How do you cut lead bars?

rossowmn

Member
A couple of friends and I run an antique print shop at an old-machinery show for one weekend in late summer. We need to cut lead "pigs" (22-pound long bars of lead) into smaller pieces to melt in a head-setting machine (Ludlow) that we"re trying to bring back to life. We"ve tried dry-cutting on a metal-cutting bandsaw, but it"s a slow process and seems to be hard on the blade. Next we"ll try a coarse-tooth blade in a saber saw. Any other suggestions?
 
I don't know how thick the bar is, but I have cut lead with a good sharp thin chisel. What I have cut is usually only about a max. of an inch thick.
 
A coarse wood cutting p blade in a sawzall sometimes works, depends on the type of lead. Some folks report using a chainsaw on soft lead that's near pure, but if you have actual printers alloy it's going to be linotype or monotype which isn't going to cut so easy. Others have used a torch or a shear.
 
As Bret4207 noted, pure [or essentially pure] lead is soft. By your description you"re not working with pure lead. Which means that it may not work as you want once you melt it. If it is a harder alloy then it may adversely affect the melting and the final use.
 
I've used a small electric chainsaw with an old chain before but as Bret mentioned that was in near pure lead. Depending on what you have that may or may not work.
 
I have cut many tons of lead with a good circular saw and a carbide wood cutting blade of 20 teeth or so.


Blades on a reciprocating saw tend to plug up.
 
Axe , chisel or other sharp edge. As soon as heat or friction is used which includes all saws. You are spreading toxic heavy metal crumbs, dust and vapour.
Doesn't take very much in the body either.
 
Use your band saw and coat the blade with nozzle spray or dip for welding. You can use wax as well to lube the blade and keep the lead from sticking. I use it for cutting aluminum all the time.
 
You probably have Linotype alloy. Much harder than pure lead.

It melts at a lower temperature than lead, maybe just put a propane torch to it and make smaller ingots.
 
i own a print shop cut lead all the time with my saw made for that the blades i now use are carbide tiped and are circular especiall made foe metal dont look that much different than a regular czrbide circular saw blade Yes i still have letterpress wish i had a ludlo yes the lead is harder than just lead it has tin and animony good luck with your project
 
(quoted from post at 07:55:54 08/28/13) Axe , chisel or other sharp edge. As soon as heat or friction is used which includes all saws. You are spreading toxic heavy metal crumbs, dust and vapour.
Doesn't take very much in the body either.

Lead alloys have to get up over 1K before vapors form. That's why all the plumbers, bullet casters and other lead workers aren't dead. Any harmful health effects can be neutralized by using good old common sense- wash your hands, work in open air, clean the area up, etc.

Now if you want to chew up some lead or lead alloy chips or snort lead dust...then you' have a problem.
 
(quoted from post at 08:36:23 08/31/13)
(quoted from post at 07:55:54 08/28/13) Axe , chisel or other sharp edge. As soon as heat or friction is used which includes all saws. You are spreading toxic heavy metal crumbs, dust and vapour.
Doesn't take very much in the body either.

Lead alloys have to get up over 1K before vapors form. That's why all the plumbers, bullet casters and other lead workers aren't dead. Any harmful health effects can be neutralized by using good old common sense- wash your hands, work in open air, clean the area up, etc.

Now if you want to chew up some lead or lead alloy chips or snort lead dust...then you' have a problem.

Dry saw blade and easily reach a 1000F material and tip due to friction if dry cutting. Various people and industries take different stances on how toxic lead is.
I used to work in a refinery where they made leaded gasoline. They were very strict and that was 3 decades ago.
 
In California, they banned the sale of small
motorcycles because they thought kids might be
exposed to lead from brake pads or other parts on
the bike. I think its been overturned but what a
crock. Kids aren't chewing on their bikes. They just
want to ride. You do have to use extreme caution
when working with lead though. Its been banned from
a lot of products.
 
(quoted from post at 07:03:25 08/31/13)
(quoted from post at 08:36:23 08/31/13)
(quoted from post at 07:55:54 08/28/13) Axe , chisel or other sharp edge. As soon as heat or friction is used which includes all saws. You are spreading toxic heavy metal crumbs, dust and vapour.
Doesn't take very much in the body either.

Lead alloys have to get up over 1K before vapors form. That's why all the plumbers, bullet casters and other lead workers aren't dead. Any harmful health effects can be neutralized by using good old common sense- wash your hands, work in open air, clean the area up, etc.

Now if you want to chew up some lead or lead alloy chips or snort lead dust...then you' have a problem.

Dry saw blade and easily reach a 1000F material and tip due to friction if dry cutting. Various people and industries take different stances on how toxic lead is.
I used to work in a refinery where they made leaded gasoline. They were very strict and that was 3 decades ago.

Nope, not gonna happen. Not on lead alloys. Otherwise you'd have molten lead all over everything. One of leads uses is a lubricant in steel on steel settings back in the early part of the last century. Lubricants reduce friction and heating. The danger of vapors from melting common lead/tin/antimony alloys has been researched and the results published. It was a big deal some years back and bullet casting was supposed to be as sure a form of suicide as there was. The testing determined you'd pretty much have to get the lead up to near boiling (over 3K degrees) and inhale the vapors determinedly for a significant period of time to give you any real issues. Your safety concerns at the refinery were as much due to the chloroethane as the sodium-lead alloy used. It's all nasty stuff in that setting. For a guy cutting up some lead alloy bars the dangers are no more significant than breathing in the dusts formed cutting metal with an abrasive saw.

I realize for some people there is no such thing as "too safe" and respect that position. But having been exposed to the myriad of wives tales surrounding lead alloys in the bullet casting biz I've discounted much of the myth that surrounds lead. Don't forget that water, sunshine and alcohol in unwise amounts can all lead to death too.
 
Is that one of the Ludlow machines that makes leads, slugs, column rule, etc?

I did something wrong with one once and temporarily lost the hair off my arms and my eyebrows.
 

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