Let me say first I love your videos. Over the years I have been sort of a jack-of-all-trades, and have done machining, welding, casting, electrical, and carpentry. You have great educational videos for a younger generation. If they will watch and learn! Wasn't babbit used to cast bearings for old locomotives, and or tractors. I haven't used babbit myself, but I am almost as old as you, and I remember my dad talking about babbit bearings. I like the tin can method for my small home shop. A cast that large can develop a void. I had to explain that to some engineers one time about cast aluminum parts. What is the hardness level of the lead. Doesn't sound like dead soft lead. Don't melt lead in the kitchen, when you flux the lead the smoke will carry lead particles to contaminate the surrounding upward facing surfaces. Stay well, and keep educating the masses.
The steel can method is a brilliant idea for those not set up for any form of casting. Thanks and I'll put in a vote for a video tour of your basement shop and garage. I love watching your latest batch of uploads now a cold winter has set in down here in Australia. Thanks!
Tubalcain, I've made many an aluminum hammer from my Grandpa's mold. He took a steel pipe (1 1/2 inch) and cut a slot in the top wide enough for the pipe handle. Then he clamped two pieces of sheet steel on each end. He poured the metal in through the top where the slot is for the handle. when it was cool, he unclamped and slid the hammer out and then made another one. ;) Thanks for all your videos!!
"I think the kids bled more on that than any other project," makes me think of my many back yard projects as a child with no supervision. I learned how NOT to start a cut in a board with a hand saw (read, move your thumb out of the way of the blade). Another excellent video.
Hi mrpete, If the birds drink in the fountain later in the day, they are going to fall off on your roof top and make holes...lol Learned something new today... Thanks for sharing, Pierre
Keith D Gosford Australia To reduce the dross formed add a sugar cube sized piece of candle wax to the melt just befor scraping the dross.. This reduces oxides back to base metal and keeps the melt shiny looking. A puddling stick made of pine with lots of resin will also flux the melt and improve the look of the finished pour.
another great video, thank you for sharing your great knowledge and know how ,can't wait to learn more ,from a fellow northern Illini,keep up the great work!!!!!!
I have that commercial handle and was going to recast the hammer with a can but didn't think of the sand for support. Great idea. Plus I would not have burned off the liner . Gotta love youtube.
Thank you. I have been interested in sand casting for a long time. The wife and I have poured many babbet bearings for the old Model A Scoop-a-Second grain augers. I will be pouring one of the soup can hammers for the welding shop.
I have a hammer mold that my nephew gave me. It was the first one he made in Industrial Arts at our Alma Mater VCSU. It didn't seal properly until it took a trip to the Bridgeport. The hammers are a few thousandths egg-shaped as a result but are quite functional.
My dad was a pipe fitter and while working at the Goodyear tire company in Topeka Kansas a guy made him a lead hammer 🔨. And it sat around in his garage for years. Until he gave it to me and I had it for several years before I used it on a freightliner drive shaft and beat the hell out of the drive shaft and that hammer. It’s been sitting around for years again and now I’m going to try the tin can remolding.
I tryed the tin can methed and it worked great. Although I did use a aluminum can that was a sport drink and a lot thinner then a pop can. I cut it to three inches long and drilled a 7/8 hole 🕳 in it for my handle. The aluminum held up well and was perty easy to peel off.
I have a can opener that cuts the side of the seam on a tin can and it doesn’t leave any sharp edges. I’m wondering if it would help to cut both ends off before pouring the lead. Your video has my gears ⚙️ turning I want to try this tomorrow to remake that hammer that my dad gave me oh so many years ago. I just cast some sinkers for fishing and all of my stuff is set up all I need is the can.
If people are afraid use lead for melt material, I goto thrift stores and buy items made of pewter, melt them down and use it for my hammers, sinkers ect. Its a safe metal to work with.
How did the air get out when pouring using the sand cast method (as the top of the hammer head mold appeared higher than the fill tunnel)? Did I miss something?
I loved the boy in the house joke! my mom had 5 boys in the house at the same time ages 1 to six. Do you know that a mechanic is the only person who has to wash his hands before he takes a pee!
