Ummm, axe/hatchet? Machete (if close to U.S Southern border). BF hammer & chisel? Skillsaw? Sawsall? last resort would be a hacksaw. Lots-a-ways, some just easier'n others.

i've have a huge linotype lead pig thats about 18 inches long and about an inch and a half thick......it came from my local print shop..... how would a guy go about making useable pieces out of such a thing??

JJB, my favorite way of cutting up large chunks of lead is with a band saw. To keep the lead from sticking to the blade of any power saw, let the blade rub on a stick of parafin, keeps the lead from clogging up the blade. Parafin is available at most grocery stores as canning wax.

Good shooting, Nevada duke.

Lino is brittle. Score your pig on both sides with a splitting maul, suspend it on logs at both ends and smack it with the blunt end of the maul.

The band saw works but you get little pieces of lead flying around occasionally and as noted, one must be very careful or you clog up the teeth of the saw. And if, like me, you don't even own a band saw (took a bar of lino over to a friend's that did own one - he asked me not to do that again), then method number two is best.



I bought about 25 of those long pigs of lino and have found the score and whack method works easily and quickly. Hit it with an axe or hatchet on both sides to score it - the soft lead doesn't hurt the blade, then suspend it between two anythings that will support it or just lean it against a concrete foundation or something, and whack it with a large hammer. Quite fun actually, and good therapy if you're angry about something.

I laid my pigs of Linotype down on several of my ingot molds and melted them apart with a propane torch. Caught the run off in the ingot molds.
Jim

Take it to an auto shop or a welding shop and they can cut it up with a torch easily for you. Propane Torches will take you forever, bandsaws will work, but I still recommend using a cutting torch.

regards,
graycg

Not so. The lead is melting away, and never reaching a point beyond that. The cutting torch just gives a better heat source to raise the temperature of a large object like a lead pig.

I've always had good luck just breaking off chunks of lino over a piece of old railroad rail. you just pick it up and swing it like a hammer and let a little protrude over the opposite side of the rail and it will break off. Now you won't get real small chunks this way but it will work. Other wise if you want small chunks of lino score it with an axe and then smack it on the rail. Wes

Have the guy hold his breath while he cuts it....or he should wear are respirator if you have concerns over lead vapors. Took the guy here about 15 seconds for each cut...I don't really think the lead got hot enough for forming too many vapors, just used the heat to cut through the block.

regards,
graycg

To be honest, the descriptions and possible hazards of the heat based methods all seem to just reinforce the superiority of the score/bang/whack methods.

Heat - extra materials, expenditure of fossil fuel, might need to take it to a specialized place (welding/machine shop) where the proprietor may or may not charge you, possible airborne hazards, maybe takes a while, maybe not.

Score/whack - no expenditure of fuels, very fast, no airborne particulate hazards, involves a wee bit of exercise and expenditure of calories which is never a bad thing.

Kinda reminds me of that thread on barrel cooling. You can build fans with tubing attachments, haul bottles of CO2 or other specialized gases/chemicals around, or just throw a wet towel on the barrel.

Of course, some folks' enjoyment lies as much or more in the procedure than in the result, and that's cool, not my place to dicatate what people should like or not, as long as it keeps one happy and out of trouble.

But give me the low tech solution every time.

Jim,
You have many good points, but the lead pigs that I was getting for a while were 8 inches square and about 40 inches long, IF you could swing that baby hard enough to bust it up, your a better man than me! Going back to the initial question though, For a stick 18 inches long and and inch and a half wide, I'd try to break it too, or just put the damn thing in the pot by the end and let it melt down on it's own.

regards,
graycg

Okay - I see the difference. My pigs were all right at 25 pounds, triangular in cross section with a rounded apex, about 3-4 inches wide across the base and sides and about two feet long.

You obviously have the feral domestic pigs which tend to run much larger in body mass than the true wild pigs I purchased.

No problem melting that in a turkey fryer. You'll have to hold it up so the pot dosn't tip. Let it slide in as it melts at the bottom.

ric all i have to use to melt it with is a lee 10# production pot....i don't have a large melting pot so i've gotta get it down that workable size.........

You need a big pot to use outside. Can't clean up wheelweights and such with your Lee pot, it'll mess it up. Might as well go for it now, you'll need to eventually.