Questions about melting and casting lead.

5030 · Nov 8, 2003

Ah yes, the Polychloride Bi-Phenols. It had excellent di-electric properties. Just like freon has excellent heat transfer properties........

MossRoad · Nov 8, 2003

When we threw away our grandma's old cans of DDT and chlordane(sp?) she was very angry. My dad told her it could kill her.... she was about 95 years old at the time and gave him a look that was just priceless /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif She lived to 98. More of the exception, than the rule, but it was still priceless. There's all kinds of stuff that seemed like a good idea at the time they were invented. As someone else said, we'll find out later if they were worth it or not.

Junkman · Nov 8, 2003

This post is know to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.. Read at your own risk......

( Junkman:

Me thinks you have lead poisoning, just like Bird and most other "old" posters on this thread, the spelling is atrocious!! Must be too many dead brain cells from carbon tetrachloride fumes as well as asbestos and lead.
............. .............. .................. ................. ...............

I wonder how many "latter day" Romans are suffering from lead poisoning?? I bet there are quite a few homes that have lead sweated joints in their copper plumbing. )

OK....... I misspelled one word..... "wright", but actually the word wasn't misspelled, but the word wasn't the correct word for the meaning of the sentence, just the wrong word.. The correctly spelled word would have been "write".

As for homes having "lead sweated joints"..... I don't believe that there is a home in the country that would have "lead sweated joints" in it because you can't sweat joints with lead only. It has to be a mixture of lead (Pb), tin(Sn), copper(Cu), and antimony(Sb), which is commonly known as SOLDER...... In days gone by, it was a mixture known as 50/50, 40/60, 60/40 that was used to sweat copper pipes for potable (drinking) water. The federal standard for lead in drinking water is 11 ppb (parts per billion). You forgot to mention copper...... it also has detrimental effects on humans and might be one of the causes of the malady that you charge us old folk of.......

To be mentioned in the same post as Bird, I consider a honour (English spelling for you Americans). There is one thing that comes with age (in reference to your "old" comment) and that is what is commonly known as "experience" a commodity that you "youngsters" have yet to experience.

I believe that I can tell from your writing that you are a lover of Sword Fish, because I believe that you are suffering from "Hg" in your delusional state........ or in your words...... "I am really trying to like people, I am just having trouble wading through the stupid ones /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Please read to the bottom..............

This is all meant to be a humours (English version again)post and not intended to be offensive to any person, place or thing. All names and places have been changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty also).

jinman · Nov 8, 2003

Junkman, I was waiting for someone to bring solder into this thread. I believe pure lead can be used as solder, but its melting point is around 620ºF and tin-lead Sn60 solder melts about 360ºF. Sb5, a common antimony-lead solder used in high performance aerospace applications melts around 450ºF. One of the reasons for mixing metals other than lower melting points is lead "pesting" that occurs over wide temperature swings such as space vehicles are exposed to. Pesting is when the lead starts to crystalize and crumble. By adding only 5% antimony (Sb5) this pesting is eliminated.

But back to the discussion of lead....
Lead is all around us in every piece of electronics and most electrical appliances. Factories us huge wave soldering machines with molten solder kept at close to 512ºF. The electronic assemblers are constantly exposed to lead just from handling the wire solder used to make touch-up repairs and/or component installation. If takes an extra effort on everyone's part to keep their hands and clothes clean and free from lead. It's not as bad as living next door to a lead smelting plant, but all exposure needs to be minimized. Like Bird, I also played with mercury as a kid. Just about the time I discovered how dangerous it was I also heard that my mouth was full of fillings made with mercury in the mix. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif It's always something... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Edit to my post...
Well, I could chalk it up to brain damage from too much lead and mercury, but the fact is that I made a big blunder in my post above. No one may be interested, but for the purpose of setting the record straight, Sb5 solder is 95% tin and 5% antimony and contains no lead. It's tin that has the trouble with pesting (crumbling) because of wide temperature swings. It's been 15 years since I taught soldering on the F-16 and my old age gets the best of me sometimes. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Bird · Nov 8, 2003

( It's always something... )

Yep, we just can't win, Jim. And like Junkman said, us oldtimers have lots of experience . . . now if I could just remember what they were.

5030 · Nov 8, 2003

Junkman:

I was wondering when someone was going to catch the signature line. It's been on there about 2 months now.

That's not my line, I give the credit for that one to Ted Danson. You remember Ted from "Cheers". He married Woppie Goldberg for a while.

As far as soldering, lead and copper, etc., we use PVC around here. One nice thing about PVC is that you use that good solvent cement for joining. A few whiffs of that stuff is better than a 6 pack. Does give you a headache though.

We have sulfur dioxide in our well water. The sulfur will react with copper pipes making them very brittle and they will eventually start to leak. We treat or water by injecting H2O2 in an aqueous solution. The Hydrogen peroxide precipitates the SO2 from a gas into a solid which can be filtered out of the water.

The only thing I suffer from is old age and possibly lack of finances. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

By the way, how about some pictures of the pups. They must be getting a full set of needle teeth by now.

Junkman · Nov 8, 2003

I was wondering when someone was going to catch the signature line. It's been on there about 2 months now.

 I saw that immediately and stole it for another forum that I am on and retired the one that I presently am using here. I might have change to this one: "G_d must have loved stupid people very much, because he made so many of them", but thought better of it because someone might get offended. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

By the way, how about some pictures of the pups. They must be getting a full set of needle teeth by now. 

 I have been updating the photos in the Photo Forum on a weekly basis and you are correct, they are getting teeth. Mama doesn't want to feed them any longer, so I have started to give them solid food that has been made into a mash. This is my first litter with a little dog and it is quite differant from the Weimeraners that I used to raise. I have more pictures of the pups than I do of the new tractor and they keep taking seat time from me.... LOL..... 

Pictures of the Mini Dachshund Puppies....... 1 to 4 week old.....

bgott · Nov 8, 2003

I moved to Nevada when I was 18 and I helped gold miners for a while. An old Japanese guy showed me how to make a retort out of a half of a potato and a frying pan. To get the gold out of the black sand you run mercury through the sand. You then put the mercury on the pan and put the half of a potato on the mercury and heat it. The mercury vaporizes into the potato and then you can scrap your gold off the pan and break up the tater and get your mercury back. He made a point of telling me to always stay upwind from this operation and never do it in a closed cabin. I asked him why and he pointed at his bald head and toothless mouth. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

5030 · Nov 9, 2003

Junkman:

Now you did it. Amy looked at the pictures and she wants one. Does that mean I have to drive to Connecticut this winter or can you Federal Express one to me??