wally94087
Lead Reception...
There's a ceremony needed to properly receive a roll of sheet lead, particularly if it is of a length and weight that once unrolled, cannot be picked up and turned over easily by you without deforming it.
First off you need somewhere long flat and smooth. Clean it well with a blower or shopvac.
Since lead sheds particles, outside is better than inside. If inside is your choice, do a wet cleanup afterwards if you can as opposed to a vacuum cleanup.
Decide if your surface is smooth enough, and lay out intermediate padding if you are really particular about lead surface finish. When you roll the lead, there will be considerable downward pressure so the lead tends to get impressions of the underlying surface irregularities.
Clean the outside of the roll well. Then as you unroll, both sides need to be cleaned as they progressively reveal themselves. Once a long roll is laid out flat you are not going to easily be able to clean the underside. Windex (original), paper towels, and a hazmat plastic bag work well. Avoid vinegar/acetic acid completely because trace residue causes ongoing lead corrosion. Look for foil-like rolling inclusions and remove these.
Once the roll is fully laid out, square off the ends if needed with metal shears.
Inspect the innermost several turns of the lead to see if further flattening is required beyond just unrolling.
Think about whether you should paint (clear-coat) the lead before rolling. All my bricks have been clear-coated to keep the indoor particle shedding to a minimum. Currently I am using Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Ultra Cover Gloss Clear.
You can decide this later. It turns out that lead stress relieves itself very well over time at room temperature so you can roll and unroll it many times without fear of fatigue cracking it. For me if the lead stays indoors and is handled regularly it gets coated. If it is raw material stock or rarely brought indoors for single experiments it gets plastic bagged and is stored in the garage uncoated.
Lead Reception...
There's a ceremony needed to properly receive a roll of sheet lead, particularly if it is of a length and weight that once unrolled, cannot be picked up and turned over easily by you without deforming it.
First off you need somewhere long flat and smooth. Clean it well with a blower or shopvac.
Since lead sheds particles, outside is better than inside. If inside is your choice, do a wet cleanup afterwards if you can as opposed to a vacuum cleanup.
Decide if your surface is smooth enough, and lay out intermediate padding if you are really particular about lead surface finish. When you roll the lead, there will be considerable downward pressure so the lead tends to get impressions of the underlying surface irregularities.
Clean the outside of the roll well. Then as you unroll, both sides need to be cleaned as they progressively reveal themselves. Once a long roll is laid out flat you are not going to easily be able to clean the underside. Windex (original), paper towels, and a hazmat plastic bag work well. Avoid vinegar/acetic acid completely because trace residue causes ongoing lead corrosion. Look for foil-like rolling inclusions and remove these.
Once the roll is fully laid out, square off the ends if needed with metal shears.
Inspect the innermost several turns of the lead to see if further flattening is required beyond just unrolling.
Think about whether you should paint (clear-coat) the lead before rolling. All my bricks have been clear-coated to keep the indoor particle shedding to a minimum. Currently I am using Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Ultra Cover Gloss Clear.
You can decide this later. It turns out that lead stress relieves itself very well over time at room temperature so you can roll and unroll it many times without fear of fatigue cracking it. For me if the lead stays indoors and is handled regularly it gets coated. If it is raw material stock or rarely brought indoors for single experiments it gets plastic bagged and is stored in the garage uncoated.