cutting sawzall blade will have 14 to 24 TPI (teeth per inch) while a demolition blade will usually have 5 to 8 TPI.

[ants]

Band saw and/or reciprocating saw. With big teeth. I've used both successfully.
No reason a circular saw won't work, too.

[Seedtick]

Would a chain saw work?

ST

[KenWP]

We want pictures of you useing a chain saw. I would try the skill saw with carbide blade. I use one to open up safes that people screw the doors up so bad you can't open them any more so lead should be easy.

[ranger335v]

"Would a chain saw work?"

I would not. Chain teeth have an agressive bite angle, likely would dig in and bind terribly. We can drill holes in thick lead with a sharp spade bit fairly well but NOT a common metal bit because it will dig in too badly.

For a two inch slab I would try the Sawzall with a 'pruning' blade, they have very coarse teeth and should be a bit less likely to clog. And I'd still want someone to be dribbling a light oil, kerosene perhaps, into the cut to prevent lead from galling onto the blade.

Thinner slabs would do well with the circular saw or demolition blades tho.

[zxcvbob]

Here's how *not* to do it: ;) Drill a line of close-together holes with a 1/2" drill and then connect the dots with a cold chisel. It's a bad idea because the drill bit will grab, spin the 50 pound block of lead around and hit you in the shin. Don't ask me how I know this...

If it was only 1" thick you could cut it with an axe.

Best thing I found for cutting up a 2" thick slab of lead was a carpenter's hand saw, using long slow strokes so the teeth don't clog up. Much faster than an electric saw (unless you have a bandsaw with a coarse blade)

[moosehunt]

I want to see a video of using a chain saw!

[Gunfighter123]

You can always melt off chunks and blobs with a propane torch.


I cut down THICK lead all the time and this is the most easiest way !!!

[sqlbullet]

large dutch oven + heat source (coleman stove, turkey frier, etc). Melt them down, then cast them into cupcakes.

[tasco 74]

i aquired a big BAR of linotype from a friend a long time ago.... it's about 2ft long and is a 2"flat on one side tapered round on the other..... i have always wondered about how get it into usable chucks...........


LIFE IS SHORT.....

[mongoose33]

The torch approach strikes me as the easiest way.

[ReloaderFred]

I've tried them all, and I still stick with the Skill Saw and carbide blade as the fastest and easiest way to cut up lead that is more than 1/4" thick.

As for the Linotype bar, use the Skill Saw on that. When I smelt lead from wheelweights and recovered bullets, I cast it into a Linotype ingot mold. Your bar should weigh right around 22 pounds.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[rogn]

Would a hydraulic log splitter work on this?

[ReloaderFred]

I don't know. That's one thing I haven't tried. The Skil Saw is so easy I've stopped looking for other methods.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[tggdeer]

Use the torch.It's the easiest way, by far.

[Oyeboten]

Hand-Held Electric Saw...Worm Drive 'Skilsaw' ideally...sharp Carbide Blade...slow, steady hand and feed rate...set Lead item on wood sleepers...have all on a sheet or tarp...collect the 'lead-sawdust' when done...

Easy, clean, fast...no waste...

[rcmodel]

I can tell you right now you can't get a 18x12x2 inch slab of lead hot enough to melt with a propane torch. That's a mighty big heat sink.

I mention earlier I had used an acetylene torch with a honking big tip.
That's the reason.

rc

[Sport45]

I can tell you right now you can't get a 18x12x2 inch slab of lead hot enough to melt with a propane torch. That's a mighty big heat sink.

I didn't comment because I've never tried it, but I was thinking the same thing. That block would have to soak up a lot of heat before it got hot enough to melt a little bit off

[earlthegoat2]

Eat it!!!

[TimRB]

I don't have a huge chunk of lead, but as an experiment I took a piece of lead that I do have, about 2 pounds, and clamped it into contact with a 1.5X6X8 billet of steel that I have laying around. I was easily able to melt that lead with a propane torch in just a minute or so.

Remember, you don't have to heat the whole piece--just a small area that you want to melt off. Lead is not a particularly good thermal conductor. It's approximately like steel. Compare this to aluminum, which is 5 or more times better. That's why it takes so much power to weld aluminum. To get even a small area to the melting point you have to really pump in the heat, because it wicks away so fast.

Tim

[NorCalRanches]

I can tell you right now you can't get a 18x12x2 inch slab of lead hot enough to melt with a propane torch. That's a mighty big heat sink.

I mention earlier I had used an acetylene torch with a honking big tip.
That's the reason.

rc
Ah, you don't have nearly a big enough torch. Trust me, with enough ox/act I can melt it, might burn more gas than the lead is worth, but I could melt it nonetheless, ;).

Ripping blade in a skil saw, sawzall, tablesaw, etc. Just be aware that the chips will be pure lead, but good and harmful as well if you breath them.

[last to know]

what ever method you use to saw your lead ware a resporator not just a dust mask! that heavy lead dust will play heck with your lungs. far more particals in the air than when you melt it to cast.

[ReloaderFred]

NorCalRanches wrote: Just be aware that the chips will be pure lead, but good and harmful as well if you breath them.

Elemental lead can't be absorbed into the body. Only vaporized or oxidized lead can be absorbed. There is absolutely no danger from lead shavings from sawing lead. It would be very difficult to breath down shreds of lead half an inch long and 1/8" wide. In fact, you'd really have to work at it to get them down.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Deus Machina]

For big pieces of anything, I use a drill first.

A bit only a little bigger than you need--usually 1/4" or so. Drill holes in the line you want to cut, all the way through. Then get a saw or chisel at it, and it'll breeze right through.

[qajaq59]

Back when I was a printer we cut all our lead bases with a table saw and a carbide blade, so I'm sure a Skill saw would do it if you went slow. I would assume though that the softer the lead is the harder it will be with a saw.

[rogn]

There's a consideration, Heating the block with a torch especially a rosebud could easily vaporize some lead-temps can go to 2500* and quickly too if youre concentrating on a small area. Respiraator sounds like a real good idea. Lead toxicity is not a pleasant thing.

[ranger335v]

" a big BAR of linotype from a friend a long time ago.... it's about 2ft long and is a 2"flat on one side tapered round on the other..... i have always wondered about how get it into usable chucks...."

THAT I can help with!

Such valuable pigs of linotype can be stuck into a cast iron kettle/pot over a heat source. Hang the pig vertically, supporting it with wire but in cotact with the pot, heat and lower it until the pot is getting full. Withdraw the pig, pour the molten metal into your ingot mold.

Repeat until finished.


"you can't get a 18x12x2 inch slab of lead hot enough to melt with a propane torch."

Ditto. Oxy/Accetalyn (SP?) will do it, but it won't be cheap and the overheated vapors WILL be hazardous!

As said above, solid lead is harmless even if you eat it! Or virtually so anyway; only the oxidized exterior, if any, could be absorbed instead of passed though normally. (It's fear is just another liberal "Chicken Little" thing to annoy us about.)

[FROGO207]

I work part time as a plumber and the lead will really get cut with a skill saw with the coarsest carbide blade you can find. How do I know? Many patches to old sewer pipes in really old houses and cottages caused by "fast" carpenters trying to make their deadline. Good supply of lead for me also.

[evan price]

I cut up some lead counterweights with a reciprocating saw and a WOOD cutting blade. The metal blades are too fine tooth pitch. You need coarse tooth. Lead isn't hard enough to need a fine tooth blade.