Lead
Soft lead, bullet lead and what lead is not lead – tested with the scratch test.
Lead is the metal with the longest history of dismantling in German buildings. Lead drinking water pipes were moved until the 1970s; since the limit value for lead in drinking water was reduced to 0.010 milligrams per litre, the last remaining wastes have to be removed. Lead pipes therefore come from renovations to this day, usually in short, dented pieces with soldering sockets on them.
The second major source is radiation protection: lead plate from X-ray rooms, door cores, aprons, shielding tiles. This is usually very clean soft lead, but often sits in wood or gypsum boards and must be triggered.
The trade separates soft lead from hard lead. Hard lead contains antimony, is significantly firmer and is stuck in battery grids, old storage shells and metal. Because Antimony changes the remelting process, they both run separately.
A number explains almost everything in lead: 11.3 grams per cubic centimeter, about four times as dense as aluminium. A stack of lead sheets that fits on a palm can already fill an entire package.
What's the lead price on?
At the London Metal Exchange listing for lead. The demand is largely covered by recycled lead, so lead fluctuates more quietly than copper or tin. When buying, the grade also counts: Soft lead made of sheet metal and tube is above hard lead with antimony content. All grades are subject to: Lead and zinc.
How do I distinguish lead from zinc?
At weight: Lead is about one and a half times as dense as zinc, an equal piece is much heavier in the hand. Lead is soft — the fingernail leaves a trace, a sheet can be folded, the cut surface shines briefly and then starts to appear matte grey. Zinc is harder, sounds brighter and breaks instead of bending. Magnetic is neither.
Why does high-speed lead bring less than bare rolling lead?
Because the oxide layer disappears as scabs when melted — less is left of the product. In addition, what sticks to the lead: mortar and brick residues from the dismantling, old paints, soldered steel parts, dowels and screws, with long stored goods also earth. Lead wool from pipe sockets almost always comes with cement and rust and belongs collected separately.
Why does a larger item bring lead more than several small shipments?
Two things come together: each grade has a quantity scale, from whose limit we pay more, and each package costs 6 euros shipping costs, which depart from the payout. In the case of lead, the density is added — 31.5 kilograms per package are reached with a small cardboard box, and half a filled moving carton of rolled lead has long been too heavy. From 500 kilograms we pick up Germany-wide, you can deliver without appointment in Ludwigshafen.
Do you buy bullet lead from the ball?
Yeah, we run bullet lead as our own kind. It must be free of sand, earth and gravel, otherwise screening material weighs to a good part soil from the ball catch. Coat shells bring copper and partly steel; the magnet brings out steel cores. Sharp ammo, spark plugs and propellants are not part of the broadcast, only projectiles shot down.
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