Hi Mr. Pete, the cheapo wood being sold now is chinese fuzzwood; the shop floor ( or in this case dirt floor) sweepings that are hardened by stomping by 1 billion chineese!
Hilarious that with all your skill and machine tools, your wife had to get the can open! Loved the kid joke, too. I was that kid once and can remember leaving the soap filthy -- on the rare occasions when I actually used it, that is. "Go wash your hands." I'd turn on the water, wet the soap (in case they checked), and wipe my hands on the towel. No soap on the hands. I don't know why I hated to actually use the soap.
If you fill the can with water then freeze it, you could probably use a holesaw to cut that 7/8"Ø hole for the handle... ..as long as you drill it right away, straight out of the freezer. ..on second thought, maybe drill in reverse once you get the pilot hole drilled...
mrpete222 wow! Thanks for your reply. ..I thought a little more about it and figured, if that's not enough to support that action, the whole can could be submerged in a half gallon milk carton filled with water then frozen , then peel off the carton and drill through it all. ..Anyway, thanks again for your reply and for all the awesome videos. Cheers n God bless-
At work I use to make lead hammers using wheel weights and 12 oz aluminum cans. The lead doesn't stick to the aluminum can and the can leaves no ribs on the hammer head.
Aldi cans have slightly smaller rim crimps than the industry standard. Modern can openers HATE them. I literally had to use a set of tin snips to open a can of soup a few months ago! The old fashioned 'butterfly' can openers work well, so does a military P-38 :)
I'm not sure if you will see this comment, Mr. Pete, due to the age of this video, but I'm curious. Would the lead adhere to the steel pipe handle better if the pipe was taken down to bare metal and acid flux applied prior to casting? My apologies if this has been covered already. I plan to watch all your videos. If this query has already been addressed I should find it in due time. Thank you!
Awesome tricks. Great video. Are u in minnesota? Im in northern minnesota. I seen u did a video at the pickers storevin Iowa. I would love to meet u someday if u are in minnesota. Thanks so much.
It would be messy but I wonder how it would work if I drilled the handle hole 🕳 first then cut the end of the can off My can opener cuts the side of the lid seam. And everyone has been using a can opener wrong anyway. Next time you open a can try turning the can opener on its side and then open the can. 🤪. Just trying to think of different things to do.
I bet if you turned a piece of wood the size of the inside diameter of that can and slipped it inside before hand, a regular hole saw would work with that backing in there.
Dear Mr Tubalcain I am sure most of us viewers don't mind a bit if you beat subjects to death or repeatedly show things over and over again even if they have appeared before in early videos you made: that's what we want to see and hear and we love it that way! And even then we will watch it again and again, and we don't care when you ramble about good quality things made in the past, or rant about things made in China, because we all feel and think that very same way...
+Neto Rosatelli The reason you can't get quality things from China is because you won't pay for them just as you wouldn't pay when the products were made in your own country. China makes many fine products, but the buyers are undeserving cheapskates :)
oh man! that can method looks like an amazing way to make some workout hammers. although i wonder if a paint can sized hammer would be too heavy. it would probably end up being over 100 lbs, not the 20-30 I am imagining.
Looks like I need to make a lead tomato paste can hammer now. If I were to try this with a small aluminum drink can, do you think it would hold up to the heat of the molten lead? (I'm thinking a 7 oz drink can). Also, here's to hoping for a whole bunch of videos on the ressurection and restoration of that old Vespa......
people will scream but I have a pair of asbestos gloves which do work good for pouring. Can't get them now or the asbestos blanket I have which is very handy. Oh the old days.
Great video. I like cheap, simple, easy for projects. Even though the permanent mould is classy this tin can method is my choice. If you don't chew on or eat the lead and keep it below its vaporization point then you will have a hard time getting poisoned. Boiling point 2022 K, 1749 °C, 3180 °F (at its boiling point it starts to emit vapors). Most commercial lead melters such as those sold by Lee Precision and Lyman cannot exceed about 850 deg F due to the small size of the heating element. I have a 10 pound Lyman lead melter and with it turned up all the way you could wait all day trying to get 850 F. You could possible get into trouble using an acetylene torch for melting lead. I like to be safe. No one in their right mind wants to get hurt but I wish we could use some common sense in our safety rules. I can remember the spill of some tons of iron oxide on the freeway and the hazmat team with paper suits and dust masks cleaning it up. The news media not bothering to learn what iron oxide is made a big deal out of it. Look up iron oxide on Wikipedia.
