Idea to melt lead on a stove build

[bourbon]

left hand side of the picture is a charcoal fire. There is a ladle on there with pewter in it. The heat is enough to keep it molten for 6 hours at a time, while we cast pilgrim and livery badges.

 

[Parm]

Some ok advice so far. But lead is a cumulative bio burden. By the time you know something is wrong it’s too late.

first signs are numbness and drop of the extremities. Bit more and it affects your brian

”mad as a hatter’ comes from pressing animal pelts with molten lead for hat making.

probably a few folk that have already been affected. It has a very long half life ........l

easy to experience a big dose, even with simple well run home experiments

lead isn’t something I would play at home with

 

[Migmac]

Some ok advice so far. But lead is a cumulative bio burden. By the time you know something is wrong it’s too late.

first signs are numbness and drop of the extremities. Bit more and it affects your brian

”mad as a hatter’ comes from pressing animal pelts with molten lead for hat making.

probably a few folk that have already been affected. It has a very long half life ........l

easy to experience a big dose, even with simple well run home experiments

lead isn’t something I would play at home with

I thought it was mercury or at least the fumes given off it that made the hatters go mad. Not a chemist nor was I very attentive at school, so could be wrong.

 

[Screwdriver]

I thought it was mercury or at least the fumes given off it that made the hatters go mad. Not a chemist nor was I very attentive at school, so could be wrong.

Yeah, the "mad as a hatter" thing is from mercury poisoning but lead also builds up in the system in a similar way to mercury. While there may be some cognitive bias on display here, I guess it is an easy mistake to make. Bit worrying if it's part of your job to be a little less frivolous with the verité.

 

[Porkypine]

Last time I melted any lead was on the then girlfriends mum's kitchen stove, in one of her saucepans, it worked fine tho I did sense a bit of disapproval as I recall..

 

[bourbon]

There is an amount of lead in some pewters, I don't use them. visually there is no difference. as I understand, the lead is there to aid the flow of the melt. We use very simple moulds, so that's not a issue for us.

 

[Parm]

I thought it was mercury or at least the fumes given off it that made the hatters go mad. Not a chemist nor was I very attentive at school, so could be wrong.

Apologies. I’ve got my metals mixed up last night. It is mercury that’s used for hat making.

my bad

 

[Screwdriver]

Last time I melted any lead was on the then girlfriends mum's kitchen stove, in one of her saucepans, it worked fine tho I did sense a bit of disapproval as I recall..

LOL. Good job that's an ex. You don't want to be eating anything out of that pan after it's been exposed to lead!

There is an element of scaremongering I suppose because the amount will be tiny, you won't poison yourself with lead infused baked beans. The issue is more that it is one of those substances that builds up in your system over time.

I think arsenic is a similar substance and like a surprisingly large percentage of the table of elements, also a metal**


**or metalloid for the pedants.

 

[gaz1]

Apologies. I’ve got my metals mixed up last night. It is mercury that’s used for hat making.

my bad

your close enough to give a dire warning with lead parm

lead is bad enough but painted lead and lead with laquer is bad enough with wheel weights there the ones you have to watch out for bad fumes

lead piping is renowned for being painted in houses if they still have it installed
lead wheel weights do have laquer on them
lead flashing has other additives due to the atmosphere more so old used lead

id advise myself to do any lead melting outside not inside once in the body it never comes out and yes you can die from lead poisoning

Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, and tingling in the hands and feet.

What is an example of lead poisoning?

inhalation of lead particles generated by burning materials containing lead, for example during smelting, recycling, stripping leaded paint and using leaded aviation fuel; and. ingestion of lead-contaminated dust, water (from leaded pipes) and food (from lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers).

 

[Parm]

your close enough to give a dire warning with lead parm

lead is bad enough but painted lead and lead with laquer is bad enough with wheel weights there the ones you have to watch out for bad fumes

lead piping is renowned for being painted in houses if they still have it installed
lead wheel weights do have laquer on them
lead flashing has other additives due to the atmosphere more so old used lead

id advise myself to do any lead melting outside not inside once in the body it never comes out and yes you can die from lead poisoning

Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, and tingling in the hands and feet.

What is an example of lead poisoning?

inhalation of lead particles generated by burning materials containing lead, for example during smelting, recycling, stripping leaded paint and using leaded aviation fuel; and. ingestion of lead-contaminated dust, water (from leaded pipes) and food (from lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers).

