When I weight rolling stock with lead fishing weights I always cover them with a coat of paint first to mitigate any issues with handling them and I use disposable nitrile gloves (Harbor Freight) anyway. So my first question is: is that coat of paint sufficient to isolate the lead in terms of environmental (and personal ) contact?
Recently I have been reworking a Rivarossi 0-8-0 steam locomotive and found there was a cylindrical steel weight in the boiler area. I rewired the front with an LED but I had to use "liquid electrical tape" to cover the bare wires where they were soldered to the LED leads and resistor as space did not allow for use of heat shrink tubing
I decided to also paint that steel weight. So- is a coat of paint sufficient to provide electrical isolation in this regard?
Maybe I'm doing it right or maybe I'm just guessing but any comments would be appreciated.
Cedarwoodron
I suppose a coating of paint will help to isolate the lead from 'the environment', but....is it really necessary? And I question your use of the gloves when handling the lead since the lead is highly unlikely to be absorbed through your skin during handling as it is found in its elemental/metallic form, and for the exceedingly limited contact we're discussing. If it is combined with other organics and inorganic liquids or compounds which ARE absorbed through the skin, then all bets are off. Lead acetate, for example, has been shown to be rather easily absorbed.
Still, it would be cheap insurance to simply don gloves....I don't see anybody faulting you on being cautious.
I would think acrylic latex paints would be rather good at insulating between metals, but I can't find HOW good. You'd want multiple coats IMO.
Lead doesn;t tend to outgas, or give off anything except when heated past its boiling point - by a lot. The fumes from leaded solder, for example, is the flux core, not lead fumes. I also don;t think lead is absorbed through the skin, at least not from casual contact. Maybe if you wrapped up in a lead blanket to sleep every night, you would eventually register elevated levels of lead. What you DON'T want to do it eat it. Gloves are nice, so is just washing your hands after handling anything with lead in it, before then eating anything.
I gave up on buying fishing sinkers and other chunks of lead, not for safety reasons (I will NEVER use lead free solder, it does a horrible job, 63/37 leaded all the way), but because most cars that need a little extra weight, I can use pennies. While not as dense as lead, naturally, between the factory weight and s small stack or two of pennies, any closed car can easily be brought up to weight. When I start a kit, I tare the box, then put all the parts, trucks, couplers, and metal wheels, along witht he factory weight, in the box and see what it weights. Then I see how many pennies I need to add. I don;t like to stack them up more than about 5 high, to keep the CG low, so i divide up the pennies in a number of stacks, and then evenly distribute the stacks in the car - say I have 2 stacks, that's one over each kingpin. 4 stacks, two at each end, on either side of the kingpin. I glue the stacks of pennies together with CA, then when that is dry, I glue the stack to the car floor or the factory weight with more CA. I have more pennies than I know what to do with, and carting that heavy bucket to the bank to use the Coinstar just isn't worth it when that bucket (the plastic container that dishwasher pods come in) would yeiled maybe $10. I collect all spare change into two different containers - pennies in one, the 'real' money in another.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I'm with Crandell and Randy - for the most part. You don't really need to paint over lead weight. If you plan on serving dinner on the lead sheeting, however - that's another story. Washing your hands after handling lead is quite sufficient. Gloves are overkill, IMO.
My ...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I used to do stained glass which involves a lot of lead, and did it bare handed. I always washed my hands when done in case some lead particles got on them. I do the same after soldering or handling lead sheet that I use for weight. There are special soaps available from stained glass shops that are designed to remove lead.
As far as paint on steel as an electrical insuator, I would not trust it. Any pinhole or scratch could be a path to a short or ground. Better to wrap in electrical tape.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Hi Ron!
I sent you a message. Please check your PM box.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
As others have commented, lead weights will not hurt you.
You are a grown up right?
The real hazzard with lead is for children who's nervious systems are still developing, and even that requires high long term exposures.
Trust me on this, I restore old houses for a living.......
Again, as others have commented, wash your hands, don't eat the lead, you will be fine.
Just one more issue that has been blown out of proportion by the "safety police".
Even removing lead paint from a house with a heat gun does not get the lead hot enough to vaporize, don't eat the paint chips, and, other stuff in that paint is likely more dangerous than the lead......
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRALJust one more issue that has been blown out of proportion by the "safety police".
Thank you.
Mike.
My You Tube
I don't wear gloves to handle lead. I don't paint lead weights except to make them blend in to the model. I have been weighting cars with lead for 50 years and it has not hurt anything. The lead poisoning the safety freaks rave about came from kids eating white lead paint chips 'cause the white lead tasted sort of sweet. My mother insisted on all us kids washing our hands before sitting down to eat. I ought to do it more than I do, just for general sanitation, killing bacteria, but lead is nothing special. The Material Safety Data Sheet for metallic lead only cautions against eating the stuff.
Paint is an electrical insulator, but it isn't very strong and a little vibration will cause the wire to wear thru it fairly soon. In industry we never relied upon paint to provide insulation, we used shrink tubing, electrical tape, plastic tubing, anything reasonably strong for insulation.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
You would probably have to handle lead on a regular basis and even then I don't think you would absorb much. Having said that, many years ago, a physician came into my laboratory questioning why his lead level was so high. Something must have given him cause to test for lead. I asked him if he had any hobbies that used lead. He said, yes, he has loaded his own shotgun shells for years.
I used to cast my own lead fishing weights, for years, and I never tested high for lead.
I only use lead (#9 bird shot) on rolling stock that can't be weighted any other way such as flat cars or open hoppers
On the flat cars I fill what available space I can in the underside since it will not be seen during normal operation. I then paint the entire underframe just to make it a more consistant color
As for as open hoppers, I will fill & glue the shot into the bottom interior (chutes) of the car, then add a false floor of .010 styrene over top the lead to at least hide it then paint & weather the false floor to blend in with the rest of the car
My method of gluing lead shot is basically the same method most of us use to secure ballast.
Since in both cases the lead is located where we do not normally handle our cars..i dont believe there is any danger once installed & covered
I too handle lead for adding weights without gloves or paint. Washing your hands is critical to keeping anything in the paint room off clothes, food, others, etc.
All good on being cautious.
There's a "how-to" HERE on making simple moulds for casting your own weights in lead. There's also some info on lead and its hazards and myths surrounding it. Properly handled, lead is a safe and useful resource.
Wayne
Since you mentioned Harbor Freight... I use their steel wheel weights for my freight cars. They're (obviously) bulkier than lead, but they are very cheap, the adhesive clings with Herculean effort, and for cars where space is at a premium (boxcars, coaches) they fit just fine.
And they're steel, so you don't have to worry about safe handling. Lead is nice for its compactness, but why take a chance if you don't need to?
Everything in the right doses is bad for you and can kill you, even such things as drinking too much water. Was in the renovation buisness and never had a problem and we handled lead and asbestos, thing was we only did it accasionally.