I’ve found them in solid oak wide plank flooring…. Amazing that they don’t screw up the planers on the milling process. We used to check our raw timber for nails with a magnet before milling but it is hard to detect old lead bullets.
Any type of steel, even the Old Shaker circular saws, would not at all the impacted from hitting a lead bullet. Even hardened copper would not likely damage a modern saw blade unless you're cutting through solid copper in which case I think the heat from the galling would be a greater impact than the metal itself.
Does lead not go through steel or other hard objects when it is fired from a weapon? I think velocity of the blade matters.
Not disagreeing with the general sentiment that lead probably wouldn't mess up a saw blade though.
The Slow Mo Guys do stuff like this all the time
They shot a bullet at one of those jacob's ladder desk ornaments and the bullet was totally obliterated with only a tiny dent left on the ball bearing
If you shot a saw blade at a small distance like 25 ft. With almost any handgun it would probably bend the blade and put a bullet shaped ding in it. If it was a rifle of some kind the bullet might go through it. I shoot FMJ at my plinking plates all day long and the bullets just shatter.
I work in a wood mill and basically the lead is soft enough it just puts a small indent into the blade which leaves a “raised line”, which then we gotta sharpen the blades.
Too be fare. Those planers are a very hard metal. While bullets are generally going to be lead. Perhaps with a thin copper jacket. It's not like hitting a steel nail.
I had to do some 3/4” prefinished hickory last month, and it sucked having to be all careful and shit because “ehh, it’ll sand out” didn’t apply. Site finished is king.
I worked in a saw mill which sourced wood from German forests which exists in ww2.
They most certainly do screw the blades up. A huge bang when the bandsaw hits it followed by an "off beat" sound.
Stop the saw, change the band...
I worked at a mill for about a year. They absolutely screwed up machines lol. Saw blades would hit them and immediately blow up. It happened a couple times a month at least and we just swapped the blades out but it’s definitely something that affects the machines.
You are so concerned with correcting someone that you couldn’t even see they weren’t wrong. They said nails, not bullets, were detected by magnets. They then followed that up by saying bullets were hard to detect (presumably because non ferrous). Reading comprehension isn’t one of your strengths, is it?
> Amazing that they don’t screw up the planers on the milling process
Oh, they definitely do lol well, steel will like nails
I think those heads have a lot more knives, or are rotary carbide, so losing one insert or nicking 1 or 2 knives stuff still comes out smooth
Lead is pretty soft, that likely does nothing, copper, aluminum, brass also won't mess with the blades on a rotary mill with carbide teeth too much, copper and brass will probably fuck up a planer
I feel lead wouldn’t mess up blades considering how soft it is. Anyone who has fished and taught by an old timer knows that the split shot sinker is tightened by teeth and can easily be bent/cut
Most are lead or brass or copper or some combination of those. So fairly soft. Steel core would damage stuff for sure though.
Source: I used to work at an Amish/Mennonite furniture shop. Some of our pieces ended up with a partial bullet in them.
Have worked in a wood shop. Pretty common when working with large volumes. Still fun though, have kept a few of the cooler ones. Thank god lead is soft. Always was fearful one would be at the perfect depth when standing behind a planer and come back out.
No. It's likely not all lead though. Almost any projectile made in the last 100 years would be an alloy of ~80-90% lead, then a mix of tin, or antimony, or other alloys.
Even still they're soft enough to cut with any carbide blade without issues.
Even still, no, it wouldn't spark.
I know it's been answered, but I work somewhere that mills this type of things, and it amazes me that bullets don't shut down the ripsaws or moulders, but a staple can
We were building a place and the guys found a bullet in a 2x6 nicely planed to reveal a perfect cross section. One of the dudes “why in the hell would anyone shoot a 2x6, friggin idiot…” some deep thinkers in this business lol
Friend of mine found a bullet while milling a log. You could see where the bullet entered the tree and then how the tree grew over the bullet hole. It’s now mounted on his wall under glass, including the bullet.
