Pleased with works!

[DJH]

I've got a pointy tool so there... :shock:

This is the chill for the plabnter Joce. From memenory I think it was the smallest one of the set. There was about five of them of different sizes I made up to 30" square.



and a few more chills I seem to have ended up with. I thought I'd sold them all...

A wall sun dial



A fleur de lisle



Doug

 

[jocelyn plummer]

My faux lead planters have only just started to disintegrate after 10 years, they withstood blazing heat in NN 2003-2009 and freezing Bedfordshire winters , and have now decided to reveal their sacking linings. This is probably due to the roots of enormous box balls that are growing within!! Take heart Joce, listen to Auntie Kirstie Allsop and go skip dipping, keep an eye out for builders rubbish and you might just stumble across the real things one day! ( I wish).

BTW this thread must be a record length of preambles beginning with a genuine PPUK topic-----removing render and restoring the outside of BC!!

Love it :!:

 

[Penners]

Next you'll be telling me that... David Cameron isn't an odious, smug & irritating little man.

That's unjust! David Cameron isn't little!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Gorgeous work Doug, nice to see the pics.

And whilst I've got your reading attention - quick question - this weekend I'm
painting the dormer window frame which is surrounded by a lot of lead. I find this lead extremely unattractive and dirty looking. Is it called flashing? Would it be better cleaned and painted dark grey - the light catches the silvery metallicness of it and it shines out as you drive down the track from the top of the hill - I wish the previous owner had made a neater job of it ( he was a metal worker and made industrial machine parts in the workshop here for a living -not in your league)
Is it ok to use sugar soap on this lead and all the cast iron down pipes?


Yes, a very rambling thread :lol:

 

[DJH]

Joce! Lead, unattractive??? :shock: :shock: :shock:

I guess you're talking about the window surrounds (the vertical bits either side of the window?) and the cheeks? Cladding might be a better description but I'm puzzled when you say there is a metallic shine from it. Lead normally, and fairly quickly, forms a silver grey dull patina, which I wouldn't describe as shiny, when exposed to the elements. This can be retarded by the application of patination oil, or liquid, which will degrade in ultra violet light and allow an even patina to form over time. This is very useful on larger areas of lead enabling the surface to look the same until the natural patina forms. Too much, or rather too many, coats of oil can make the lead shiny but also tends to make it look darker, almost black.

I wonder, given that the previous owner was a metalworker, if he has used something like stainless steel or a terne (solder) coated metal (which could be copper or stainless steel) which would have a metallic shine but that's just a guess of course. A photo would be good.

You can, as far as I know, (Penners will know ) use sugar soap if you like on both lead and cast iron and you can paint the lead flashings if you want although, as you can probably guess it wouldn't be to my taste. I'm no expert on paint but in my experience the more coats of paint that there are on lead seems to result in it flaking away easier probably because of the expansion and contraction going on.

There are proprietary lead cleaning gels which will remove the sooty sort of crud which forms on lead especially near chimneys and in cities, but a mixture of vinegar and water scrubbed over the surface with one of those plastic scrubber things I see Mrs DJH attack saucepans with now and again will remove the worst of it. Rinse well after and then apply a coat of patination oil. Never use a dry abrasive such as a wire brush or glass paper because of the resultant poisonous lead dust which is not good for you when ingested.

Lead unattractive and dirty looking!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Doug :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thank you so much for that most informative post, so helpful! Will take a pic and I think you will criticise his work, I think it's crude and clumsy, not like your work.

 

[Penners]

Penners will know

In matters leaden, Doug, I am an ignoramus. I defer entirely to your undoubted expertise.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Take care of your flashing Joce--it will look fine with a bit of a clean

 

[Penners]

Take care of your flashing Joce--it will look fine with a bit of a clean

That seems like a maxim to live by.

 

[LadyArowana]

Take care of your flashing Joce--it will look fine with a bit of a clean

That seems like a maxim to live by.

Was that an intentional pun or a Freudian slip?

 

[DJH]

:lol: :lol: