Lots of buddies in the construction trades. Being in the home city of the Mayo Clinic, re-vamping inside the hospitals associated with May in town is non-stop, including all of the lead wrapped x-ray areas. The walls, ceilings, floors, everything is covered in a lead sheet 1/8 inch thick and this has to come out in any re-model and gets replaced. These guys will cut the demolition lead in lengths and roll it up so it fits in their tool satchels and lunch buckets. 6 or 8 rolls a day for 5 days between four or five guys makes a lot of lead. each roll will weigh around six pounds. Its clean and pure. I trade jigs for it. I never turn lead away.
Not all that long ago I got my hands on some lead ballast weights for mobile x-ray machines. Each weight was 90 pounds. I got 12 of them. I have them stacked along the garage walls of my daughter's garage....I've run out of room in our garage. Here at home I keep all of the one-time melted sprues from jig casting in 3 pound coffee cans andd have them between studs all around the garage. Each can will weight around 22 pounds and when I get into casting mode I'll haul a couple cans in to warm the day before.
I have a spin-caster that I don't use much anymore...should sell the rig. I've got maybe 15 or 18 neoprene wheel molds for various jigs that came with it. If a person were in production, this is the way to fly. A large furnace is needed with this animal....50 pounder at least and the lead has to be heated hotter than what hand molds require.
