DavidR8's shop shenanigans

[historicalarms]

Lead should be easy to come by in your area with all the derelict boats I hear about on the news....some keels will have 1500 lbs of lead for ballast weight. being an avid caster, I would be trying to root them boats out of the mud continually....we can make usable ingots in short order cant we Craig

 

[DavidR8]

Lead should be easy to come by in your area with all the derelict boats I hear about on the news....some keels will have 1500 lbs of lead for ballast weight. being an avid caster, I would be trying to root them boats out of the mud continually....we can make usable ingots in short order cant we Craig

Derelict boats are a touchy subject here. Unfortunately many are power boats so no keels. And too boot (boat?) not all keels are lead, some are cast steel, and worse some are encapsulated in fibreglass making removal a real bear.
Then there is the challenge of getting the boat to a place where the keel can be removed... and what to do with the rest of the boat.

 

[phaxtris]

They are not worth much here as lead is easy to come by because of its use in fishing lures.

? I thought they banned the use of lead fishing weights? Or do they not care off shore

 

[DavidR8]

? I thought they banned the use of lead fishing weights? Or do they not care off shore

No idea to be honest, my only experience is seeing ads for fishing weights for melting and recasting.

 

[PeterT]

I don't fish but I use small amounts for ballast in the RC gliders. From what I can tell, its still available in various form factors. Tungsten is nice because of increased density, you can pack more in confined spaces. but it costs more. Lead shot used to be available everywhere but that seems to be getting harder too. I could mix it in epoxy slurry & it conform it to nose profiles or whatever. Not sure if its facing environmental issues or maybe shooting related issues? I found a source shot/grains for scuba weight packs but my buddy said they are going different way too. I'm not sure if that meant the beads were being coated or different material.

Amazon.ca

www.amazon.ca

 

[DavidR8]

I don't fish but I use small amounts for ballast in the RC gliders. From what I can tell, its still available in various form factors. Tungsten is nice because of increased density, you can pack more in confined spaces. but it costs more. Lead shot used to be available everywhere but that seems to be getting harder too. I could mix it in epoxy slurry & it conform it to nose profiles or whatever. Not sure if its facing environmental issues or maybe shooting related issues? I found a source shot/grains for scuba weight packs but my buddy said they are going different way too. I'm not sure if that meant the beads were being coated or different material.

Amazon.ca

www.amazon.ca

If tungsten is a good material you need to find someone who TIG welds as there comes a point where the tungsten we use is too short to be used typically about 1.5 inches is too short to be held in the torch collet.

 

[PeterT]

That's a good idea. I actually saw tungsten powder on Ebay which would be useful to mix with epoxy, but the minimum quantity was outside my lifetime use. I tried some tungsten putty but it wasnt tacky enough for my purpose. The other system we employ are tungsten coated fishing weights with hole already in the middle so no drilling involved. So insert piano wire & collars on either side to adjust CG. Should the unfortunate occur & model gets impaled into the loam, no lead poisoning to Mother Earth LOL.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Look into using broken endmills/inserts.

 

[DavidR8]

Look into using broken endmills/inserts.

Good idea, solid carbide seems heavier than HSS @PeterT

 

[historicalarms]

Lead is getting hard to find these days, rumored to me that there is only one lead mine still operating in the world.
Wheel weights used to be a continuous supply of salvage lead for us bullet casters but WW manuf started bulking up their alloys with zink and zink in a lead melt will not mold worth a damn. Likewise, tintype used to be a viable supply for casting but digital printing has killed that option.

We on the prairies dont have a continuous supply of sail boats so I have started salvaging all the underground water lines i can get from municipalities when they do a change-over to plastic. It might surprise you folks living in urban areas that you are probably still drinking water from the 10's of thousands of miles of unlined pure lead waterlines installed up till the early 70's....yup... the same lead lines that killed folks in Michigan.

 

[DavidR8]

Lead is getting hard to find these days, rumored to me that there is only one lead mine still operating in the world.
Wheel weights used to be a continuous supply of salvage lead for us bullet casters but WW manuf started bulking up their alloys with zink and zink in a lead melt will not mold worth a damn. Likewise, tintype used to be a viable supply for casting but digital printing has killed that option.

We on the prairies dont have a continuous supply of sail boats so I have started salvaging all the underground water lines i can get from municipalities when they do a change-over to plastic. It might surprise you folks living in urban areas that you are probably still drinking water from the 10's of thousands of miles of unlined pure lead waterlines installed up till the early 70's....yup... the same lead lines that killed folks in Michigan.

I'll ship my lead ingots... you pay shipping
(only half joking...Canpar shipping on my 100# pan brake was only $150)

 

[DavidR8]

Added a 1 micron canister filter to my dust collector.

 

[LenVW]

Added a 1 micron canister filter to my dust collector.
View attachment 24227

The filter will ensure you are not breathing-in those micro particles.
(Lead, Arsenic, Hot Chilli powder . . . LOL)

 

[DavidR8]

The filter will ensure you are not breathing-in those micro particles.
(Lead, Arsenic, Hot Chilli powder . . . LOL)

Indeed, I wish I had some way of measuring any performance increase. My collector is only 3/4 hp so every bit helps but mainly I was looking for better filtration over the cotton twill bag

 

[DavidR8]

Well I managed to score a Delta Platinum 14" bandsaw at BC Auction. First win ever there. Absolutely mint, with factory mobile base.
Pick it up on Friday.
I'll sell my Busy Bee wood metal saw and build up a table for my portable bandsaw.

 

[LenVW]

. . . with the transferable warranty ?

 

[DavidR8]

. . . with the transferable warranty ?

Sadly no warranty.

 

[YotaBota]

The pictures look good, did you get to see it before hand?
Now this is something I can help move if you need a hand.

 

[DavidR8]

The pictures look good, did you get to see it before hand?
Now this is something I can help move if you need a hand.

No unfortunately, onsite previews were stopped because of Covid.Thanks for the offer Mike, I should be able to manage.

 

[DavidR8]

It’s not metal but at least it’s surrounded by metal!
Made the case for the drawers under my new mill stand.
Will have four 24” deep by 23” wide drawers with full overlay drawer fronts.