Things aren't always as they seem

[Jesse Busenitz]

I got a bit of yellow pine lumber that came out of the bottom of a grain bin(it was holding up the drying floor, but I think was originally part of some house truss) and was processing it the other day. Pulled out a ton and a half of nail/screws. I ended up running one nail through my jointer so I had to flip a few cutters on my spiral head. I then proceeded to run everything through the planer, and as I was catching a board on the outfeed I hear a noise and looked at the board and there were close to 10 bright shinny spots! How could I miss that many nails/screws? Oh and I had just put in new knives..... so I pulled the board aside and ran the rest through. I went back to work on the problem board and looked a little closer, and started digging only to find out that someone had peppered that board with a shotgun! It looked like #5 shot or so. I'm guessing some coon or other varmint was under there and the PO decided to eradicate it. Anyways although it was probably hard on the blades, at least it didn't nick them, as everything is still coming out flat.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Nothing beats ripping a board with a Forrest WWII that contains a steel jacketed bullet. Or even worse, one of those little staples that hold SKU tag on end of board. The results are the same.

[Jim Morgan]

Soft lead shot didn't faze your carbide inserts.

[Tom Trees]

Get a metal detecting wand man
I got a second hand security type which is like the lumber wizard
I use mine a lot and the battery seems to last long so far 1 year
Soooo glad I did .
Tomas

[Bill Dufour]

Second the wand but realize it does not detect rock and sand embedded in the wood.
Bill

[Tom Trees]

But you can see that, granted sometimes its hard to know what to do about it
processing .JPG
Tomas

[Jesse Busenitz]

Get a metal detecting wand man
I got a second hand security type which is like the lumber wizard
I use mine a lot and the battery seems to last long so far 1 year
Soooo glad I did .
Tomas

I do have a wizard II and pulled out over 30 screws and nails! Just must of gone too fast on that one as it was pretty small. I also took a wire brush to the wood and then a bristle brush to clean it up before milling it.

[Lee Schierer]

Finding lead in boards is not unusual. My father encountered lead shot in some black walnut and I found a bullet in some red oak that I was using. Lead is pretty soft so it doesn't hurt saw blades or cutters.

[Yonak Hawkins]

... those little staples that hold SKU tag on end of board.

This should be outlawed.

[Patrick Kane]

In the last year ive sawn an embedded bullet in half and planed shotgun shot. What are the odds? These are all commercially sourced lumber too. In both cases i didnt perceive a problem. Carbide must eat lead.

Yes, i think the industry was switching over to plastic staples? I usually trim the ends off my boards to rid myself of any staining or checking, but it really ticks me off when they staple my order on the sides of the boards. Those can go undetected and really F a jointer blade. I am pretty thorough when searching for staples prior to milling.

[Jim Becker]

Using recycled materials often comes with a "dose of the unknown"...a good quality metal detector (not the cheapo-units) is a good investment if you plan on using recycled lumber a lot!

[John TenEyck]

Lead bullets and bird shot don't hurt steel knives either. I've planed quite a few over the years, in both commercial lumber and trees I've milled myself. Barbed wire and those big steel screws used to attach electrical insulators to trees, however, make a heck of mess. Ugh.

John

[John K Jordan]

In the last year ive sawn an embedded bullet in half and planed shotgun shot.

Cutting through lead is probably less wear on woodworking tools than some wood species.

I sliced up a big block of walnut and ended up with a stack of thin boards with dozens of bullets, many with torn traces through the wood, some grown over with more years of healing wood. The rest of the tree had no bullets so this block must have been from the center of the target area.

I cut a few small blocks that showed some bullets and traces and sanded and finished one as a paperweight gift for my local gun dealer. I thing the thin boards would make some interesting boxes.

JKJ

[Mel Fulks]

In the last year ive sawn an embedded bullet in half and planed shotgun shot.

And added alliterative lore by a lot!

[Curt Harms]

The good news is that lead shot doesn't hurt cutters. The bad news is that in some places non-toxic (steel) shot is required. I'm not a hunter so don't know details but I think this applies to waterfowl. The powers-that-be didn't want to add a bunch of lead to waterways which seems sensible at least at first glance.