Value of Lead pounding block?

Crosshair · February 16, 2011, 09:49 PM

OK, a rather stupid question. A friend was getting into gunsmithing and asked me if I could cast him a lead pounding block. I cast 4 using 10" steel pie pans and I let him have one. I have 3 left that I was planning on taking to the gunshow to try and sell, but I have no idea what I could sell them for. Anyone have a ballpark figure?

Wolf Lies Down · February 17, 2011, 10:47 PM

Scrap lead is selling for what right now? $0.50 a pound? I do not know for sure. Check the Iron Age values for scrap on the Internet to be sure and then double it for the value of your lead, then decide how much it was worth for you to mess with this effort.

So, if you have 8 pounds of lead in each one, charge $8.00 plus, say $15 or $20 each for your effort and you sell them for $23-$28 each. Then what? You may still have difficulty selling them and if you do, you may decide it was not worth your effort. I'll bet a commercial version of what you made probably sells for double the above, but all these numbers are simply guesses on my part.

My point with the above is that this the kind of stuff you need to think about.

Wag · February 18, 2011, 12:14 AM

Around here, lead wheel weights are going for $0.75 to $0.85 per pound.

--Wag--

zxcvbob · February 18, 2011, 12:36 AM

Clean scrap lead is going for close to $1 per pound.

A cast iron skillet's worth of lead is about 50 pounds. So I'd guess a 10" pie pan would be about 40 lb, depending on how thick you poured it.

You'll never make any money at that rate, no matter what you sell 'em for. Sorry.

Crosshair · February 18, 2011, 09:19 AM

Quote:

You'll never make any money at that rate, no matter what you sell 'em for. Sorry.

Don't need to. Worst case scenario is I melt them down for bullet casting.

Quote:

A cast iron skillet's worth of lead is about 50 pounds. So I'd guess a 10" pie pan would be about 40 lb, depending on how thick you poured it.

Yup, they're about 40 lbs each.

Quote:

Clean scrap lead is going for close to $1 per pound.

Yup. I was working on that assumption.

Thanks for the input everyone.

F. Guffey · February 18, 2011, 10:04 AM

Crosshair, I have a lead mold for making hammer heads, I have another hammer that uses round wood disc, another that uses leather rolls of material, I use and collect hammers, the hammer that is used around mills and lathes is called a palm hammer-no handle and is used to bump and secure work being held. I do not know of a commercial model but all a machinist has to do is see one used to understand how helpful they are. The lead weight adds weight to the swing and does not mar, I discourage lead casting with kitchen type equipment like muffin pans, but, the tin muffin pan is near the perfect size.

Lead and tin: When determining lead hardness to a small degree I drop the ingets, lead hits the floor with a dead sound, no bounce, lead with a hith tin content has a ring sound something like metal.

F. Guffey

February 16, 2011, 09:49 PM	#1
Crosshair Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2004 Location: Grand Forks, ND Posts: 5,319	Value of Lead pounding block? OK, a rather stupid question. A friend was getting into gunsmithing and asked me if I could cast him a lead pounding block. I cast 4 using 10" steel pie pans and I let him have one. I have 3 left that I was planning on taking to the gunshow to try and sell, but I have no idea what I could sell them for. Anyone have a ballpark figure? __________________ I don't carry a gun to go looking for trouble, I carry a gun in case trouble finds me.

February 18, 2011, 12:14 AM	#3
Wag Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2010 Location: Rio Rancho, NM Posts: 569	Around here, lead wheel weights are going for $0.75 to $0.85 per pound. --Wag-- __________________ "Great genius will always encounter fierce opposition from mediocre minds." --Albert Einstein.

February 18, 2011, 12:36 AM	#4
zxcvbob Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2007 Location: S.E. Minnesota Posts: 3,657	Clean scrap lead is going for close to $1 per pound. A cast iron skillet's worth of lead is about 50 pounds. So I'd guess a 10" pie pan would be about 40 lb, depending on how thick you poured it. You'll never make any money at that rate, no matter what you sell 'em for. Sorry. __________________ "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun"

February 17, 2011, 10:47 PM	#2
Wolf Lies Down Member Join Date: October 1, 2007 Location: California Posts: 53	Scrap lead is selling for what right now? $0.50 a pound? I do not know for sure. Check the Iron Age values for scrap on the Internet to be sure and then double it for the value of your lead, then decide how much it was worth for you to mess with this effort. So, if you have 8 pounds of lead in each one, charge $8.00 plus, say $15 or $20 each for your effort and you sell them for $23-$28 each. Then what? You may still have difficulty selling them and if you do, you may decide it was not worth your effort. I'll bet a commercial version of what you made probably sells for double the above, but all these numbers are simply guesses on my part. My point with the above is that this the kind of stuff you need to think about.

February 18, 2011, 10:04 AM	#6
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 1,599	Crosshair, I have a lead mold for making hammer heads, I have another hammer that uses round wood disc, another that uses leather rolls of material, I use and collect hammers, the hammer that is used around mills and lathes is called a palm hammer-no handle and is used to bump and secure work being held. I do not know of a commercial model but all a machinist has to do is see one used to understand how helpful they are. The lead weight adds weight to the swing and does not mar, I discourage lead casting with kitchen type equipment like muffin pans, but, the tin muffin pan is near the perfect size. Lead and tin: When determining lead hardness to a small degree I drop the ingets, lead hits the floor with a dead sound, no bounce, lead with a hith tin content has a ring sound something like metal. F. Guffey