I need a lead hammer to help me persuade some Cast iron parts to move without breaking them, 

I was about to order one from Amazon

but i remembered I have a block of lead setting out in one of my metal piles and I have an antique cast iron lead kettle and a lead ladle, I’ve never melted down anything before but I met folks who melted it for fishing sinkers so I figured it can’t be all that hard?

Has anyone here ever casted a lead hammer? How did you go about doing the mold? 

the commercial ones I’ve looked at online have steel handles so I figured I’d just use a short piece of sucker rod for a handle, 

would it be best to cast the head onto a handle or cast the head first and drill it out and then attach a handle? 

I'd recommend using a length of pipe instead of a sucker rod, for better weight distribution. 

While I haven't tried it myself, I saw a thing a while back with someone making a lead hammer using a soup can as a mold. They cut a hole on either side to hold the handle, stuck a pin through the handle to key the lead onto the pipe and keep the head from flying off the handle, and then buried the can (and the handle) in sand to keep everything solid during the pour. After everything cooled, they cut away the can, and they were good to go.

Thanks John! That’s a pretty good idea! 

I just got done looking at fancy hammer molds and they are Super expensive so I’ll definitely be making my own,

Soup can is an interesting idea and sounds pretty easy enough, I was thinking about making a reusable mold but that would take a lot more effort lol

i had thought about upsetting the sucker rod end a bit to flare and weld a bead around the Sucker rod to hold the hammer head in place but the Pin idea is nice! 

Good  Morning,

For 1 Hammer, I would do as John said above. I always make at least 2 at a time. I use an old Sauce Pan with a metal stub for a handle, I use a piece of 3/4 square tubing for the handle extension (with a pin through it so it won't fall off). I use an old propane camp stove for my heat source. YOU NEED TO DO THIS OUTSIDE AND NOT SO HOT FOR POISONOUS LEAD FUMES!!!!!!!   For my mold, I use a piece of 2" exhaust pipe, cut lengthwise, I weld 2 pins on each side so it can't blow out and hold them together with 2 hose clamps. I use 3/4' pipe for the handle with a couple short pieces of scrap welded across the inside end. I cut a hole in one side at the joint, just big enough for the pipe, 1/2 each side. I use a piece of scrap plate for the bottom support and weld a support to hold the handle square to the head. I have a couple nuts on each side of the mold so I can bolt the mold to the plate.

I  use wheel weights for the lead. The steel clips will float to the top of the Lead, which I remove the swarf with an old small metal scoop. I have a metal 5 gal pail that the swarf goes into.

Caution and Patience is necessary!!

Neil

3/4" pipe, not 3/4 feet

The second job I worked after getting out of the Navy was in a lead shop.  We used to cast those hammers but for the life of me, I cannot remember our mold.  Neil has a great suggestion with the exhaust pipe.  You could use larger or smaller diameters as desired.  We used pipe which was inserted into a steel form (with a hole in the sides for the pipe.)   Two big ends open.  Lead makes about 3/4 to 1 inch ends out of the form.  We left the steel form on.  If you want   to ensure adhesion to the pipe, and thus, the head not flying away, Tin the end of the pipe inserted into the form.

39 minutes ago, swedefiddle said:

OUTSIDE

I planned on melting it down in the lead kettle on one of my forges outdoors,

I really like your idea for a mold! Could you post a picture picture so I can see how you did the handle support? 

I looked in my metal piles and found a small piece of 1/4” plate and a short piece of 2-3/8” schedule 40 pipe, 

29 minutes ago, LeeJustice said:

Tin the end of the pipe

Thanks for the Tip!
How do I go about tinning the handle? 

44 minutes ago, swedefiddle said:

I  use wheel weights for the lead.

More and more wheel weights being made from zinc these days.

44 minutes ago, swedefiddle said:

I remove the swarf with an old small metal scoop

I think you mean "slag" or "dross". "Swarf" is the metal chips and shavings that come off a metal workpiece being machined.

1 minute ago, TWISTEDWILLOW said:

How do I go about tinning the handle? 

Clean the handle really well, heat it up, and melt a thin layer of lead onto it. Coating it with plumber's paste flux will help clean the surface and ensure a good bond between the steel and the lead.

Here's a screenshot of a classic lead hammer mold with integral ladle. The mold is clamped onto a hammer handle, the lead is melted into the ladle, and the liquid metal is drained into the mold where it cools.

And here's a screenshot of someone's Instructable for a mold similar to the one described above:

(Although with a handle that's much too short.)

Use a solder with a high tin content to "Tin" the steel.

1 hour ago, JHCC said:

classic lead hammer mold

Those are the ones I looked at,

they are really nice but they cost hundreds of dollars and I’ll never make enough to justify owning a factory made mold 

the instructables one looks cool though! 

i was gonna weld a plate on the pipe and split it all in half

 then weld a bullet hinge on one side so it folds open and stays where it’s supposed to 

Lee

ill pick up some high tin solder next time I’m in town and give it a shot 

by the time I get done doing all this I’ll have more in making one than I would if I just ordered a hammer lol 

but it’s gonna be a fun project and I can just melt it down after it gets deformed and recast it! 

