Posted by David Sherman on Friday, August 26, 2005 at 12:54PM :
In Reply to: Alternative to "old style: battery posted by Dave Speed on Friday, August 26, 2005 at 9:36AM :
My old neighbor told me about lead burning, and it's not that hard. He was a welder in a Weyerhaeuser pulp mill from about 1940 to 1970, and saw a lot of lead burning but didn't do it himself. He said they just use a regular oxyacetylene rig with a small tip and a lead rod, and weld just like steel. All the pipes and tanks at the mill that handled acid and sulfite liquor were lined with lead. I tried it on some scraps just for fun and it wasn't hard. The problem is that it produces a fairly impressive cloud of lead oxide fumes. Regular welders didn't do lead burning at the mill. Frank said that Weyerhaeuser paid the lead burners considerably more than ordinary welders, because it was understood that they'd only be able to do that kind of work for about 10 years before they got poisoned by the fumes. Obviously some men thought the money was worth it.
If I was wanted to do something like repair an old battery, I'd be willing to try lead-burning, but I'd be sure I did it outdoors with a strong fan blowing the fumes away. The lead truly does burn (oxidize) and the oxide of lead is considerably more poisonous than the straight metal or the sulphide ore from which it's extracted.