Purchasing Lead Ingots Or Lead For Molding?

[steveromagnino]

I need to produce some 100kg lead items that look something like a molded chunk of metal to act as a weight.

I have the mold, and i know roughly how to mold lead.

However.... does anyone know where to purchase lead from and what form it arrives in? and How mutt?!

Ideally I am after 1kg or 5kg ingots as I will need to melt down then pour into the mold i have built.....

[Crossy]

Check out this page:-

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?Type=&..._en&CatId=0

EDIT Casting 100kg of lead is not a minor task. I'd certainly not attempt it without the correct crucibles and handling equipment, even a few hundred grams of molten lead will do you SERIOUS damage if it escapes. A slightly damp mould will result in a fountain of scaldingly hot liquid blowing up in your face (I know, I was lucky when casting a 200 gram weight)!

Personally, I'd entrust the actual casting to someone who has the kit (maybe the place that supplies the lead).

Edited October 12, 2007 by Crossy

[steveromagnino]

Check out this page:-

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?Type=&..._en&CatId=0

EDIT Casting 100kg of lead is not a minor task. I'd certainly not attempt it without the correct crucibles and handling equipment, even a few hundred grams of molten lead will do you SERIOUS damage if it escapes. A slightly damp mould will result in a fountain of scaldingly hot liquid blowing up in your face (I know, I was lucky when casting a 200 gram weight)!

Personally, I'd entrust the actual casting to someone who has the kit (maybe the place that supplies the lead).

Thanks for the points Crossy; yeah it isn't the easiest thing; i have the mold complete so one option is to fire the mold up to Saraburi where they can cast it for me; however I've seen some of the work coming from there and it would have required a lot of finishing work to it - lots of pits and flaws, goodness knows why.....the lead is part of a race yacht, so it needs to be finished well; sanded back to about 1500 then polished; any flaws are slow (and bad ;_).

If I at least know the cost of the lead, then I can figure out how much they are charging me for the molding bit; will check out on alibaba, that is a great suggestion.....

[conanbear]

Hi there

High grade Lead Ingot is around THB 150 - 160 / kg at present. Prices have over doubled in last three months. Possibly check who are local stockists of Padaeng Lead Ind. www.padaeng.com they have an office here in BKK.

Re-melt Lead Ingot from scrap and batteries is also available, maybe a little cheaper but will have some impurities such as Antimony. Should not affect casting qualities though. Can be obtained from local smelters on outskirts of BKK.

There are many casting shops that would be able to do this. Some located down Suksawad Road.

Any problem e-mail me: [email protected]

Regards

[steveromagnino]

Hi there

High grade Lead Ingot is around THB 150 - 160 / kg at present.

Impurities are fine; it is for a yacht keel; my dad used to make his by collecting lead correction weights etc every time he was walking around.... over 5 years amazing how much you can accumulate! Sadly, I don't have that much time...

will be in touch if I get into trouble; thanks very much guys!

[chownah]

Seems like around Chiang Rai alot of the small hardware stores have lead for fishing net weights...don't know the price....the weights come in various sizes and I'm thinking that the bigger ones are probably not much more expensive than buying ingot since casting lead is very very simple and almost anyone can do it. You can melt lead over a campfire and cast it in just about anything.....just remember that the fumes are very very bad for you so be sure to stay up wind....maybe use an assortment of fans to be sure you blow the fumes away....hope I don't need to say that this should be an outside process unless you've got professional grade ventillation....don't wear plastic shoes....leather for sure....thick full lenth pants...thick long sleave shirt...thick hat....safety goggles....leather gloves....the works.

Chownah