Project 21 Put In Lead Ballast
(8000 lbs)

The time has come to put in the lead. Partially because we need to get that done before the plate can be put over top (of course! ) but also because we are tired of it being in the way!
Most of what we have is scrap, two large pieces 800 and 1000 lbs from a crane counterweight, flat pieces from around chimneys, pipe and cable covering, wheel weights, and other odd chunks.
The rest, about 2400 lbs is ingots about 100 lbs each. Totaling to about 5600 lbs, the required pre-placed amount before balance distribution once in the water.
Gena discovered that indeed a chainsaw is the best way to cut through large chunks of lead, after trying a circular saw, the grinder, even the plasma cutter! ( Messy splatter don't try it!! )
What she didn't count on was the crane weights were ribbed almost solid with 3" x 3/8" flatbar, hidden about 3" into the lead. Worse yet the bolt holes had a 2" flange of even thicker steel, yuk! Needless to say things moved very slowly. Our happy new little electric chainsaw, which had cut down 2 or 3 trees already, seemed to handle the lead with almost the same ease. That is until it hit the steel and it's blade became more dull each time, making it work harder, and harder. Sometime later, while cutting an ingot at the other end of the boat, smoke billowed out of it's motor and it died.
Luckily, Gena's dad had given us his chainsaw which was exactly the same type. This may last but we are considering getting a gas model anyway!

 
Lead in the keel with shavings over top and in cracks
( approx 900lbs in here! )

  The steel ribbing was cut out with the grinder and finally the big pieces were becoming smaller. One piece we carried up was 270 lbs, our limit on the end of a rope. We then suspended it between us on a pole over the keel, and pulled the pole quickly though to allow it to fall in. Pretty dangerous, I don't think we'll do that again!

Gena's 3-d jigsaw puzzle in lead looks tight and follows the shape of the keel.
Unfortunately, it proved to be quite a job to get it into the keel the same way. The large pieces were especially stubborn and needed to be prodded back and forth with a large pry-bar many times.
Eventually all the pieces were in place but it took about 5 hours, a good set of work clothes ( tar ) and a few strained muscles to complete!

Finally, we have decided, the melting pot will be used for the next frame area, as this is too time consuming.

We plan on making some more managable sized ingots, that will be easy to fit, and cut if necessary.

 

________A Better Way...______

Now we're cookin' !
The kind folks at Ryan's Scrapmetals in Nisku Ab. were good enough to lend us their propane tank, tiger torch and even a melting pot for a few weeks, which saved us having to rent or buy one. Thanks guys!
For the first time we have seen what molten lead looks like, a bit like a pot of solder, or mercury, once all the impurities are out. That brings up another cool point. Pieces of steel float on top of lead. Floating steel! Something you never really think about until you see it for yourself!
 

It's a good thing too, because it makes things real easy for getting out the junk with a straining ladle. Lead just filters right through it.
One word of warning as we found out, make sure the lead is bone dry before dropping into already molten lead! If not it basically explodes like dropping water into hydrochloric acid! Gena had a fancy motif of silvery lead all over her coat after that episode. Good thing she was wearing face protection as it went everywhere. I just got some on my pants.

Other impurities, as long as they didn't contain water, or large air pockets, were ok ( except some smelled pretty bad )


Ingots 20" x 5" x 2.5" neatly stacked up
We made a couple thousand pounds of ingots from old lead from around chimneys, wheel weights ( lotsa metal comes out ), lead pipe, whatever. For the form, we just placed two 2 1/2" angle irons like a cradle 21" long, blocked the ends with 2 more, and poured. Eventually we found doing two at a time was better as they would take a few minutes to harden. Lead really holds it's heat! I used it to keep my coffee warm as the temp outside was about -5º C. ( warmed my butt too hehe! )

All in all, it took us about 5 hours, and we wish we had have done this before with those large ( and heavy ) chunks.
Putting them into the keel sections was easy as each one was only around 50 lbs and they were the right length too!
I'd like to have shown a photo of them in the keel but they were covered by filings before I could get a pic.
6 months later, in the spring, the kind folks at the local scrap yard finally asked for their propane tank and tiger torch back  so back to making last minute ingots! These are for the trim ballast, about another 2000 lbs.

About 1200 lbs of this ended up getting hauled to the scrap yard at the coast as we had way too much. Funny how when you buy lead it's up over $1.00 a pound, but when you sell it, its only worth 40 cents, 45 if you talk nicely. Must be the metric conversion, or maybe "the changing markets" as one scrap dealer explained. ( Maybe we were both wearing our "I'm with stupid" T-shirts that day...? )

As a final word on lead, if at all possible, melt and pour directly into the keel. Our bottom keel paint job was ruined long before the boat was finished anyway, so it wasn't worth the grief. The trim, of course, should be left in manageable sized, 50-75 lb, ingots.
 


To an electronics tech, this is like the floor after the "Solder-A-Thon"!


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