"Lead vs lead-free " Topic

As tin prices continue to rise just wondered how people felt about having miniatures that contained lead.

As far as I can see the only con is that it is toxic (if you are prepared to expend an awful lot of effort attempting to get it into your bloodstream). From my experience you get a much better casting when there is an amount of lead in the alloy, even if only 10%, and of course it lowers the cost of the metal a little. (this is assuming plastic and resin are not viable alternatives).

cheers,

Paul

I prefer the miniatures with a bit of lead in them, since they are a bit more bendable, and theoretically should be less expensive, if metal costs are being factored in.

I never saw the presence or absence of lead as an issue. other metals are more critical. I remember that many figures in the early 1980s were cast with a brittle alloy that would often break.

Rick

Lead is fine with me. I hate miniatures that do not bend at least a little and never had any issues with lead.

Jeff

Lead in the alloy is fine.

Loving the lead.
Tin type figures seem to just snap more than leady ones.

Lead alloy is the way to go.

Use some lead in all my figures. Toxic yes, to an extent, but lots of things worse and the risks are pretty low of causing any problems. Keep away from pregnant women and young children though – they'll eat anything.

I have never had a pfoblem with lead figures.

Citadel / GW tested their casting staff some years back (well before the advent of the pewter change) and found no probs. With my penchant for old lead coupled with failing memory I dare not get myself tested……

A little lead is good for the alloy

Lead alloys are mostly 'ok-fine'. Some are way more brittle than most lead-free alloys. Some are too soft. If you use the right lead alloy the resulting figures can be quite nice.

As for cost savings, there are no cost savings for my (lead) alloy of choice. For me, the cost of my lead alloy is 1/2 that of my lead free alloy. The figure yield per pound is also 1/2 that of my lead-free alloy. Thus a wash cost-wise.

Then we come to molds. My (really) old molds were cut with lead alloys in mind. Our newer molds are cut with lead-free alloys in mind. In some cases it is easy enough to adjust venting and allow a mold to work well with lead or lead-free. In other cases, it is better to just make a new mold cut specifically for lead alloys.

OK, anyhow – lead or lead-free doesn't make that much difference at the individual casting level. It does make a difference at the manufacturing level. As a manufacturer a switch to lead based alloys doesn't really make sense (for us). Of course that may change down the road based on metal prices (if lead-free was 3 times the cost of my lead based alloy I would revisit the question).

Thanks for that explanation Historifigs!

Are you saying the lead product you like is less per pound, but it is heavier and thus a wash cost-wise?

As for me, I don't mind lead at all. Reaper has a pretty good thing going with their P-65, which seems to save the customer between 20-30%. If it is going to save me some money I will take the cheaper lead alloy, but in the long run, I think it will be materials like Reaper's "Bones" plastic which will really bring down the cost of miniatures.

As usual, I'm way behind on 'stuff'…

To answer ordinarybass: Yep the lead I like is 1/2 the cost of the our lead-free and we get 1/2 as many figures per pound, so cost is the same.

That was last week. Being late March it is time for our annual metal purchase…

For this year, the good news is that prices for our lead-free alloy are down about 15% from last year (your mileage may vary). On the flip side our lead-free alloy is up. Can't comment on percentages, since it has been a few years since our last lead alloy purchase – but the price is now nearly 2/3 the price of the lead-free alloy. Which means that any figures we cast with this alloy actually cost more then their lead-free counterparts. Since 98% of our lead usage is for internal usage the extra cost isn't too noticeable.

Oh, internally we use lead alloy for: remastering projects as well as new master creation – I still like to work in lead rather than green stuff (well, for many, not all, projects).

Since we had a kid I only use lead-free stuff. I have to do my minis work in the house. I understand the risk is low, but not as low as "nil" and it is something that I can control, so I do by being lead-free.

I could not care less if figures are 100% lead as long as they lok good.

Go with the lead.

Lead is fine but didn't American makers have to stop using lead because the State of NY banned them?

One of my favorite stores in Las Vegas is the Gun Store where you can rent a machine gun. I enjoy the sign on their door that proclaims them to be a "lead free" facility.