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?

Coffee Grinder.jpg

[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.