My enamel paints solidfied by lead balls

You can have your doctor check your blood lead levels. However, unless  you were eating it, painting it on your skin, or chipping the dried paint off before applying new, your exposure would probably be minimal.

If you work with lead, or lead containing materials, frequently, it's not a bad idea to get checked periodically. Lead poisoning is treatable. 

Triarius wrote:

namrednef wrote: As far as the sinkers in Humbrol.....seems like a no brainer to me.....adding lead to lead based paint. It would seem that Humbrol used all the lead that was needed. I must have missed this. Lead hasn't been used in paint for at least twenty years (except maybe in third world countries or former Soviet bloc countries). It was replaced by zinc. The reasons are that lead pigments are too difficult to manufacture safely, and it has been illegal to use it in domestic applications since some time in the 1950s, IIRC. (Military and speciallized coatings may have been an exception, at least until old stocks were used up.)

mea culpa........I did not read closely enough.....but I'm still a little freaked for as much as I used white lead in the past!

namrednef wrote:

As far as the sinkers in Humbrol.....seems like a no brainer to me.....adding lead to lead based paint. It would seem that Humbrol used all the lead that was needed.

I must have missed this. Lead hasn't been used in paint for at least twenty years (except maybe in third world countries or former Soviet bloc countries). It was replaced by zinc. The reasons are that lead pigments are too difficult to manufacture safely, and it has been illegal to use it in domestic applications since some time in the 1950s, IIRC.

(Military and speciallized coatings may have been an exception, at least until old stocks were used up.) 

 

Sheesh Ross! I have often wondered about the white lead we used in Navy was a toxic goo. Smelled like hell and always had a syrupy yellow ooze that had to blended back in. Well, that was over 30 years ago.

As far as the sinkers in Humbrol.....seems like a no brainer to me.....adding lead to lead based paint. It would seem that Humbrol used all the lead that was needed.

A great source for steel ball bearings.....local auto repair shops! They toss old ones out everyday. They may look at you strangely, but I'm sure you can have all you want.

With your safety glasses on.........you can smash the outer bearing race with a hammer to get to the balls of the matter. A safer way is to drop a concrete block on the bearing to get the job done. If it is a 'caged' bearing, you will need tin-snips to free the ball bearings.

I suspect your Humbrol with lead dried out because you use those particular colors more than the Humbrol without them.  The more the tins are opened, the more they are exposed to air.  I've always liked Humbrol, but I always stir and shake it.  I do not add BBs to my Humbrol.  I add BBs to my bottle paints and haven't had any problems with them.

Look for ball bearing suppliers. Auto parts stores and places that sell repair parts for bicycles. Try  Googling  for the latter.

Thank you so much for the input and health concern. So far I have not felt sick yet 9 seal all lead balls in plastic bag), but just to be in the safe side I better get rid all of them. BTW, do you folks know where I can get those stainless steels balls you mention? I live in Canada, so it'll be diffiicult to get a shotgun not to mention shotgun pebbles. I wonder if any hardware stores carry it.  

Item: Yes, the lead did cause deterioration of your enamel paint. Lead is a very chemically active metal.

Item: Lead and many lead compounds (particularly "white lead," the common corrosion product found on lead that has been stored in less than dry conditions) are extremely toxic. However, it is the corrosion products that are most soluble and most readily absorbed through the skin. Properly done, reloading and casting should not raise your exposure to lead significantly. Exposure to aerosolized lead, such as at a poorly ventilated indoor range, however, will.

Children, infants, and small animals are particularly vulnerable to heavy metal poisoning.

Item: Stainless steel is the only metal you should use as an aggitator ball in paint. The copper on BBs will also react with some paint components, as copper is only slightly less reactive than lead. 

HawkeyeHobbies wrote:

I like using wooden craft sticks. I stir the initial start by hand then switch over to my cordless Dremel with the craft stick inserted into the collet. Using the slowest speed I get consistently  mixed paint without a bunch of air bubbles.

I tried that, I used a old paint brush I modded then I got some plastic and super glued it to the sides, to make something that looked like a boat propeller.  I tried it, worked AMAZING, mixed it perfect in a second.  but I tried it on one that was really thick and a pain, it broke the blades off the little propellor <sob>

MonsterZero wrote:

The lead balls did not mess up the chemical contents of the paint except by using lead balls you are exposing yourself to a toxic heavy metal by introducing lead into the paint. You will get contaminated by handing the lead and worse of all you will inhale lead vapors as you use the paints later. Never use lead ballast, use copper  BB shot for air guns. In the interest of your health, you'll be best off throwing away the lead-contaminated paints and not handle them ever again.

With all due respect, I guess I should be dead, from melting and casting lead.

The lead balls did not mess up the chemical contents of the paint except by using lead balls you are exposing yourself to a toxic heavy metal by introducing lead into the paint. You will get contaminated by handing the lead and worse of all you will inhale lead vapors as you use the paints later. Never use lead ballast, use copper  BB shot for air guns. In the interest of your health, you'll be best off throwing away the lead-contaminated paints and not handle them ever again.

I like using wooden craft sticks. I stir the initial start by hand then switch over to my cordless Dremel with the craft stick inserted into the collet. Using the slowest speed I get consistently  mixed paint without a bunch of air bubbles.

 

I don't use Humbrol, m'self... But it sounds to me that you oughtta just quit using fishing weights, or switch to steel weights... Some guys use BBs for mixing balls, but I don't do that either... I'm a stick-stir guy, just dig down into the glop and mix it up... But if I were to put a mixing ball into a paint bottle, I use steel shot rather than brass or lead... For enamels and laquers, that is... For water-based paints, I'd use brass BBs so there's no chance of rust forming in the bottle...

As for enamels containg lead, I don't think that it's legal to manufacture and sell leaded paints in the U.S. anymore... Don't take that as gospel though...