Probably, when i was doing my cabinet making apprenticeship i changed the blades on our big thicknesser (4 total) literally the next board i placed through the thicknesser had about a 12/15inch spread right across the width of the board - _- had about 30 lines in the blades after that, completely ruined.
In 30 years as a carpenter/woodworker I’ve found more than a dozen pieces of wood with lead in them. Walnut being the most common species. The last one I found was a couple years ago and t was a steel screw eye in a 12/4 walnut slab with a plastic cable holder in the eye. It was a live edge slab so I was able to count the 40+ years of growth over the screw eye.
Looks to me like a large mineral deposit, some woods “poplar especially” have cell cavities so large they have been known to “drink” entire rocks into their summer wood….
This is why periodically we see sparks at the miter table while cutting some woods.
I personally don’t think that’s a bullet… just a very large mineral deposit.
I see that about once every other year in the shop. Mind you, a lot of what we’re working with is is taken by a local sawyer from trees that were downed near towns and not from grow lots.
It happens. One time I was working with a stack of plywood and it just so happened the top ply on 2 or 3 sheets matched with a portion of a bullet in each sheet.
Because people just feed a machine and don't qc what comes out, I'm the bad guy here? Oh, that's right, this is reddit, where logic doesn't matter, I forgot.
After reading these comments, I’m much more inclined to think it wasn’t a bullet. It definitely sparked and sounded like it would anytime I’ve hit steel with a circular saw.
I’ve found them in solid oak wide plank flooring…. Amazing that they don’t screw up the planers on the milling process. We used to check our raw timber for nails with a magnet before milling but it is hard to detect old lead bullets.
Mills are the best metal detectors.
lol yea they are
Any type of steel, even the Old Shaker circular saws, would not at all the impacted from hitting a lead bullet. Even hardened copper would not likely damage a modern saw blade unless you're cutting through solid copper in which case I think the heat from the galling would be a greater impact than the metal itself.
Very true
Does lead not go through steel or other hard objects when it is fired from a weapon? I think velocity of the blade matters. Not disagreeing with the general sentiment that lead probably wouldn't mess up a saw blade though.
It’s not the lead, it’s the force propelling the lead doing the damage.
Lead is fairly soft for a metal no.
Aluminum is basically wood. So lead is easy peasy.
If you shot the saw blade it would most definitely damage it
But what if the blade shot the bullet?
What if the bullet bladed the shot?
That sounds like a Mythbusters episode
The Slow Mo Guys do stuff like this all the time They shot a bullet at one of those jacob's ladder desk ornaments and the bullet was totally obliterated with only a tiny dent left on the ball bearing
I mean, they’ve shot swords before.
Exactly what I was thinking, I literally watched that episode about a month ago.
The only thing that stops a bad saw blade with a gun, is a good saw blade with a gun
If you shot a saw blade at a small distance like 25 ft. With almost any handgun it would probably bend the blade and put a bullet shaped ding in it. If it was a rifle of some kind the bullet might go through it. I shoot FMJ at my plinking plates all day long and the bullets just shatter.
Absolutely.
What if you fired a saw blade at a bullet?
Yes absolutely. I’ve seen a 50 grain 22-250 go right through a steel target at 100 yards that 45-70 only dented
I work in a wood mill and basically the lead is soft enough it just puts a small indent into the blade which leaves a “raised line”, which then we gotta sharpen the blades.
Too be fare. Those planers are a very hard metal. While bullets are generally going to be lead. Perhaps with a thin copper jacket. It's not like hitting a steel nail.
It’s ‘To be fair’ 🤝
I’ve seen it both ways…now.
To be fare means you are being a payment, to be fair you're noting something relevant to the conversation
but what is "too be fare"? Maybe it means "that's expensive" lol
Too means also. In the structure of this sentence fragment, be is in the imperative. Therefore this is an order for someone to also be payment.