I'll just add that I've been casting lead bullets by the 1,000 for many years and had a blood lead level run a while back just to check. It came back normal. Use a little common sense, such as no eating or smoking while you're handling lead and it's perfectly safe.
I too have cast thousands of bullets of lead (wheel weights). The immediate danger is splashing lead from adding damp or wet cold lead to a pot. Another danger is putting a sealed object into molten lead. Remember the hammer he showed that had a chamber inside it? Imagine a pocket of air or water trapped inside that as he lowered it into a pot of molten lead. The air or water could pressurize as it is heated and when the pressure is released spray the lead everywhere. Even a small insect pushed beneath the surface of molten lead will cause a big splatter. The safe thing is to warm up all metal to drive off moisture before putting in the molten lead. Yes, I know we've all done it the wrong way, and gotten away with it. Lead doesn't have to boil to give off vapor. Boiling is just when the vapor pressure equals atmospheric pressure, it is giving off vapors long before that. The real danger is the lead dust from the dross, the vapors, and the debris from working and filing the metal. The dust remains even after the lead pot is put away. Wash your hands and minimize dust exposure.
"I wonder whether those workers were happy working in the fields.." In Europe, it's obligatory to show country of origin if a foodstuff originates from a single source. That would give you a better idea of the happiness of the workers. Like Italian workers probably get a better deal than ones in the far East. America is ahead of Europe in many respects - food labelling standards ain't one of them.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Let me say first I love your videos. Over the years I have been sort of a jack-of-all-trades, and have done machining, welding, casting, electrical, and carpentry. You have great educational videos for a younger generation. If they will watch and learn!
Wasn't babbit used to cast bearings for old locomotives, and or tractors. I haven't used babbit myself, but I am almost as old as you, and I remember my dad talking about babbit bearings. I like the tin can method for my small home shop. A cast that large can develop a void. I had to explain that to some engineers one time about cast aluminum parts. What is the hardness level of the lead. Doesn't sound like dead soft lead. Don't melt lead in the kitchen, when you flux the lead the smoke will carry lead particles to contaminate the surrounding upward facing surfaces. Stay well, and keep educating the masses.
The steel can method is a brilliant idea for those not set up for any form of casting. Thanks and I'll put in a vote for a video tour of your basement shop and garage. I love watching your latest batch of uploads now a cold winter has set in down here in Australia. Thanks!
Tubalcain, I've made many an aluminum hammer from my Grandpa's mold. He took a steel pipe (1 1/2 inch) and cut a slot in the top wide enough for the pipe handle. Then he clamped two pieces of sheet steel on each end. He poured the metal in through the top where the slot is for the handle. when it was cool, he unclamped and slid the hammer out and then made another one. ;) Thanks for all your videos!!
I am always amazed at the different ways you find for making things. The sand cast hammer looks better than I though it would.
Absolutely fabulous. I made a tin-can lead hammer about 40 years ago and used it for many years.
"I think the kids bled more on that than any other project," makes me think of my many back yard projects as a child with no supervision. I learned how NOT to start a cut in a board with a hand saw (read, move your thumb out of the way of the blade). Another excellent video.
Mr. Pete,
The wood the common dowels sold at Ace and the box stores are made of luan which is a soft wood from the Philippines.
Thanks
great video.. all of your videos are amazing sources of knowledge.. I appreciate the work you put in..
I love that TubalCain, master machinist, can't work a can opener. 😂. Thank you as always for your great videos. Really enjoyed this series.
Hi mrpete,
If the birds drink in the fountain later in the day, they are going to fall off on your roof top and make holes...lol
Learned something new today...
