[modeleng] Re: Alumin(i)um and lead

I do a lot of lead melting for my sport, on a semi commercial basis at one 
point, and one of the things we are always being warned of is that you can 
get a hot spot with any heating system, causing localised melting of an Al 
container. I am using my wife's old (i.e. thrown out) enamelled steel 
saucepans, and the enamel seems to be holding up better than Al would! In 
any event, go for steel, (which can also "sag", btw) or better still, go for 
cast iron. I am currently using a cast iron inner pot from an old fashioned 
glue boiler.

My worst accident with molten lead, however, was when someone gave me a load 
of old water pipe which he had thoughtfully cut up into short lengths for 
me - with a cold chisel thereby trapping a small amount of residual moisture 
inside several sealed containers, i.e. bombs! one cubic inch of water turns 
into one cubic foot of super heated steam, and only a few drops can throw an 
awful lot of molten lead an awful long way, as Tel and I both found out! Do 
NOT wear a nylon or polyester shirt when lead melting, because it will melt 
when you get hit by molten lead, letting the lead solidify on your chest 
..... I was never very hairy to start off with and am even less so now! 
Screwfix sell a leather welder's apron at a very reasonable price - less 
than my replacement shirt cost!

Tony Wells.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Rickard" <the_viffer@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2005 6:10 PM
Subject: [modeleng] Re: Alumin(i)um and lead


> Good point Charles
>
> The melting point of pure lead is 327C and of pure Al 660C. I reckon the 
> Al
> alloy of the pan will melt a good bit lower (and the Pb may be a bit lower
> but it'll need to be a bit above freezing point) but I think I've a couple
> of hundred degrees to spare but you are just right I need to be careful.
> Terry had dancing lessons from some molten metal a while back I think.
>
SNIP


MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST.

To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, 
modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Other related posts: