De-electrifying a coffee mill

[Moses Yoder]

New Paris garage sales this weekend and when I saw this I jumped on it. It was marked at $45 and I offered $30 and my offer was accepted. I really like old coffee grinders and this is the coolest looking type I think. I was doing drive bys and thought it was probably a plastic reproduction but it is the real deal made into a lamp. I think they poured lead into the top to install the stem for the bulb. How would I go about putting it back into service? Any experience with these out there?

315220

[Jamie Buxton]

You should be able to peel out the lead. I've taken apart a lead-and-oakum joint in cast iron sanitary plumbing. The lead didn't really bond to the cast iron. It just had a mechanical grip. So you should be able to drill into your lead in several places, grab it with pliers, and pull it out. If all else fails, you can melt the lead out. It melts at a much lower temperature than the cast iron. You'll wreck the paint job with the torch, so you'll have to repaint it.

Then you have to consider the parts that actually grind the coffee. Dunno anything about them. Are they still inside? Are they sharp? It looks like you can get into the grinder parts by going in from the front.

[Bruce Page]

Remember that lead is quite toxic. I wouldn't want to ingest anything that had any contact with it.

[Moses Yoder]

Remember that lead is quite toxic. I wouldn't want to ingest anything that had any contact with it.

Considering the number of years the earth has existed and the quantity of lead, I think it is safe to say all of our water has come in contact with lead.

[Jerome Stanek]

Considering the number of years the earth has existed and the quantity of lead, I think it is safe to say all of our water has come in contact with lead.

not only that but how many houses have lead soldered pipes. The lead in the mill should come out with no residue of just trace.

[Rick Gibson]

not only that but how many houses have lead soldered pipes. The lead in the mill should come out with no residue of just trace.

I worked in electronics for 40 years handling lead solder daily, tested a few years ago and lead levels were normal.

[Lee Schierer]

not only that but how many houses have lead soldered pipes. The lead in the mill should come out with no residue of just trace.

Unless you have acidic water, after a brief interval of use, any exposed lead is not likely to leach out. If it did then older pipe systems would start to develop leaks at each and every soldered joints. In acidic water regions, the lead does leach out and you should get the water from the tap tested to see if the lead levels are safe.

[Bruce Page]

Hot water isn't the issue, it's the coffee beans being ground up by contaminated cast iron that I would be uncomfortable with. To each their own, I'm just raising the flag.

[Lee Schierer]

Hot water isn't the issue, it's the coffee beans being ground up by contaminated cast iron that I would be uncomfortable with. To each their own, I'm just raising the flag.

One or both of teh big box stores have lead paint test kits that are easy to use and will tell you if there is any lead present once he removes the poured in lead.

[Bruce Page]

One or both of teh big box stores have lead paint test kits that are easy to use and will tell you if there is any lead present once he removes the poured in lead.

And the big box test kits would be certifiable to FDA testing standards?

[Mike Cutler]

Hot water isn't the issue, it's the coffee beans being ground up by contaminated cast iron that I would be uncomfortable with. To each their own, I'm just raising the flag.


And it's a pretty darn good flag to raise Bruce!

Lead, in trace amounts, is in water, trace amounts, Lead above certain levels is toxic, and there really isn't much more to it than that.

Moses
If it's lead, it should come out pretty easy. Drill it and or mill it out, don't hit it with a torch unless you have to, and have some extremely good ventilation going.Watch out that it may be old Babbitt material.

Take care of your health.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Considering the number of years the earth has existed and the quantity of lead, I think it is safe to say all of our water has come in contact with lead.

Respectfully, that is ridiculous and untrue. Countless people have died or suffered severe, irreversible bodily damage that is directly attributable to lead exposure. We should be celebrating the modern science and medicine that has allowed us to understand this link and better avoid the risk, not relying on anecdotes or wild suppositions about how the earth was formed.

That said, absorption of lead via oral ingestion is not as harmful as some other exposure routes, and adults are less susceptible than children. Still - I wouldn't drink coffee that has been ground in that thing, and I'd suggest you shouldn't, either.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I worked in electronics for 40 years handling lead solder daily, tested a few years ago and lead levels were normal.

Presumably you weren't eating it, though. Lead is very poorly absorbed through skin. Drinking, eating, or breathing lead is much more harmful.

[Mel Miller]

[QUOTE=Mike Cutler;2427



.Watch out that it may be old Babbitt material.

.[/QUOTE]

What difference would it make if it was babbitt?

[Mike Cutler]

What difference would it make if it was babbitt?

The melting point will be a little higher, and getting it out will be a little more difficult, than lead. If it's babbitt, it will conform and bond to every little surface distortion in the original cast. It would have to be torched out.

