So I've been doing some leading on my truck and I'm kinda getting it more or less. I heard someone say something about heating the lead in a pot to before applying it. I've looked around for more info and can't find any. I'm wondering if anyone's done this before. It seem's like if it works it would make parts of it easier.
Don't think that really applies to auto body work. Plumbers used to heat lead in a pot to molten state to pour into joints of cast iron fittings. All the lead work I have observed, going back to the 50's, and have done myself, involved lead "sticks" which are applied to a heated surface with the torch playing on the surface and stick, softening the lead at the tip and pushing it against the tinned surface and applying 'dabs' until the estimated amounted needed has been applied, then spreading and shaping with a wood paddle. Can't imagine how to apply lead heated in a pot...............but maybe there is a way......just never encountered it.
No way it would be too runny if you melt it in a pot. Use the proper sticks and like Hnstray said you stick it on and spread it out when you warm it with the torch. That is why it's an art you have to have the touch and practice to get it not too runny but not too sticky either.
All, Autobody Solder/Lead was originally heated in a pot and wiped on with a Glove ! Autobody Repair men referred to Leading as Lead Wiping ! After that came wood padles and torches for Leading ! Good Luck, Sonny
It was done that way at GM assembly factorys at way up into the 1980's maybe later. I believe that the only place using sticks of lead was/is popular was in the repair/ customizing world.
I thought it might be possible. If it doesn't work I could always let the lead cool and use it as a big chunk out of the pot.
Do yourself a favor and use the lead sticks. It's a lot easier. If you use a pot it'll just run off. The proper technique is to clean and tin the area where you're going to apply the lead. Work small areas at a time. You'll need a torch with a small tip, tinning paste, baking soda, laquer thinner, lard and wooden paddles; oh, and a respirator if you value your lungs. Eastwood sells the tinning paste and a nice little kit with paddles and lard. The lead sticks are WAY cheaper at other places. I haven't ordered in about 7 years, but I think I still have a source for lead (I'll have to check). Clean the area first with laquer thinner, then with a mixture of baking soda disolved in hot water. Rinse and dry the area so it doesn't rust there. Next, brush on the tinning paste and heat it in a small area just until the tinning paste turns brown. While it's still hot, wipe it off with a rag and it'll leave a nice shiney tinned surface. Wash it with baking soda disolved in hot water, then rinse and dry. Now you can start applying lead. Just heat the end of the stick and the area where you're going to apply it 'til they both start to get mushy like melting snow. If it gets to liquid, it's too hot. Now let it cool just a split second, then twist the stick and it will tear off a small wad where it bonded to the surface. Repeat this process until you've built up an area where you can mash it out on to make a fairly smooth surface. Flash the torch over the lard and dip your wooden paddle in it so it doesn't stick to the lead. Now flash the torch across the surface to soften it up again, and flatten it out with the paddle. Mash it out the best you can, so you can avoid a lot of unnecessary filing. That's about it. The hardest part is getting it to the right stage of mushiness without turning it to a liquid where it runs off, but with a little practice, you'll get it.
That's pretty much exactly how it was explained to me when I first started leading. Do it this way and you shouldn't have any problems. Melting it in a pot just should like a whole lotta burns to me.
In the GM factory until sometime in the late 80's they used lead in pots. We had 4 lead men on a wooden raised ramp. They would wipe on the tinning paste after heating the area to be leaded. Then wipe wipe a rag to clean off the residue. He then dipped his wooden paddle in the pot of lead and wiped it on the area to be worked. He heated and wiped as the car moved by on the track. They wasted very little lead. The car went into the grind booth then and the men in there ground it smooth. The guys in the booth wore air supplied helments to have clean lead free air to breath. The ramp the guys worked on had a very large suction fan to take the smoke and fowl air out. I used to run air samples in and on the lead guys. Iwould set and watch for hours as they slapped that lead and it just laid on the body seam and they smoothed it flat.
the sticks are not lead but an alloy of lead and tin. plumbers lead turns from solid to liquid very fast when you meet the melting temperature . body solder stays at a workable consistancy over a wider temperature range.I worked at Ford in the 60's and 70's and they would pre-heat the metal, front and backside, brush on the tinning compound then wipe it with a rag to get the shinny surface. they used the solder sticks and it takes skill to manipulate the torch, stick and paddle to get a smooth application without any bubbles or voids Ford used beeswax to coat the paddles. I made up a set of maple paddles last year for the instructor At UVU. they still teach leadding in their auto body-restoration classes.
Most guys use an alloy of 70% lead, 30% tin or better yet 60% lead, 40% tin. No one that I know pours it out of a pot. Production is a whole different game with different equipment and doesn't really apply here.
Exactly. What the factory developed as a fast way to repeat the same lead fill to a precisely located flange joint over and over on an assembly line, bears little resemblance to whats required out in the real world on other areas of a car body. I think that learning how "real world" bodymen were trained to do it and using the same methods and readily available equipment and supplies MIGHT be a more sensible approach.
When using either 'lard' or beeswax for shaping with the paddle, the finished area should be cleaned with a wax remover/degreaser, like Prep-Sol or it's equivalent. We used to use Metal-Prep after the degreaser, which leaves a phosphate coating on the bare metal. That may not be necessary now with etching primers, but at that time red oxide was the standard primer.
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