Thanks for sharing,
Pierre
Keith D Gosford Australia
To reduce the dross formed add a sugar cube sized piece of candle wax to the melt just befor scraping the dross.. This reduces oxides back to base metal and keeps the melt shiny looking. A puddling stick made of pine with lots of resin will also flux the melt and improve the look of the finished pour.
Thanks
another great video, thank you for sharing your great knowledge and know how ,can't wait to learn more ,from a fellow northern Illini,keep up the great work!!!!!!
I have that commercial handle and was going to recast the hammer with a can but didn't think of the sand for support. Great idea. Plus I would not have burned off the liner . Gotta love youtube.
+1-Shot slinger Thanks for watching.
Thank you. I have been interested in sand casting for a long time. The wife and I have poured many babbet bearings for the old Model A Scoop-a-Second grain augers. I will be pouring one of the soup can hammers for the welding shop.
Thanks for watching
Great series Mr. Pete, thanks!
🤙
I have a hammer mold that my nephew gave me. It was the first one he made in Industrial Arts at our Alma Mater VCSU. It didn't seal properly until it took a trip to the Bridgeport. The hammers are a few thousandths egg-shaped as a result but are quite functional.
That's a good looking hammer! Great video! Thanks for sharing! Mr pete!
Mmmmm HOT LEAD TOMATO PASTE!!!!
Thanks for the amazing video Mr pete!
Swing-A-Way! Best can opener ever!
My dad was a pipe fitter and while working at the Goodyear tire company in Topeka Kansas a guy made him a lead hammer 🔨. And it sat around in his garage for years. Until he gave it to me and I had it for several years before I used it on a freightliner drive shaft and beat the hell out of the drive shaft and that hammer. It’s been sitting around for years again and now I’m going to try the tin can remolding.
I tryed the tin can methed and it worked great. Although I did use a aluminum can that was a sport drink and a lot thinner then a pop can. I cut it to three inches long and drilled a 7/8 hole 🕳 in it for my handle. The aluminum held up well and was perty easy to peel off.
That's a great idea, I'm going to do this. I have no lead hammers, but a ton of wheel weights.
Thanks for taking the time to make the video!
Great video Mr. Pete ! Thanks for another interesting video !
I have a can opener that cuts the side of the seam on a tin can and it doesn’t leave any sharp edges. I’m wondering if it would help to cut both ends off before pouring the lead.
Your video has my gears ⚙️ turning I want to try this tomorrow to remake that hammer that my dad gave me oh so many years ago.
I just cast some sinkers for fishing and all of my stuff is set up all I need is the can.
Guess I have to go shopping for cans... Oh I love the tractor. Mine we bought
new and has run perfectly since new. Just used for mowing (6' mower)
sam
Another great video. I will be making myself a lead hammer soon. Those are proper...
If people are afraid use lead for melt material, I goto thrift stores and buy items made of pewter, melt them down and use it for my hammers, sinkers ect. Its a safe metal to work with.
How did the air get out when pouring using the sand cast method (as the top of the hammer head mold appeared higher than the fill tunnel)? Did I miss something?
Sound is permeable
Great video! Thanks for the great ideas, I think I will try the tin can method, Greg.
🤙
Haha I had a friend who's face was like that hammer. Did make me laugh. You could call it a crater face hammer Pete.
I will never make one of these but its nice to know that I could If I wanted too
They where made to take a 1 inch thick or more copper or brass plug in each end, hope this helps, regards Frank
great video mr pete dont take no notice of the trolls there just sad people with nothing better to do
I loved the boy in the house joke! my mom had 5 boys in the house at the same time ages 1 to six.
Do you know that a mechanic is the only person who has to wash his hands before he takes a pee!
Also guys who work in spice plants.
Hi Mr. Pete, the cheapo wood being sold now is chinese fuzzwood; the shop floor ( or in this case dirt floor) sweepings that are hardened by stomping by 1 billion chineese!
+Kathryn Fasolo Thats a good one
Hilarious that with all your skill and machine tools, your wife had to get the can open! Loved the kid joke, too. I was that kid once and can remember leaving the soap filthy -- on the rare occasions when I actually used it, that is. "Go wash your hands." I'd turn on the water, wet the soap (in case they checked), and wipe my hands on the towel. No soap on the hands. I don't know why I hated to actually use the soap.