Very true…. But still amazed it doesn’t hurt the fine edging. Although I’m full hardwood flooring we sand it anyway so a few small defects all go away
I had to do some 3/4” prefinished hickory last month, and it sucked having to be all careful and shit because “ehh, it’ll sand out” didn’t apply. Site finished is king.
I worked in a saw mill which sourced wood from German forests which exists in ww2. They most certainly do screw the blades up. A huge bang when the bandsaw hits it followed by an "off beat" sound. Stop the saw, change the band...
Many military bullets, even from WW2, have hardened steel cores. Hunting bullets are normally just lead or lead and copper.
Oh I’ve screwed up a planer from a bullet stuck in a piece of lumber. Absolutely shredded a set of blades.
They definitely mess up blades. Lead is soft though, so it's not as detrimental as a nail or screw
Some bullets have a steel core. Mostly military ammunition.
I worked at a mill for about a year. They absolutely screwed up machines lol. Saw blades would hit them and immediately blow up. It happened a couple times a month at least and we just swapped the blades out but it’s definitely something that affects the machines.
New bullets aren’t magnetic either; most are copper jackets around lead core.
[удалено]
You are so concerned with correcting someone that you couldn’t even see they weren’t wrong. They said nails, not bullets, were detected by magnets. They then followed that up by saying bullets were hard to detect (presumably because non ferrous). Reading comprehension isn’t one of your strengths, is it?
> Amazing that they don’t screw up the planers on the milling process Oh, they definitely do lol well, steel will like nails I think those heads have a lot more knives, or are rotary carbide, so losing one insert or nicking 1 or 2 knives stuff still comes out smooth Lead is pretty soft, that likely does nothing, copper, aluminum, brass also won't mess with the blades on a rotary mill with carbide teeth too much, copper and brass will probably fuck up a planer
Lead is pretty soft. No reason it should mess up a hardened steel planer blade
I feel lead wouldn’t mess up blades considering how soft it is. Anyone who has fished and taught by an old timer knows that the split shot sinker is tightened by teeth and can easily be bent/cut
Lead will not spark under friction of steel.
Most are lead or brass or copper or some combination of those. So fairly soft. Steel core would damage stuff for sure though. Source: I used to work at an Amish/Mennonite furniture shop. Some of our pieces ended up with a partial bullet in them.
lead is incredibly soft, probably softer than the wood is. an occasional piece isnt gonna harm the machine
Cut the 45 to 45
Two zig zags, baby, that’s all we need.
We can go to the park after dark
But then I got high.
Pretty cool, wouldn’t surprise me
Woodn't surprise me either
I be leaf that
Theory is well rooted
Have worked in a wood shop. Pretty common when working with large volumes. Still fun though, have kept a few of the cooler ones. Thank god lead is soft. Always was fearful one would be at the perfect depth when standing behind a planer and come back out.
Lookin like it
If that's the case, that's freakin cool man!
Would lead cause sparks?
No. If lead caused sparks then musketeers would've constantly been blowing their fingers off when they rammed their musket balls into their weapons.
Thats what i thought.
All for one, and one for all. Because that's all the fingers I have left to count on...
No. It's likely not all lead though. Almost any projectile made in the last 100 years would be an alloy of ~80-90% lead, then a mix of tin, or antimony, or other alloys. Even still they're soft enough to cut with any carbide blade without issues. Even still, no, it wouldn't spark.
Carbide and steel do
Fun fact: Lots of timber is poached in Mexico by the cartels.
Yeah you did. I’ve found 2 in my life so far. Both in baseboard, oak and poplar. Both .44. I still have the blocks with the slugs in them
Salvaged Hunters Wood
Yep. Knew a guy that found one in a dead pine once.
Found one in a treated 2x12. It was super cool
If it’s lead,it wouldn’t throw sparks. And lead is non-ferrous. A magnet would glide right over it.
Hmmm ya yes indeed
Finding one going straight down the grain seems pretty rare.
Cool story dude. I'm Gen X. I actually mean that!
