- Thread starter bvond
- Start date
Good afternoon, I'm new here. I am looking for some help for a project of mine. I need to make a playing surface for "Toad in the Hole", which is a midieval game from Sussex. Basically throwing brass coins at a table with a lead top that has a hole. 2pts for in the hole and 1 on the table. I have my lead and I have no problem melting it down. I have already attempted making the surface using a cake tin as my mold./form. The picture below is what it is supposed to look like, nice and dull, with a very flat surface. My attempt came out looking like a piece of metal that has been galvanized, that kind of camouflage look, and the surface is uneven. Does anyone have any tips for me here? I am obviously a novice and just trying to learn. I don't know if I'm not getting the lead hot enough, or the pan is not preheated enough? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I do understand this is a welding forum, but I have read through a few lead questions. Thank you in advance. -B
BrokenBiker
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Hot dry mould with as smooth a finish as possible, ideally you want the lead to stay fully liquid until it's all poured then allow to cool (unused to work on lead pouring in a battery factory and this is how we did our test casts that would then be cut up and inspected) but realistically, it won't be dull feet until it's aged a few days
Screwdriver
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My seat of the pants guesswork tells me you want to melt the lead on the plate or at least keep it at a high enough temperature for it to stay molten. If you have the time , you could make an insulated form for the top to sit in, heat it from underneath, level the top so you can skim the dross on the table. Make an insulated lid and let it cool down as slowly as possible.
Pure guesswork though. But that's how I'd do it...
Pure guesswork though. But that's how I'd do it...
The_Yellow_Ardvark
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The original lead would of been old church organ lead, from the pipes.
Modern lead is different, but lead flashing can be used.
Build a 2" frame on three sides.
The forth has to give a lip off 3 to 4mm above the plate.
The made a hard wood slider so it sits on the wooden sides and leaves a gap the same height of the forth side..
The hole has a plug fixed from underneath, to give the same gap as the depth of the pour.
Melt the lead, before you pour, you need to heat the base so a large drop of water pools and boils off in under 90 seconds.
Remove the dross from top of moulten lead.
Pour onto the slap, from pouring end to the small lip, drag you slider over the pool and drop the surplus of the end.
Only do one pull.
Leave alone.
The new lead sheet will be shiny. It will dull over time.
If you can get a large sheet of lead, simply dress over and mitre the corners, then solder.
The hole made a top hat design and solder in.
Modern lead is different, but lead flashing can be used.
Build a 2" frame on three sides.
The forth has to give a lip off 3 to 4mm above the plate.
The made a hard wood slider so it sits on the wooden sides and leaves a gap the same height of the forth side..
The hole has a plug fixed from underneath, to give the same gap as the depth of the pour.
Melt the lead, before you pour, you need to heat the base so a large drop of water pools and boils off in under 90 seconds.
Remove the dross from top of moulten lead.
Pour onto the slap, from pouring end to the small lip, drag you slider over the pool and drop the surplus of the end.
Only do one pull.
Leave alone.
The new lead sheet will be shiny. It will dull over time.
If you can get a large sheet of lead, simply dress over and mitre the corners, then solder.
The hole made a top hat design and solder in.
Screwdriver
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Ooh a lucky guess on my part then. Interesting stuff lead. No accident that its close to the word dead. It has that sort of "feel" to it and I can only imagine the interesting way a brass coin would "drop dead" on a sheet of lead like that.
Great project. Keep us informed...
Great project. Keep us informed...
The_Yellow_Ardvark
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See that done in Salisbury Cathedral restoration workshops.
Fresh green sand has a special smell after a lead pour.
What breathing kit were you wearing ?
premmington
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brightspark
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its melting not smelting 
thats extracting metal from ore
thats extracting metal from ore
Screwdriver
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It's melting not smelting
So true.
I've been thinking about that .
The romans used a lot of polished alabaster plaster on columns and tables & it looks like finely polished marble could they have made lead pouring trays from it and once cold separated the lead sheet ?
julianf
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I think what you need is not a dish that you pour into, and get all the dross on the surface, but actually a mold.
Ie you dont want your finished surface exposed to the air, but, instead, used a cope and drag with proper riser, and (if you subscribe to the idea of them) vents.
A cope and drag would be simple enough to knock up. You can buy sand, but, for such a simple shape, you could probably knock up somthing yourself.
I used to case lead figurines as a kid. You would never get a nice finish on the lead left over in the crucible. Its always got a load of oxides and rubbish in it. A gated riser and some care would get rid of all of that, and give you the finish you want.
Ie you dont want your finished surface exposed to the air, but, instead, used a cope and drag with proper riser, and (if you subscribe to the idea of them) vents.
A cope and drag would be simple enough to knock up. You can buy sand, but, for such a simple shape, you could probably knock up somthing yourself.
I used to case lead figurines as a kid. You would never get a nice finish on the lead left over in the crucible. Its always got a load of oxides and rubbish in it. A gated riser and some care would get rid of all of that, and give you the finish you want.