[Pat Barry]

You willl likley need to melt it out of the mill. Pure lead melts at ~ 620 deg F. Hopefully they used an alloy. Typical plumbing type soldering alloys melt around 400 deg F. If you melt it out and scour the parts well, maybe even give them a light sandblasting for example, the lead should not be a concern

[Karl Andersson]

Moses,
nice find- and I applaud your desire to get it working again. Whether or not you'll be able to "get the lead out" will depend on several things already mentioned - plus on how much lead/ filler they used. If you're lucky, the lead is a relatively thin layer poured on top of a dam, like a tin can lid, wad of aluminum foil, sand, etc.. Too bad they didn't just use the original lid for the hopper. Your question wasn't about lead removal, but putting it back in service- I've included some lead-removal stuff below, but first, your question: as Jamie said, you should be able to get at the parts along the axle - there should be an access panel. the guts are pretty simple - you might get lucky with modern replacements depending on the configurations and axles - look up "coffee grinder burr" to see parts- apparently there are many still made in China. If you're VERY lucky, the ones Lehmans makes for their new grinder will fit.

If the wheel and axle move freely, the lead probably isn't too deep and you could carefully drill and chisel it out. If it has bonded to the iron around the rim, manually remove as much as you can without grinding it- files, chisels, etc. followed by good hand-washing should keep you lead-free. At that point, take it outdoors and use a torch or heat gun (old ones get hot enough) to melt out the remainder. Just don't go crazy with the heat - lead is a respiratory hazard when you burn it (or high-speed grind/ sand it) - melting doesn't make fumes that you can inhale, so once it starts melting, just be patient.

There are several ways to clean the inside of the hopper to make it lead-free; many of those you'd do anyways to make the cast iron clean enough for coffee...unless you LIKE rust-flavored coffee. If you want ideas, just ask.

Karl

[Peter Kelly]

I think you'll be disappointed at the quality of coffee grind you typically get from those old hand-turned mills. Will likely be a lot be a lot of irregular sized pieces of beans that won't brew too well.

[Myk Rian]

I wouldn't bother using it as a coffee grinder.

[Moses Yoder]

I think you'll be disappointed at the quality of coffee grind you typically get from those old hand-turned mills. Will likely be a lot be a lot of irregular sized pieces of beans that won't brew too well.

All the talk of lead and this post right here has convinced me that I will not rest until I have ground coffee with it. The Coleman convention is coming up and that will be the perfect opportunity. I have a new generator to put on my 460G HGP and will look for a vintage 1 gallon percolator.

[Mike Cutler]

All the talk of lead and this post right here has convinced me that I will not rest until I have ground coffee with it. The Coleman convention is coming up and that will be the perfect opportunity. I have a new generator to put on my 460G HGP and will look for a vintage 1 gallon percolator.

Motivation is a good thing.
Lead aside, I think it's a pretty cool grinder you got there. I'm certain you'll get 'er up and running in short order.
Enjoy that first cup.

[Tom Stenzel]

All the talk of lead and this post right here has convinced me that I will not rest until I have ground coffee with it. The Coleman convention is coming up and that will be the perfect opportunity. I have a new generator to put on my 460G HGP and will look for a vintage 1 gallon percolator.

A 1 gallon percolator? Wow, you must really be thirsty!

Just some more information: there's still plenty of houses in Detroit that have lead water services. They were also still being installed in Chicago until 1980 or so.

I remember talking to one of the guys that did the reports about the lead and copper limits. I asked why are we so worried about copper when we're installing copper water services and pipes throughout the area? His reply:

"The lead wasn't killing 'em fast enough."

-Tom

[Moses Yoder]

I dug into it further last night for the little bit of time I had. Because the sucker is so heavy and I thought a little scrape with my knife showed silver in poor lighting I assumed it was poured full of lead. It turns out to be poured full of plaster of paris or something like that, a white powdery substance, possibly the legal kind. I also figured out that I can dissasemble it and inspect the interior mechanism before taking out the light fixture; if the interior is worn out with no parts available I will simply modify it slightly so I can put a nice shade on it and use it as a lamp.

[Mel Miller]

This looks like it's going to be a slow project. 4 days just to find out it's filled with plaster instead of lead. :rolleyes:

[Moses Yoder]

This looks like it's going to be a slow project. 4 days just to find out it's filled with plaster instead of lead. :rolleyes:

It is not certain yet that it is plaster.

[Phil Thien]

It is not certain yet that it is plaster.

Sounds like asbestos.

[Bruce Page]

Sounds like asbestos.

Infused with lead and sealed with mercury. :eek: