A bit OT but as you are all engineers What is the melting point of lead? If
I melt it are the fumes poisonous?
What is the best vessel to melt lead in?
- posted
17 years ago
Melting Lead
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- posted
17 years ago
327.5 ?C (600.65 ?K, 621.5 ?F)
Titanic?
Titanic?
- posted
17 years ago
interesting but do any one know anything about melting ally and using it
with moulds??
- posted
17 years ago
The fumes shouldn't be poisonous, unless it's painted, lead is only
harmful when ingested, and even then mainly only to children
Lead will melt on the kitchen stove in a pan, but you are probably better off waiting until your other half has gone out :.))
Easiest way:- a large ceramic plant pot in a (larger) bucket of soil or sand. Put an empty baked bean tin in the centre of the flower pot, fill around with charcoal. Light, wait twenty minutes.
If you can feed an air pipe into the bottom and blow air in from a hairdryer, it should melt inside of five minutes - 20 minutes will melt aluminimininimimum.
Lead will melt on the kitchen stove in a pan, but you are probably better off waiting until your other half has gone out :.))
Easiest way:- a large ceramic plant pot in a (larger) bucket of soil or sand. Put an empty baked bean tin in the centre of the flower pot, fill around with charcoal. Light, wait twenty minutes.
If you can feed an air pipe into the bottom and blow air in from a hairdryer, it should melt inside of five minutes - 20 minutes will melt aluminimininimimum.
- posted
17 years ago
Google is your friend:
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Google is your friend:
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Something not made of lead? An old iron saucepan?
Slightly OTT, but again, Google is your friend:
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- posted
17 years ago
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Try a google for "Lost foam casting" "Backyard Foundry" etc- posted
17 years ago
thanks m8 greatly appreciated :)
- posted
17 years ago
No probs - I've just spent a month researching the very same thing.
I've just finished my first furnace[1] - will be doing my first melt tomorrow if it's not raining.
[1] Photos later. It's a ceramic chimney post surrounded by concrete in a 25l metal bucket. Tuyere is a 9 inch length of 2" scaffolding pole. I've made the lid out of another (10L) metal bucket filled with concrete. Crucible is a stainless steel 4" pipe with 1/8 steel plate welded to bottom. Oh, and the charcoal is home made - fill (another) 10l metal bucket with blocks from a stripped down pallet, punch 4 holes in lid with a nail, throw in garden incinerator, leave until cool (overnight)
I've just finished my first furnace[1] - will be doing my first melt tomorrow if it's not raining.
[1] Photos later. It's a ceramic chimney post surrounded by concrete in a 25l metal bucket. Tuyere is a 9 inch length of 2" scaffolding pole. I've made the lid out of another (10L) metal bucket filled with concrete. Crucible is a stainless steel 4" pipe with 1/8 steel plate welded to bottom. Oh, and the charcoal is home made - fill (another) 10l metal bucket with blocks from a stripped down pallet, punch 4 holes in lid with a nail, throw in garden incinerator, leave until cool (overnight)
- posted
17 years ago
Colin,
Maybe not the last word in vessels, but I reclaimed all the lead cable sheath from rewiring an old house years ago by chopping the lead into bits and melting it in a Heinz Beans tin on a Primus stove. You can easily shape the tin can into a good pouring shape, and I used simple wooden moulds to make ingots which I still use today as weights.
Jim.
Maybe not the last word in vessels, but I reclaimed all the lead cable sheath from rewiring an old house years ago by chopping the lead into bits and melting it in a Heinz Beans tin on a Primus stove. You can easily shape the tin can into a good pouring shape, and I used simple wooden moulds to make ingots which I still use today as weights.
Jim.
- posted
17 years ago
Sorry, but that's not true. Lead vaporises very easily and the fumes are
toxic. The vapour is absorbed into the blood via the lungs and has a
cumulative toxic effect because it can not be expelled by the body. As a
chemist I would never have melted lead without the protection of a fume
cupboard in a laboratory. Colin won't have that available so it is best done
outdoors and remaining upwind.
Cliff.
Cliff.
- posted
17 years ago
On it they heated the lead in a Wok over a wood fire until melted, but over
the lead as it heated was an upturned metal funnel joined to a length of
plastic pipe, which was coiled though cold water to let the lead fumes
condense on the inside of the pipe. The pipe and water had to be above the
level of the fire to allow the hot fumes to rise.
HTH
Anthony
- posted
17 years ago
This is false.
Highly dangerous - the lead will stay in the room (if not the whole house)
for a very long time.
If you want to shorten your life it is anpleasant way of doing it, the worst thing about lead poisoning is the unseen damage it can do.
If you want to shorten your life it is anpleasant way of doing it, the worst thing about lead poisoning is the unseen damage it can do.
- posted
17 years ago
Sounds interesting.
Does anyone have any links for UK suppliers of furnace materials, eg castable ceramics, blankets, ITC-100 and so on?
Any sources for electric heating elements? I want to make a small electric 2800 F/ 1550 C furnace, maybe 6" dia by 9" high inside.
It's also got to be argon filled, any suggestions?
I've been googling for such, but any UK sources seems to be lost in the flood from the US.
Thanks
Does anyone have any links for UK suppliers of furnace materials, eg castable ceramics, blankets, ITC-100 and so on?
Any sources for electric heating elements? I want to make a small electric 2800 F/ 1550 C furnace, maybe 6" dia by 9" high inside.
It's also got to be argon filled, any suggestions?
I've been googling for such, but any UK sources seems to be lost in the flood from the US.
Thanks
- posted
17 years ago
ITC-100 can be obtained from Scarva Pottery,
For castable refractory materials and other foundry products, I use John Winter in Halifax
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With VAT+carriage it works out nearly £40 a pint, although a small
amount does go a long way...For castable refractory materials and other foundry products, I use John Winter in Halifax
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There are many more suppliers, but I use JW because they do a really low
carriage charge (it was a tenner+VAT carriage for 3x25kg bags of 1650
castable recently).
- posted
17 years ago
If you use google.co.uk
there is a radio button that allows you to search "UK only",
alternatively add "UK" to the search.
- posted
17 years ago
Ouch ..
Is it as good as they say? And do you know the maximum working temperature? That's information that's _really_ hard to find.
Sounds good.
Does anyone know of a supplier with an online catalogue though? Any other suggestions for suppliers?
Any sources for heating elements?
Thanks very much.
Is it as good as they say? And do you know the maximum working temperature? That's information that's _really_ hard to find.
Sounds good.
Does anyone know of a supplier with an online catalogue though? Any other suggestions for suppliers?
Any sources for heating elements?
Thanks very much.
- posted
17 years ago
Yes, I clicked that button. I tried adding "uk".
I also tried adding "VAT" or "price" or "online catalogue" other such search terms, and looking for particular items, even those of a similar type, whose names would be unusual and wouldn't include so much dross, f'r instance "molybdenum disilicide" - but in this case my google-fu was weak, and I only got a few not-very-good hits. Any suggestions?
Regards all,
I also tried adding "VAT" or "price" or "online catalogue" other such search terms, and looking for particular items, even those of a similar type, whose names would be unusual and wouldn't include so much dross, f'r instance "molybdenum disilicide" - but in this case my google-fu was weak, and I only got a few not-very-good hits. Any suggestions?
Regards all,
- posted
17 years ago
Thank you to everyone for these tips. I can rely on the panel to answer any
questions I may have.
Cheers
CJ