lead

[uhohhotdog151]

so i have a 55 gallon drum plus a few 5 gallon buckets full of lead from a shooting range. it mixed with copper, brass, and wood debris. id like to melt it down into blocks and sell it to the reloaders. i was wondering if any of the great minds on the board had any experience with this stuff, or had any ideas on how to sort the lead from the rest. i was considering just melting it and hoping the wood burns off. if i were to do that im not sure what id do about the copper/brass/aluminum as the melting temp for them is 3-4 times the temp of lead. any ideas? if not ill just have to do it the old fashion way. Oh and if someone can come up with a good solution for this id be more than happy to hook them up with a few bricks of lead.:awesomework:

 

[Zoediak]

when you melt down the metals, they will seperate...

Once the lead is liquid just keep skimming the top crust which is usually the impurities moving to the surface.

This is what I have done over the years... Basically just get the lead to liquify, and remove any of the 'unwanted objects', then pour the hot lead.

to melt the lead i have used various methods... usually a cast iron pot was what I melted the stuff in and have used propane stoves... heck used my old Coleman stove and my small pour-pot to melt lead for my black powder rifle in the past...

with that much material, you will be busy for a while for sure...

 

[Broken Again]

I have worked lead in the past. The only thing I would like to offer is if you have any small children, please keep any contaminates away from them.
I always changed clothes at work and cleaned up before I got near my kids.
Lead can interfer with a childs brain development.

 

[Tim 57]

get the biggest cast iron skillet you can find at a yard sale or such, and use the propane burner from a turkey deep fat fryer,two pairs of vise grips and start pouring.

 

[BobR]

stach a cinder block "wall" on one side of the barrel (to act as a heat shield) and build a bonfire around the barrel with it on a couple of more blocks{so the heat can get under it.







Bob

 

[bigdog165511]

so i have a 55 gallon drum plus a few 5 gallon buckets full of lead from a shooting range. it mixed with copper, brass, and wood debris. id like to melt it down into blocks and sell it to the reloaders. i was wondering if any of the great minds on the board had any experience with this stuff, or had any ideas on how to sort the lead from the rest. i was considering just melting it and hoping the wood burns off. if i were to do that im not sure what id do about the copper/brass/aluminum as the melting temp for them is 3-4 times the temp of lead. any ideas? if not ill just have to do it the old fashion way. Oh and if someone can come up with a good solution for this id be more than happy to hook them up with a few bricks of lead.:awesomework:

screen it thru diverent mesh sizes

 

[uhohhotdog151]

screen it thru diverent mesh sizes

i guess i forgot to mention that. all the different materials and it random sizes(other than the brass shell casings) the lead ranges from 1/16th in pieces all the way up the 3-4in peices. same with the wood. i think im just going to try burning it all off.