What was lead used for?

[EastCoastmetal]

Lead tastes sort of sweet, so the Romans sprinkled it as a sweetener on their food. Of course history records them having problems with lead poisoning. I'm not recommending anybody do what I did, but I think some of this worry about lead is a bit over blown. When I was a kid, I had a single shot Crossman pellet rifle. If I wanted a quick second shot, I carried the lead pellets in my mouth. I'm 80 years old, and at least smart enough to barely use this bloody computer. We also played with mercury in our hands, turning pennies silver. Everywhere a Civil War battle was fought, there is -- well, until metal detectors -- tons of lead in the ground. The patina in on those old bullets is caused by oxidation of the lead, which also seals off the rest of the lead in the bullet from oxidizing, and escaping into the surrounding area. I've never heard of people living on those battle fields being poisoned by lead. I cast lead bullets to use shooting my muzzle loader firearms and handle lead bare handed all the time. I'm not saying lead isn't dangerous, but it's not a rattle snake that is going to bite you, or it's not like finding unexploaded ordinance, it isn't radio active, and it doesn't seem to me to be near as dangerous as some environmentalists are trying to make out.

Ya we as kids used to break apart old car batteries and remove the lead that goes around the cells, then melt it in a fire barrel, i think we used old metal hubcaps as crucibles, we had GM, Ford, Dodge big flat round hunks of lead that we stored in our bedrooms and handled daily.... heck I remember chewing the stuff on occasion

Oh ya we also had those pellets in our mouths lol.

Played with mercury too.

Also farmers used to use solder out in the field to repair rads etc, which would cause blobs of the stuff to hit the soil , possibly they used lead before solder.

 

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[jeff of pa]

Hmmm. Do you think it became a dying art?

Yea I think someone complained they were poisoning Corpses

 

[Muddyhandz]

I'm sure you'll find that lead was used for many things. The Natives here loved lead for it's low melt point and how malleable it was.
I have found hundreds of unique items that were made from lead due to how easy it was to use.

Unfortunately, I have found several of these at 18th century fur trade sites.....



There's lots of black carbon lining the inside of the bowl indicating heavy usage.
If smoking wasn't bad enough, try smoking out of a lead pipe!

 

[GA_Boy]

Isn't lead shielding used in X-Ray rooms? Being an old Fart I played with Mercury in my hands, used my teeth to close split shot to my fishing line, Chewed tar as it bubbled up from the roadway-------------------------I may be a goner soon.
Marvin

 

[John Winter]

I mention the Roman use of lead in my latest blog post:

Here's an extract:
LEAD, MUSKET BALLS, ROMANS and WINE

In the past I have found my fair share of lead; most detectorists have done the same! In the past I have found dozens of musket balls; most detectorists have done exactly that too! In the past I have sampled my fair share off wine and ale; most detectorists have also imbibed! What about the Romans and wine? Be patient, I'm coming to that.

Before Pinot, I had a liking for Muscadet and Chardonnay. Tastes in wines change. I wasn't fond of the flavour of the latter when it was aged in oak. Did you know that once upon a time, lead was added to wine to add flavour? In addition it was said to act as a preservative and add sweetness.

Unfortunately, lead also poisoned those who drank the wine and dates back at least to Roman times. Part of the Roman winemaking practice was to concentrate the grape juice by boiling it in lead cauldrons, and this is when they discovered it gave the wine a sweet taste. Pliny the Elder sanctioned this practice and it continued throughout the Middle Ages and into the eighteenth century. He also recommended “seaweed to enliven the smoothness". Romans believed that wine was a medicine. Soldiers were required to drink wine every day. The unhealthy and sometimes deadly practice of maturing wine in lead containers saw many Romans face a premature and painful death.

Seen more here:
http://www.johnwinter.net/jw/wp-admin/post.php?post=32722&action=edit