The strangest place I’ve found lead is in the varnish used on parquet flooring in old buildings.

 

[gaz1]

The strangest place I’ve found lead is in the varnish used on parquet flooring in old buildings.

our old houses

has it in everything

paint
vanish
stone posts, gate posts

you still find lead gas piping still in use today
lead water pipes

you can get fumes off of lead to copper piping when using a blowlamp more so in old toilets

 

[Morrisman]

You can melt lead in a saucepan on the oven. I melt mine on a little camping stove.

If you stick a pan in a fire, you can end up boiling lead and that is crazy dangerous.

I once melted aluminium in a beans tin on an open fire, at a bike rally. Then I scraped a cross shaped mould in the ground and cast a rather rough crucifix.
It was a Saturday afternoon, after the nearby pub closed at 3, in days of yore.

 

[W.olly]

well as it so dangerous to melt lead in a workshop ill leave this project, mite just build the stove alone.

thanks folks for the info

 

[Parm]

our old houses

has it in everything

paint
vanish
stone posts, gate posts

you still find lead gas piping still in use today
lead water pipes

you can get fumes off of lead to copper piping when using a blowlamp more so in old toilets

It’s a big issue in restoration of old buildings and painted surfaces

im aware of a father and son team that have been badly affected

 

[Parm]

This originated from the hatters that used mercury as an adornment for certain fashion hats for the ladies.

Of course, Mercury and lead are both ‘heavy metals’ of high atomic mass. My examples of water and liquid lead is far more appropriate to Mercury which is, of course, a liquid at room temperature (which luckily boils at over 350 degrees Celsius). Mercury posoning is almost irreversible, whereas lead in the system can be treated with drugs, at least to remove it from the bloodstream.

I’m not aware of any treatment for lead poisoning

 

[Parm]

well as it so dangerous to melt lead in a workshop ill leave this project, mite just build the stove alone.

thanks folks for the info

It can be done quite safely, lots of folk do it.

All you need is an extractor fan with recieving hood over your furnace. Fan doesn’t need to be huge as you should be using the hood to entrain the thermally boyant air away from your breathing zone. Then a P3 orinasal respirator for the pour / casting.

if it’s a one off thing then do it outside but still use the respirator

 

[ronan]

This originated from the hatters that used mercury as an adornment for certain fashion hats for the ladies.

Of course, Mercury and lead are both ‘heavy metals’ of high atomic mass. My examples of water and liquid lead is far more appropriate to Mercury which is, of course, a liquid at room temperature (which luckily boils at over 350 degrees Celsius). Mercury posoning is almost irreversible, whereas lead in the system can be treated with drugs, at least to remove it from the bloodstream.

I thought it was that mercury was used as a treatment for syphilis, that the mercury then was present in the persons urine and human urine was used in making felt for hats ?

 

[Parm]

From the net (mayo clinic info)

Treating higher levels​

For more-severe cases, your doctor might recommend:

• Chelation therapy. In this treatment, a medication given by mouth binds with the lead so that it's excreted in urine. Chelation therapy might be recommended for children with a blood level of 45 mcg/dL or greater and adults with high blood levels of lead or symptoms of lead poisoning.
• EDTA chelation therapy. Doctors treat adults with lead levels greater than 45 mcg/dL of blood and children who can't tolerate the drug used in conventional chelation therapy most commonly with a chemical called calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). EDTA is given by injection.

I used to work in the precious metal recovery industry. Blood lead levels of some operatives were requiring removal from that part of the job and a couple were really high, so needed extra treatment. I was only at risk from Platinosis - I kept well away from the silver recovery side of the operation.

I didn’t know that

in my role I’m about prevention rather than cure. I dont know much about medical treatment

EDIT

did no one investigate why exposures were occurring or why controls were failing?
I can’t remember now but above certain levels of blood lead workers are suspended from work where exposure occurs

 

[Barking Mat]

Interesting information in this thread.

I at a pre teen age was given a lead crucible to melt lead to make metal figures. We had the moulds the lot, soldiers I vaguely remember for war games.

We did it alot...

 

[8ob]

I wouldn’t ignore the hazards of working with any molten metals, for a few quid you can get a s/h bullfinch stove,iron crucible with handles and a ladle.Respirator, leather gloves ,apron and boots are a no brainier.

This was only about £50