Q&A for How to Melt Lead

If you wish to make an artificial egg for decorative purposes, then yes, you could. If you mean using a mold made of lead to make chocolate eggs, that's a resounding no. You should not use anything made from lead to craft anything edible, as lead is highly toxic.

No. If you try to make a large lead weight and don´t pour it all at once, it will separate once you try to take it out of the mold.

Cast iron or aluminum molds are readily available as used by the firearms industries for casting ingots and bullets. You can use old, large cast iron skillets to melt and purify the lead (skimming the surface 'dross' off and putting it in recyclable metal container) and then either pour into ingot mold (Lee Precision, RCBS, and others) or a bullet mold (same suppliers). Just remember, never reuse a cast iron cooking item that has cast lead for food preparation again as it can poison the food.

Many casters use the Coleman stoves and a cast iron skillet to melt lead for casting, so yes, it should.

Put the weights in a cast iron skillet. Then just fish out the metal clips once the lead is melted.

Technically, yes. You can make it boil, but when it has melted completely, stop.

If your candle can reach temperatures of 621 degrees Fahrenheit, then yes. Otherwise, no.

It depends on the type of mold. If it is a bucket of sand, you can just grab it with some pliers, if it is a sandstone or other stone mold, you can usually break it off.

The hard-packed sand used by professional sand castle sculptors contains moisture to bind the sand, and since hot lead can be explosive when contacting water, it would seem dangerous to use it, so it would be best avoided.

Yes, but when cooled, the zinc can either be pulled off or will just drop off.

Any reloading or shooting supply store online has them (such as Midway USA or Brownell).

The higher the lead content, the softer it will be. All other metals will be probably harden your item. Lead is alloyed with antimony in shotgun pellets to make it harder to retain its spherical shape. Also, I would think that the way you cool down the piece would affect it. If you water quench it right away after casting, that probably affects surface hardness.

They are very dangerous. If for some reason you need to be exposed to the fumes, you should ensure that you have a mask covering your face at all times.

No. Lead melts at 327.5 degrees Centigrade. Water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade (at normal atmospheric pressure).

I don't know that it has a detectable odor, but either way, you should stay away from breathing ANY fumes that come off of melting metals; those odors could be from materials stuck to the metal like paint, adhesive, solder, resin, etc.

Once you have melted the lead and you pour it, it will automatically stick in any crevices there are on the object.

If you do not require exact dimensions on the finished product, wooden molds (from a HARD wood) can be used - but will "burn" into bigger sizes with multiple uses. Clamp two flat pieces together tightly and drill down exactly along the seam. Pour, cool, and unclamp to recover the molded items. It works well for making weighted fish hooks (just preset the hook in the mold).

Solder, which is an alloyed leaf, can be used with due caution. Never use an open flame. Remove ALL fuel from the tank and fill almost full with water, leaving a small dry space where the hole is, or put dry ice in the tank to rid it of oxygen. Clean the area with a wire brush and apply flux. Use an appropriately sized soldering iron, heat the area until the solder melts on the metal, not the soldering iron. If it is a large hole, use something like a coin to patch the hole, soldering it in place. Remember, either with water or dry ice (CO2), you must remove all oxygen from the tank, or an explosion could occur, with the potential for serious injuries and/or loss of life.

I “smoke” my bullet molds with a cigarette lighter for a few seconds by holding the lighter on the mold.

Carbon blacking from a butane lighter or candle. Diatomaceous earth (pool filter medium) can also be placed in an old sock and used to powder the mold.

An easy way to melt lead is to use a cast iron pan. Add all of your scrap lead into the pan and use a blowtorch to apply heat directly to the metal until it's completely melted. Then, use a slotted aluminum spoon to skim off the impurities floating on top of the melted lead. You can then use the molten lead to pour into a mold and let it cool to take the shape of your mold.

Lead actually melts at a relatively low temperature, around 621°F (327°C). However, the metal can give off fumes that are toxic as it melts and if you get a lot of lead on your skin, it can be absorbed into your blood stream and potentially poison you. If you do plan to melt lead, wear a face mask and gloves to keep yourself protected.

Lead is relatively easy to melt and has a low melting point, but the fumes and vapors that it puts off can be toxic if you breathe in a high enough concentration. It's best to melt lead in an area with really good circulation such as outdoors or in an open garage. If you melt lead indoors, like in a kitchen, the fumes could build up and make you and anybody in the area ill. It's also especially toxic to small children, so it's best to avoid melting lead indoors to be safe.

To be completely safe of lead fumes, a respirator with P100 cartridges will do it.