identifying lead paint

[franklin pug]

i picked up some great old windows from a person throwing them away. I want to sand the old paint off the frame and use them for a project.

They look pretty old (50 years maybe), how can i tell if the paint is lead or not? I would just go ahead and sand them anyways if i had the right gear, but my NIOSH 95 respirator is no good for lead dust!

Suggestions?

[BHD]

I have seen kits at ACE that allows one to test the paint, but if there 50 years old you can all most guarantee that there is lead paint on them.

http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGIH,GGIH:2007-02,GGIH:en&q=lead+paint+test+kit&um=1&sa=N&tab=wf

[Newman]

Can't you just use paint stripper instead of sanding?

[MrsSeatDown]

http://www.ronhazelton.com/howto/lead_paint_removal.htm

This link shows stripping the paint. . .and the funny part. . . there is a link to win a free Ridgid seesnake micro;)

Joey

[Rafael]

Considering the age I would work assuming that there is lead paint somewhere there.
Use paint stripper and scrape off any paint that isn't removed by the stripper. That should get off enough where you can get away with a minimum of sanding.

[ToUtahNow]

I think I can geneally tell by tasting a small paint chip but I can't remember anymore.

Mark