I made one with a mold like JHCC put in with the screen shots. However I didn't have the capability of making a base like in the illustration so I just tack welded the mold to a piece of scrap steel then sealed all the seams with modeling clay. When the lead was hardened I cut the tack welds and separated the mold, cleaned up the wings and it was good to go. I would show a picture of it except my brother absconded with it years ago. Debi found a reasonably priced dead blow hammer at Harbor Freight and because we may need one she bought it.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.~ Semper Paratus

I tin with solder and paste flux, if you use galvanized pipe it will bond better. Steel cans work fine for molds if you can find one the right size, Lead weighs approx. 0.409lbs./cu/in. Tire weights have a melting temp of about 505f. A soup can makes a HEAVY lead hammer.

You can cast tire weight lead in a toilet paper tube mold set in plaster of Paris. The paper tube will char before the lead solidifies but not much. Pure lead melts around 700(something)f. but you don't see a lot of pure lead. The alloying metal in tire weights is antimony, it makes the lead stronger, more flexible and lower melt.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Also, there is a "hard lead" which has a certain percentage of Antimony which adds strength, and well, hardness, of course.

Did I get that backwards?

If anyone out there is surprised, I'll sell you my interest in any number of bridges or dams.

Frosty The Lucky.

You got it right Frosty. There is a lead called Linotype, it has 4% tin and 12% Antimony which is harder than wheel weights. I know that because I used to work in a print shop and my job was to melt the lead into 50 lb ingots to be used in the Linotype printing machines.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.~ Semper Paratus

58 minutes ago, Frosty said:

You can cast tire weight lead in a toilet paper tube mold set in plaster of Paris. The paper tube will char before the lead solidifies but not much.

I read something in a very old (pre-WWI) Popular Mechanics about casting lead spheres by packing hollow paper balls in sand and using them as molds. 

1 hour ago, TWISTEDWILLOW said:

Those are the ones I looked at,

they are really nice but they cost hundreds of dollars

There was one at the Amish used tool place I visited several months back, but I'd already spent my budget on other goodies. Can't remember how much it was -- maybe forty bucks?

 

2 hours ago, Irondragon Forge ClayWorks said:

my brother absconded with it years ago

Ah man thats a bummer!

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

A soup can makes a HEAVY lead hammer

I imagine so! That’s gotta be what like five or six pounds?

 

2 hours ago, LeeJustice said:

Also, there is a "hard lead

That’s good to know, I have no clue what kind it is that I got, 

1 hour ago, JHCC said:

maybe forty bucks

If you go back anytime soon lemme know id be interested at that price if you don’t get it for yourself! 

So I got a soup can and a green beans can and a calculator. Filled with lead a Campbells soup can would weigh around 7.28lbs. A Delmonte's green bean can would weigh about 17.21lbs. 

Minus what the handle displaces of course.

The difference is really kind of surprising the vegetable can is only 3/8" larger in dia. and 1/4" longer. Then I reminded myself that changes in diameter are geometric changes in area.

Frosty The Lucky.

Jerry

Holy Guacamole! 

that’s a bit more than i thought itd be!

I don’t know the ID of the 2-3/8” schedule 40 pipe I plan on using but the OD is about the side of a sound can 

I was figuring it’d probably weigh around 3 pounds minus the handle but it might be heavier than i thought 

I’ll get a measurement in the AM I’m back at the house now and my tools are at peavine 

I don't have 2 3/8" id for pipe on an online chart but I see 2.46" id and Mr. Calculator says filled with lead it weighs approx 1.94 lb/in.

So, 2.5" of that pipe would be a bit less than 5lbs. of lead.

Frosty The Lucky.

Good Morning TW

This is a simple process to make a soft Hammer. When the hammer Head gets buggered up in a few years, save the mold, put the head back into the melting pot. Re-pour it back to original shape. Magic, it is so simple. This is drawing out too many stories, Make a Hammer!!

Neil

Dropping wheel weights on a concrete floor and listening to the sound it makes should tell you if it's made out of lead. 

A six-ounce tomato paste can (2.15" d x 3.38" h) has a volume of about 12-1/4 cubic inches. At .409 lbs/cubic inch, that's almost exactly five pounds.

Here’s what I got so far 

the inner diameter of the pipe was 2” before cutting 

I took me a bit to grind the hole back out again to fit the 3/4” sucker rod after cutting both sides 

now I’m trying to decide if i should cut the plate first and weld it separate or weld first and then cut the plate

14 hours ago, swedefiddle said:

pot. Re-pour it back to original shape

That’s the plan!

8 hours ago, lary said:

and listening to the sound

That’s interesting I’ll have to try it out i haven’t weighed it but the chunk I’ve got is roughly 20-30 pounds but that’s a guess 

15 minutes ago, TWISTEDWILLOW said:

I’m trying to decide if i should cut the plate first and weld it separate or weld first and then cut the plate

I would just leave the plate as is, you only need to tack weld each half and seal up the base with modeling clay. Looks like the side seams won't need clay. When I made mine the seams were not as clean as yours, as I used a plasma cutter to cut the pipe.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.~ Semper Paratus

Randy 

my seems look better than they are

i used an angle grinder for all the cuts except a chop saw to cut the pipe