Posted: 9/26/2008 7:38:03 AM EDT
| I was thinking of recovering the lead from car batteries(or any larger battery) to melt down and make round balls for my blackpowder guns. Would it be worth it? Is there even that much lead in there. I googled a bit, but couldn't nail down any figures as to the content. Thanks. |
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DO NOT DO THIS! YOU WILL KILL YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY!! And we wouldn't like that, now would we? Several years ago I read in a Lyman catalog about the dangers of lead from batteries. It seems that the dross combines with water to produce a highly toxic gas-- toxic enough that it is the same gas that was formerly used to kill rodents, but has since been outlawed. There are some other warnings too; lead-acid batteries are EXTREMELY toxic. They create a real hazmat situation. IMO, not worth the bother. The best place for soft lead for your BP guns is old construction. They used to use LOTS of lead in plumbing, especially around the toilet seal. Ever seen a wax ring for a modern toilet? They used to make this seal with a BIG gob of lead! Like, ten to fifteen pounds! Look where old construction is being torn down, or buddy up with a carpenter who does such work. |
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My personal obsivations... When I was a kid in the early 1970s I used to break up car batteris to get the lead out which I melted down to cast toy soldiers out of which I painted and sold. I did this with dozens of batteries which my dad got for me out of the junkyard a friend owned. I would just turn them over in the dirt driveway to empty them and then with an axe bust the casing up. The lead is in like sheets which I folded up and melted in an old lead pot over a fire in the driveway. I remember once putting a couple whole battiers in the fire with out busting them open but the lead ran out into the dirt and melted casing and made a mess. There is a good bit of lead in a batterie...ever notice how heavy the things are? My Grandfarther was the one that told me about doing this , he told me he used to get lead to cast bullets using old battiers. Not saying this isn't a bad thing to do, and if you do it in your bathroom you might wish you hadnt but never killed me and my Grandfather lived into his late 80s....personaly if done outside I wouldn't worry to much about itbut thats just me...Todd |
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You could bust open a battery like dedhorse is talking about but it would not be worth it. you ar going to get acid every where. the acid will eat your clothes you are going to do a lot of work to save very little money where are you going to bury the casing and let over slag and whatever you do don't let the EPA know you did it. Lead is selling for $0.885 per pound. Just buy some. |