I had no idea that this was ever manufactured ! I was trained back in the mid 60's to use lead too. I have health issues related to using lead , but hey, we didn't know what we know now do we ? Remember the early Imron with the Isocyanates ? scrubba
I thought somebody said that he was going to use "lead-less" material for metal spraying bodywork... Fwiw, it's common to wire hot spray galvanize if not mistaken. Now something to really think about is castable hot gunning refractory lining repairing industrial furenaces HOT!! Been there, done that and I perfected how to hot gun refractory plastics! back when I was with AP Green Refractories years ago!! The only think like this in the refractories industry that I haven't done and that is plasma spray glass tank linings hot with some sort of Zircon/Silica mix or whatever. Now I figure this is a real trip!!! pdq67
Back in the 70's, I was helping a friend of mine chop a 46 Ford tudor,..... (not fun), Anyway, when it was welded back together and ground down,.... Chuck comes up with this "hot lead gun",..... COOOOL! So there we were, spraying (more like splattering) hot lead onto the "C" pillar of the 46,... we sprayed a fair amount, but it looked like it was doing nothing !,.... checked the gun, checked the heat,... checked the air,..... here we go again,.... more hot lead !,.... What the heck ?,.... it never looks like we added any material to the top,.... maybe just a little feathering of the seams ! Well,... we finally decide this just ain't working !,..... so we decide to call it a night,.... As we step back from the car, it looks like that pillar has a goiter growing on it ! ,...... As it turns out,... we weren't thinking (yeah, I know,...please reserve your comments,.....),... but as you put even layers of hot lead on the surface,.... it's just like putting layers of paint on a imperfect surface,.... Every layer of lead mimicked the imperfect surface,...... and it was about a half to three quarters of a inch thick,..... the next night, out came the vixen files,... and a BUNCH of shaving down,...... on the up side,... it formed down really nice, and did a good job. We paddled the lead on the other side,... And I never used one of those things again,....... But, It is kind'a cool.
Those things belong in a museum somewhere on a shelf or in a display cabinet. Should NOT be used under any circumstances.
Naaaa.lead spray will never hurt you! I used to mix paint using an electric mixer that was auctioned from a closed Hospital's Nuclear Medicine Lab. It had something about "Medical Isotopes only" written on it. Nothing wrong with me! Right Fitzee? . . . . . . Fitzee!?!?
Used to use a lead spray gun about 55 years ago. (I'm still here) By todays standards (efficency wise ) they are worthless. The one I used to use was electric to heat the lead and air to spray. The most dangerous part of the process was tinning the bare metal to prep it for spraying. The tinning paste contained MERCURY in the form of little balls throughout the paste.
If we use it ( couple times in a year ) we use eastwood leadfree. True, the tinning butter is also a toxic when heat but like many automotive all have a bad side. thinking about paint strippers, cleaners , waxes, oils , reducers , thinners ...list goes on and on. Guess not to many people know the real bad of these products..Look for the scull sign on the label. we seem to forget that this means VERY bad stuff for everything that lives. True , becarefull how and what you use, you only live once , try to make it long "safety goes first " but the ride must go on ! here the info from eastwood, works OK EW Lead Free Solder Item #11460 Only $39.99 Eastwood Lead-Free Body Solder - Safer to use, and stronger than lead based body solders. Ideal for leveling, building up edges and style lines on horizontal and vertical surfaces. The wide (over 500 degrees F) working range makes this one of the easiest solders to apply. This special blend of tin, copper and zinc produces high strength, with easy formability. Sold in one pound packs of four 20" long 1/4" diameter bars in a protective plastic sleeve. Can be applied with an oxy/acetylene or propane torch. Use over steel tinned with Eastwood Flux for Lead Free Body Solder (11461).
Hey I got a lead spray gun just like yours. You got any idea what their worth ? I'd sell mine, got to much stuff lying around.
Brents is the most common one I have found(post war), Sioux made one too in the 30's and post WW2. They were kinda pricey 40-60$, I have a Brents in the original box, but no instructions, so I haven't fired up one yet. Metco made the powder metal flame spray type "metalizing" guns. Sounds like a youtube video in the works.... maybe 10/15 lbs of air pressure shooting it 8-10" please post how well it works. tt
I,m get turned 60. And havd used a lead spray gun. I have two different makes one works off a gas welding tank and compressed air. The seconf works off electric. I used ti first one. How it works as you take the metal down to raw metal. Then there was a flux that you wiped on the metal which turned the metal surface into a copper tone. You then used mercury whipping over the area using pliers ,sheetwool as to not contact the mercury. This would then tin the metal. The lead spray gun was hooked up to a gas welding torch and small flame was lite in front of the gun under a small pot where you placed lead stick into to melt. You also connected the lead gun to an air compressor and when you pulled the trigger you would then spray the melted lead onto the body and build it up like you were sparaying on paint until you reached the desired thickness. Yoy would then allow the lead to cool and finish it with body files and sanding.
what a great teacher.. thats kind of like letting your 3 year old stick a finger in a light socket, and warning em afterwards....
id wear a respirator for sure lead vapors nasty , friend worked for united kennworth doing body work on road tractors , used to tell me about sprayable bondo , lol a body mans friend
I have a lead gun I got from a old timer bodyman that taught me to lead in the 80's ,it came with a bottle of cold tinning powder that you dusted on a damp rag and wiped on a clean metal surface and it looked freshly tinned. Then you would spray the area with lead. He said they used it on large areas like roofs, but it made the lead brittle if you had to bump up a low spot and to file it took forever.
Our shop teacher in college showed us one similar to yours. His was from the 1930's but it did not work (good thing).... he also mentioned about it spraying large globs of lead..........don't forget the bee's wax.
Ran across this in a circa 1941 Body repair Textbook. Below the Caption; The gun here illustrated incorporates a number of improvements in this kind of equipment. The flow of current is automatically regulated in this metal sprayer to maintain the gun at the most efficent temperature. The heating element is large enough to enable continuous operation, yet the thermostat automatically prevents overheating; and fluctuation in line voltage does not affect its operation.
Seemed like the right place to drop the pictures. I find old books interesting, sometimes even inside the cover. In this book the owner wrote his name... Raymond W Snyder 1950 Then followed up with a little prose... Here I am 48yrs later. Sitting in front of my big T.V. Retired Just waiting to Kick the Bucket. 1992 I wonder if he actually became a body man?
Bought this lead gun at a swap meet last week and after a search found this thread. I think I'll need more info before I attempt using it, but I think it might be useful for a few parts I have that are "lacey". The non-lead seems the way to go, I would like to avoid the mercury if I can. I'm not sure where to get mercury anyway. Several months ago a friend gave me some leading tools, so now I have a reason too buy the rest of the stuff to try working with lead. Norm
I learned the body trade from an old Italian gentleman in Rhode Island back in the 1960s and he had the lead spraying stuff as well as heated paint pots for spraying enamel paint. There were four old guys in the shop that had been in the trade all their life and they all died from cancer from the years of breathing lead dust. Their skill with working metal left me in a continual state of awe.
thats what I was thinking, if we are gonna open up an old dusty thread, lets here what he traded to you.
Some of the lunatics running around now may have been the 'CHILDREN' that were affected by this wand of the devil... There are gentle people that would condemn this thread, especially as its re-birth is in the middle of EARTH WEEK!
I have the molds to make lead army men and other things like sinkers and shot for my muzzleloader. I had many hours of fun casting lead stuff when I was a Kid.and I taught my sons how to do it also. Cant wait until the grandsons are old enough! whats a few brain cells compared to hot lead and creating something?
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