Tomato paste can is definitely looking like the quick and easy home molded hammer, and a good size also! Thank you Tubalcain! :o)
O,
If you fill the can with water then freeze it, you could probably use a holesaw to cut that 7/8"Ø hole for the handle... ..as long as you drill it right away, straight out of the freezer. ..on second thought, maybe drill in reverse once you get the pilot hole drilled...
Good idea
mrpete222 wow! Thanks for your reply. ..I thought a little more about it and figured, if that's not enough to support that action, the whole can could be submerged in a half gallon milk carton filled with water then frozen , then peel off the carton and drill through it all. ..Anyway, thanks again for your reply and for all the awesome videos. Cheers n God bless-
At work I use to make lead hammers using wheel weights and 12 oz aluminum cans. The lead doesn't stick to the aluminum can and the can leaves no ribs on the hammer head.
👍
That coating in the can is a spray on liner used with products that are acidic. Tomato paste/sauce will eat through uncoated metal.
I like the can mold.
Would it improve adhesion of the head to the handle if the part of the steel handle inside the lead was cleaned and tinned before pouring?
Aldi cans have slightly smaller rim crimps than the industry standard. Modern can openers HATE them. I literally had to use a set of tin snips to open a can of soup a few months ago! The old fashioned 'butterfly' can openers work well, so does a military P-38 :)
***** Thanks
+TheChipmunk2008 Remember the P-38 well :D
Good Stuff, Your videos are a joy to watch.
Sue
I'm not sure if you will see this comment, Mr. Pete, due to the age of this video, but I'm curious. Would the lead adhere to the steel pipe handle better if the pipe was taken down to bare metal and acid flux applied prior to casting?
My apologies if this has been covered already. I plan to watch all your videos. If this query has already been addressed I should find it in due time.
Thank you!
Thank you, I doubt that would make any difference. Because it is not Solder
Could you use clay around the hole in the van if you didn’t have sand?
Awesome tricks. Great video. Are u in minnesota? Im in northern minnesota. I seen u did a video at the pickers storevin Iowa. I would love to meet u someday if u are in minnesota. Thanks so much.
I love the tomato can hammer! I use tin can tin for everything.
Great videos and very educational. Thanks
would it solve the issue of shrink holes by pouring it in succesive layers? or would that create problems with the layers coming apart?
Freeze the tomato paste in the can and then drill the hole. The can will hold its shape better when you cut the hole in the side.
a trick: watch series on flixzone. I've been using it for watching a lot of movies lately.
@Ronin Kaiser definitely, been using flixzone} for months myself =)
It would be messy but I wonder how it would work if I drilled the handle hole 🕳 first then cut the end of the can off
My can opener cuts the side of the lid seam.
And everyone has been using a can opener wrong anyway. Next time you open a can try turning the can opener on its side and then open the can. 🤪.
Just trying to think of different things to do.
Kevlar gloves will provide cut protection. What a lovely large hammer.
I bet if you turned a piece of wood the size of the inside diameter of that can and slipped it inside before hand, a regular hole saw would work with that backing in there.
how do you sharpen those unibits? be a great video
Those are all Nice looking hammers I will give them all an..A+
Dear Mr Tubalcain I am sure most of us viewers don't mind a bit if you beat subjects to death or repeatedly show things over and over again even if they have appeared before in early videos you made: that's what we want to see and hear and we love it that way! And even then we will watch it again and again, and we don't care when you ramble about good quality things made in the past, or rant about things made in China, because we all feel and think that very same way...
I second that!
+Neto Rosatelli The reason you can't get quality things from China is because you won't pay for them just as you wouldn't pay when the products were made in your own country. China makes many fine products, but the buyers are undeserving cheapskates :)
I used a beer can and it works nice and resist the melt lead
titan371 of
can you heat green sand molds? just asking old one legged joseph t.
lovely job!
Thanks
Nice. Job !!
Great joke. I like jokes you can tell anywhere.
