melting down scrap bathtub lining/lead questions

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1KPerDay

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I just was given an old bathtub lining from the 40s or whatever... looks like lead, feels like lead, I've been informed it's lead... anyone know if this is usually pure lead?

if I melt it down to cast ingots, do I flux it for that or only flux when getting ready to cast?

Thanks for your patience with a casting noob. :)
 
It is pure lead, melts at about 660 degree, there are times when i acquire a lead liner someone is generous enough to throw in some wax from beneath the toilet, good stuff, fluxing? There is no such thing as fluxing too many times.

F. Guffey
 
+1

Sounds like pure lead sheet.
They used to use it under tile shower floors, etc.

Flux away.

You can't flux too much or too often.
But you can flux not enough, or often enough.

rc
 
Yes, flux it as you go. Ideally, your smelter will allow you to do it in one batch.. add some tin and wheel weights (depending on what you're loading for) all at one time - then, the batch will be homogenous and pour into ingots.
 
These would be for cap/ball revolvers so, pure lead would work, right?

What's a good flux? Sawdust? Matches? cat hair? That I have in spades. :D
 
What's a good flux? Sawdust? Matches? cat hair? That I have in spades.
Click to expand...

Sawdust is good. Crisco or lard is also good. Sawdust will help remove impurities like traces of zinc, iron, calcium, and aluminum, as well as reducing the oxides. Cooking grease only reduces oxides, but also wets whatever is left so it's easier to skim off.

Some people use candle wax or old motor oil. I've tried them and they work, but they catch fire too easily.

I haven't tried pet hair. That's not a bad idea... :D
 
I am a part time plumber and use the bowl waxes I remove from the old toilet bowls. It is pure bees wax and it works well. Just go to the hardware store and buy a bowl wax for a buck or two and you will be good.:D Yes pure lead for round balls for a BP pistol.
 
...you mean this was a shower lining (e.g. a lead shower pan) not a bath tub liner that is made of lead.

I had to replace one of these from 1941 recently, and it was NOT cheap. ...yeh, mine was 100% lead as far as I could tell.
 
I'll show my lack of historical plumbing knowledge. What in the world is a bathtub liner and why would it be made of lead?
 
at the time it was used as leak proofing underneath to prevent water seepage.easily moldable and ends could be sealed with a hot iron.now its done with polymer membranes.lead is still used sometimes in roof creases and valleys,and to cover over standpipes on roofs.
 
What in the world is a bathtub liner and why would it be made of lead?
Click to expand...
Old time shower pan = Lead pan liner + cement filler around the drain fitting + tile & grout = Tile, grout & cement cracks and leaks water into the pan. Then the lead pan leaks in 25 years and rots the floor out under the shower.

New Improved shower pan = Plastic sheet pan + plaster + tile & grout = Tile, grout, and plaster cracks and leaks water into the plastic pan. Then the plastic pan leaks in 5 years, and rots the floor out under the shower!

BTDT * 2 = Lots & lots of wasted money.

The third time around was a molded fiberglas shower pan = Hopefully they don't leak again ever in my lifetime.
And I don't see how they could

rc
 
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