Thread: using Lead Wedges

I think everyone's had a good point so far.

I'd treat it like UV radiation.

Is it bad for you? Sure.
Will it kill you? Well...It can
Are you gonna stay out of Sunlight? No.
Use Sunscreen when you know you gonna be getting a high dose? Yes.

Scared of Sunlight? About as scared as I am of a lead wedge.

Respecting the fact that something isn't "good for you" and being afraid you'll drop dead in 10 years are two entirely different things.

I cast bullets and work with pure lead, as well as lead alloys all the time.
I handle lead sheets and lead ingots with my bare hands.

I get my lead levels checked yearly. I've never been even slightly above normal.

The big risk with lead is when it becomes a dust.
That should never happen with your wedges. Don't eat them, and you'll be fine.

Originally Posted by HNSB

I cast bullets and work with pure lead, as well as lead alloys all the time.
I handle lead sheets and lead ingots with my bare hands.

I get my lead levels checked yearly. I've never been even slightly above normal.

The big risk with lead is when it becomes a dust.
That should never happen with your wedges. Don't eat them, and you'll be fine.

One big risk is regulation.
If you have a business it can matter. In California USA we
have prop-65.

Customer Service - Woodcraft.com

It goes on and on around the world to one degree or another.

BTW: I eat wedges all the time... cheese, apples, oranges, grapefruit....
thought they was good for me.

I've been in the printing industry for 30 years. We use lead in letterpress as "furniture" to build out printing chases. We also use lead pigs as dead weight when padding jobs for customers.

About 15 years ago - 3 months after I'd taken over as plant manager - OSHA walked into the shop to check and see how many ways we were trying to kill our employees.

As I was answering her question and walking her through the shop she saw the lead weights sitting on top of a padding job. You would had thought it was acid. She freaked out and insisted that we send the man who touched the lead the most and for the longest time in for a blood count.

I tried to explain to her that since we didn't allow them to eat the lead he was fine but off she went.

While we were waiting for the test results to return he was going around bragging that he had "more lead in his pencil" than the rest of us.

Of course his blood test returned comletely normal. He'd only been handling lead ingots, cutting them with a saw, hammering, etc for around 35 years, 5 days a week for 8 or 9 hours a day.

I wouldn't worry about it since that fella is now 90+ and still going strong.

Hell, I use to tell the new hires that he lived life like this.

He gets up at 5am and plays 18 holes of golf before arriving at work at 9am. (he was working part time by this time - a young 75+) Works here until 4pm then takes Mama out for dinner. Then dances till midnight and makes love till morning before starting all over again. We should all be in as good a shape as him.

So, don't eat it. Dont grind it up an stir it in your coffee in the morning or comb it through your hair and you should be fine.

Zacsdaddy

used to put fishing sinkers on with my teeth as a kid and I am still here.