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walleye warrior

Pig Lead?

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Agree with Painter.  Picked up 50 pounds and very little work fluxing. A good soft lead as apposed to what I picked up from FLEABAY the last order.

 

I swear I fluxed at least one tin can from each ingot.  One time I actually skimmed a bean so it must have been a portk and beans can melted within it.

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Yes, pig lead does come in bigger chunks, which will not fit in a lead pouring pot, unless you have someone cut it up for you. I have tried many times to cut lead into smaller pieces, and no matter what you use, it is very time consuming and "To Me" not worth all the work. Now I looked into a commercial place that sells lead in different shapes to see if they would melt a big chunk for me, but the cost was too prohibitive. Smaller pieces from Roto-Metals, fit right into my pot. No the cheapest, but no additional work.

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Might try using a torch and melting the large chunk into muffin pan. I purchased several 12 lb down rigger balls(price I couldn't pass up). What I did, in the garage I hung a wire from the rafter so the lead ball was about 8-10inches above the floor. Then I put my mini muffin pan under it, fired up the torch and starting at the bottom of the ball or chunk of lead start melting away at the lead, moving pan as each cavity fills. Does not take long at all....of coarse use all the safety equipment. I had an attachment point because they where down rigger balls(by the way they had not been used so I didn't have to worry of trapped water in ball). I am thinking pig lead comes in a brick, so what I would do is drill an adequate hole thru one of the corners and run wire thru hole to hang. Make sure to secure well enough that there is no chance of lead ball or brick can NOT fall and land in molten lead. The torch I use is just one of those that mount to the small propane bottle. Hope this helps. Worked great for me.

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Come to think of it I had some before I melted it into ingots. It's good stuff. Soft and pours nice. It was in one big huge chunk/brick thing. Propane and a big steel pot is all it takes for the big ingots. I melt, and de slag at the same time. I don't think it had much slag though.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "pig" refer to the shape, or mold, that the ingots are cast in and not the lead itself?

 

Ben

Pig lead refers to unrefined lead cast in big chunks or pigs. In mining it is referred to as a pig (chunk), that is the way I always have understood it. I don't know however how big a pig is in lbs and I'm not talking about the farm animal either. LOL

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Sawzall will cut lead with the right blade.  Just put a tarp down to catch the shavings.

 

 

I use mine to cut larger pieces of scrap lead all the time.

What blade are you using? I tried with a bimetal blade, didn't last long lol. I have some chunks that may have come from an xray room. flat  hunks around 5/4" thick.

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