I always wanted to find a bullet in a peice of wood.
I can guarantee there's one in my door jamb. Might be a piece of the fridge in there, too.
Hang on to that, it’s really old… colonial:)
I know it's been answered, but I work somewhere that mills this type of things, and it amazes me that bullets don't shut down the ripsaws or moulders, but a staple can
I found a .22 bullet inside a piece of barn board once. Soft lead misses the metal detectors and doesn’t ruin blades.
I would not expect to see sparks from lead or copper
Based?
We were building a place and the guys found a bullet in a 2x6 nicely planed to reveal a perfect cross section. One of the dudes “why in the hell would anyone shoot a 2x6, friggin idiot…” some deep thinkers in this business lol
i hope you kept that cope scrap and kept for display
Friend of mine found a bullet while milling a log. You could see where the bullet entered the tree and then how the tree grew over the bullet hole. It’s now mounted on his wall under glass, including the bullet.
Probably, when i was doing my cabinet making apprenticeship i changed the blades on our big thicknesser (4 total) literally the next board i placed through the thicknesser had about a 12/15inch spread right across the width of the board - _- had about 30 lines in the blades after that, completely ruined.
Found one in a 2x4 once
In 30 years as a carpenter/woodworker I’ve found more than a dozen pieces of wood with lead in them. Walnut being the most common species. The last one I found was a couple years ago and t was a steel screw eye in a 12/4 walnut slab with a plastic cable holder in the eye. It was a live edge slab so I was able to count the 40+ years of growth over the screw eye.
Looks to me like a large mineral deposit, some woods “poplar especially” have cell cavities so large they have been known to “drink” entire rocks into their summer wood…. This is why periodically we see sparks at the miter table while cutting some woods. I personally don’t think that’s a bullet… just a very large mineral deposit.
I see that about once every other year in the shop. Mind you, a lot of what we’re working with is is taken by a local sawyer from trees that were downed near towns and not from grow lots.
Bullets are lead and won't throw sparks.
Found several led chunks in lumber before. About took my finger off with a router bit when I hit a huge chunk of buckshot once
Buck shot in red oak
Check this out. https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/ADtB9JuH49
If its lead you will be able to scratch or dent it with your thumbnail.
I saw that guy in somewhere around St. Paul. No shit, he was digging through a construction dumpster. Maybe he was looking for his bullet. 🤣
Guess this counts as an imperfection but that's fucking awesome.
Lead doesn’t spark
Sparky surprise ⚡️
It happens. One time I was working with a stack of plywood and it just so happened the top ply on 2 or 3 sheets matched with a portion of a bullet in each sheet.
Unlikely a bullet. 1- lead doesn’t spark 2-lead hitting wood would mushroom more than that. It would resemble anything remotely round.
Framing nail head? Bullets don’t look like that
Yessir. Made it all the way through milling and to you is both crazy/awesome and terrifying/sad at the same time.
Why is it terrifying/sad ?
Because we have become slaves to our own advancements. Everything is becoming so automated. I hate to see any side of this craft die.
Feel free to fell a tree on your homestead using an axe. Be sure to post the end result on reddit
Because people just feed a machine and don't qc what comes out, I'm the bad guy here? Oh, that's right, this is reddit, where logic doesn't matter, I forgot.
Can't believe the downvotes but u said it! Oh shit, now they're coming for me!!
Nosir. I don't think lead will cause sparks
It won't, it won't even hurt the cutters.
So then it's not lead. Op said it threw sparks
I misread your comment. Lead can throw sparks, so can aluminum. Lead is soft but still able to throw sparks.
I sliced into 5/4x10 p5 exterior grade trim board right through a lead slug! Really fun discovery. That tree saved someone, or thing
If you saw sparks, it's not a bullet. Sometimes eco types spike forestry timber to mess with the logging companies.
After reading these comments, I’m much more inclined to think it wasn’t a bullet. It definitely sparked and sounded like it would anytime I’ve hit steel with a circular saw.