Really in joy this video. thanks
Mr. Tubalcain What kind of sand would work? I've got access to good clean sand here in Oklahoma.
I used oil based foundry sand.
where can you purchase those flasks?
another awesome video. happy easter 2018
oh man! that can method looks like an amazing way to make some workout hammers. although i wonder if a paint can sized hammer would be too heavy. it would probably end up being over 100 lbs, not the 20-30 I am imagining.
I remembered to press "like" this time. :-)
Is that lead or babbit?
"That's the problem when you have too much stuff". Can I get an Amen!!?
Reminds me I need to make a new one mine is shot
Yes
Amazing!
Looks like I need to make a lead tomato paste can hammer now. If I were to try this with a small aluminum drink can, do you think it would hold up to the heat of the molten lead? (I'm thinking a 7 oz drink can). Also, here's to hoping for a whole bunch of videos on the ressurection and restoration of that old Vespa......
Stick to a steel can.
Good joke. Thanks for the laugh.
why not knurl the pipe?
people will scream but I have a pair of asbestos gloves which do work good for pouring. Can't get them now or the asbestos blanket I have which is very handy. Oh the old days.
👍👍👍
Great video. I like cheap, simple, easy for projects. Even though the permanent mould is classy this tin can method is my choice. If you don't chew on or eat the lead and keep it below its vaporization point then you will have a hard time getting poisoned. Boiling point 2022 K, 1749 °C, 3180 °F (at its boiling point it starts to emit vapors). Most commercial lead melters such as those sold by Lee Precision and Lyman cannot exceed about 850 deg F due to the small size of the heating element. I have a 10 pound Lyman lead melter and with it turned up all the way you could wait all day trying to get 850 F. You could possible get into trouble using an acetylene torch for melting lead. I like to be safe. No one in their right mind wants to get hurt but I wish we could use some common sense in our safety rules. I can remember the spill of some tons of iron oxide on the freeway and the hazmat team with paper suits and dust masks cleaning it up. The news media not bothering to learn what iron oxide is made a big deal out of it. Look up iron oxide on Wikipedia.
I'll just add that I've been casting lead bullets by the 1,000 for many years and had a blood lead level run a while back just to check. It came back normal. Use a little common sense, such as no eating or smoking while you're handling lead and it's perfectly safe.
I too have cast thousands of bullets of lead (wheel weights). The immediate danger is splashing lead from adding damp or wet cold lead to a pot. Another danger is putting a sealed object into molten lead. Remember the hammer he showed that had a chamber inside it? Imagine a pocket of air or water trapped inside that as he lowered it into a pot of molten lead. The air or water could pressurize as it is heated and when the pressure is released spray the lead everywhere. Even a small insect pushed beneath the surface of molten lead will cause a big splatter. The safe thing is to warm up all metal to drive off moisture before putting in the molten lead. Yes, I know we've all done it the wrong way, and gotten away with it. Lead doesn't have to boil to give off vapor. Boiling is just when the vapor pressure equals atmospheric pressure, it is giving off vapors long before that. The real danger is the lead dust from the dross, the vapors, and the debris from working and filing the metal. The dust remains even after the lead pot is put away. Wash your hands and minimize dust exposure.
I like when you said wear gloves and you weren't wearing any at that moment lol
lol
"I wonder whether those workers were happy working in the fields.." In Europe, it's obligatory to show country of origin if a foodstuff originates from a single source. That would give you a better idea of the happiness of the workers. Like Italian workers probably get a better deal than ones in the far East. America is ahead of Europe in many respects - food labelling standards ain't one of them.
casting a hammer out of bismuth would be very similar but, it wouldn't be toxic.
a little bit exagerated for a lead mold... it appears alluminium or iron cast technics
That could be a poplar dowel.
thx
you need an old fashioned swing away can opener
+supurbian The Swing Away is the best can opener I've ever used.
Happy Harvest Hammer
SWEET
Don't use tomato can, they have a poly lining in them
*Bisphenol A lining.
There's a difference between lead and babbit.
Mike Snyder
Corny joke but very true. :)
If only I could give this video two thumbs down.