Thanks for your replies. Most larger sailboat keels are cast or poured into the fiberglass hull. If it is a production boat, usually a mold has been made for the keel shape. After the lead hardens, the keel is lifted and placed into the molded sailboat, thus it is totally encapsulated in fiberglass, sealing it from water. There are exceptions to this practice, some low end builders just attached the lead to the keel and painted it.
The boat we are scrapping has the keel totally encapsulated in fiberglass since it was built in 1977. WE are removing the fiberglass, cleaning the lead with powered wire brushes and will:
1- load the entire piece, about 6' X 3" X 8" thick, on a truck and haul it to the re-cycling center.
Or
2- haul the entire lead keel home and cut it up into pieces small enough to fit our pot and make bullets. We estimate over 3,000 pounds in this chunk. So will probably share with our friends. We like fresh fish fillets and beer.
We have sent sample in to a lab for testing, takes two weeks.
I will keep you posted. Please reply with any ideas.
Tom