Red Lead

While closing down a welding and machine shop I found in the original container about 50 lbs of red lead.
A while back I remember some one was searching for this type of material. If some one has a need , and or use for it, let me know. I am not good at putting pictures on here, however I will attempt to.
Thanks.
Ben a Gonna

I wouldn’t mind having a med-small container full if you’re giving it away?

I would as well. Like a pint or cup of it if possible. Happy to pay postage.

I would sign up for a cup's worth . Just looked it up, it is about 4.77 LBs/Cup so it would be quite costly to ship, also it is a hazmat of a kind so a sealed container is a must. PM me if you up for a deal, I can Paypal the shipping cost


dee
;-D

How about some of you old timers tell us young bucks how you'll use the material? I am curious.

spotting....like dykem....makes an excellent contrast...a bit toxic if care isnt taken.

Red lead and white lead are both excellent extreme pressure lubricants and were (are still) used to lubricate the point of dead centers at the tailstock. The little pocket on the tailstock casting was used as a reservoir for a small amount of red lead and a little wooden dauber was kept in the pocket to be used to apply a small amount to the tip of the dead center and/or the center hole drilled in the end of the stock being supported. The little dauber was probably the first item to be lost from a South Bend lathe. It was (maybe still is) also used as an indicator to show gear tooth contact during adjustment of gear mesh such as ring and pinion gear sets.

It still works very well as a dead center lube although with the number of extreme pressure lubricants available today it might not really be necessary to use it. The stuff is still available at good art supply stores. I bought a can of white lead just a couple of years ago. It's probably a lifetime supply--at least for me!

Dobermann said:

Red lead and white lead are both excellent extreme pressure lubricants and were (are still) used to lubricate the point of dead centers at the tailstock. The little pocket on the tailstock casting was used as a reservoir for a small amount of red lead and a little wooden dauber was kept in the pocket to be used to apply a small amount to the tip of the dead center and/or the center hole drilled in the end of the stock being supported. The little dauber was probably the first item to be lost from a South Bend lathe. It was (maybe still is) also used as an indicator to show gear tooth contact during adjustment of gear mesh such as ring and pinion gear sets.

It still works very well as a dead center lube although with the number of extreme pressure lubricants available today it might not really be necessary to use it. The stuff is still available at good art supply stores. I bought a can of white lead just a couple of years ago. It's probably a lifetime supply--at least for me!

Click to expand...

It looks like a powder, is it mixed with linseed oil like white lead paint?



So in your example the ideal application would be for higher accuracy turning or bigger cuts for production with a dead center? Are live centers built with tight enough tolerances that using the lead became obsolete or was it mainly the health issues and avilability of alternative lubricant?

The issue is lead toxicity by ingestion (and in much smaller measure, inhalation, at least for inorganic lead, like lead oxides). If somebody washes thoroughly his hands before eating, the issue is minimal.
Red lead was vastly used in priming paints as rust preventive, and it was extremely good at it.
Given it is a very fine pigmented powder, it was used as pigment/background color for spotting and scraping (and that's the interest of some of us in trying out a little bit of it to compare to other products available now). I believe that white lead oxide was much better than the red oxide as component of high pressure lubes. Again, there has been a lot of research in that field and I believe that today's alternatives are at least as good, if not better. Of course, they also are more expensive than what white lead used to be.

The picture of the red lead oxide offered here shows clearly that it is in powder form, not mixed with any oil or other substances. I strongly suggest using a dust mask and disposable latex/nitrile gloves when handling it. It's heavy, therefore the dust will settle relatively quickly. However, it's always better to avoid beathing it in.

Paolo

Pigment Colors for Printing Your Surface

dee
;-D