A buddy called me today to ask if he could use lead from a dentist office x ray room to cast lead. I told him I would ask here.
Any advise? Thanks

It’ll likely be pure lead but should be great for mixing to your preferred hardness.

it is the same as lead pipe and roof vents

It's got quite a bit of tin and silver in it, if it's the bite down impression pieces.

I made some bullets from some and when quenched they tested about 12 BHN but were very ductile.

Wall lead and jackets are mostly soft lead.

Thanks, I'll pass it on to my buddy.

Absolutely safe. A couple of years ago I got ahold of a small lead jar used to transport radioactive material for hospitals. As luck would have, I had to go to a counterterrorism class with guest instructors from the Lawrence Nuclear Weapons laboratory. At a class break I was able to ask them if lead used already to shield or stop radiation was safe to use as bullet casting material. They assured me that it was absolutely safe.

the correct answer is - it depends if the lead had alloys in it or not...

I know of one place that pulled out the lead shielding from a x-ray room, and it was hot as hell (radio active)... they buried it and the site is still a problem.

For some references -

Category: Medical and Dental Equipment/Shielding — Shielding
The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:
Q
Is there ever any radiation present in the lead that is used to shield x-ray rooms, computerized tomography (CT) scan rooms, and even radiation therapy rooms (linear accelerators)? Our company provides lead shielding materials for these types of applications, and we have always understood that radiation does not remain in the lead EVER. Can you please offer the definitive answer on this for us?
A
The radiation in rooms used with high-energy radiotherapy accelerators (above 8 MV) can cause some materials to become radioactive. The reference below gives quite a lot of information on that. Lead is not a material that becomes activated significantly in normal usage, even with the high-energy beams; however, some materials that might be in an alloy with the lead can be activated: tungsten, iron, aluminum, and antimony. Aluminum in concrete walls can also become activated. For the most part, the induced radioactivity in shielding from photon beams, the most common type of radiation used in radiotherapy, quickly decays and presents little danger to personnel or patients. When removing lead shielding from the wall of a radiotherapy room used with beams of 8 MV or greater, if the lead is alloyed with antimony, it might be prudent to have a health physicist check the lead for radioactivity before doing the deconstruction.

In rooms for radiotherapy that uses only photon beams below 8 MV, in diagnostic x-ray rooms, or in CT rooms, the lead, alloyed or not, cannot become radioactive, and the lead shielding is completely safe with respect to radiation.

Bruce Thomadsen, CHP

Reference
Thomadsen B, Nath R, Bateman FB, Farr J, Glisson C, Islam Mohammad K, LaFrance T, Moore ME, George XX, Yudelev M. Potential hazard due to induced radioactivity secondary to radiotherapy: the report of task group 136 of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Health Phys 107(5):442–460; 2014.

Nothing to do with safety, but those lead shielding "jars" do contain some antimony according to the supplier, in my case it was provided by 'Nuclead' Corp. A little tin, 2%, and I was in business. I bought mine from a guy who makes a business of buying surplus from nuclear medicine entities.

So much for the Counter Terrorism experts from the Lawrence Livermore labs..

If it's any consolation, I agree with the guys from Lawrence Livermore labs.

Lead doesn't get the Cooties from being around the Cooties.

I stripped 1500 lbs of it from drywall in the 1980's. Cast it forever since. Still have my hair and teeth. Am steril though😁

You should pass the rest on to a healthy guy who can stand the toxicity.

Think biden would accept delivery? I could air mail it😁

Sorry i reread . You said healthy guy.

When thinking about politicians, I think lead could make a great gift.

I am a dental hygienist now ( have been for 10 years, as a second career).

I grab every piece of dental lead film I can find. I am on several dental office contact lists for their lead. It is soft and pure. Grab it while you can, as most dental offices are converting to digital ( lead free) xrays, and dental lead film is "drying up" as a cast bullet lead source.

If the lead is from the room walls, double grab as much as you can haul. It is a lot of mass/weight of good soft lead. Might as well be a gold mine.

DO NOT take the protective "lead apron" they drape over you during xrays. It is not lead. It is a rubber matte, infused with lead dust. Worthless for cast bullets.

Grab all the dental X-Ray lead or lead room shielding you can. It is good stuff for cast bullets. It is soft and pure, needs hardening (ie mix 50-5O with wheel weights). It is not radioactive.

If I had a source, I would grab it! Down to a few hundred pounds. Starting to get nervous. I hate the thought of buying from places like rotometals though.

About 6-7 yrs back a buddy who is a contract plumber was working on renovating a hospital X-ray room and gave me about 8 sheets (6' x 3' x 1/8") which I was able to "tear" into workable pieces to drop into my large cast iron smelting pot. Think I got about 300 lbs of pure lead out of it.

Always looking for new sources of lead, this will finally give me something worth talking about at the dentist.