I don't know if the dangers of lead were known in the 1940s, but who cares?
Why bother with it?

Go find your yellow pages phone book, check under garden centers, and find a
place that sells rubber pond liner. I say "rubber", but it may, in fact, be
a combination of other things. Whatever. It's a black material about as
thick as shoe leather, sold from a roll in the store. Much tougher than
leather, but easy to work with. My ex-wife's pond has been in place for 10
years, with no leaks, and the liner takes a beating. If you need a product
that's wider than what's sold from a roll, do a web search for flexible pond
liner. You'll find the right thing.

"newsgroup_reader" wrote in message
...
I have a circa 1940 gardening book with instructions for creating a pool
from sheet lead.

The abutting sheets are to be crimped at 90 degrees, one with 2 inches
overhang, the other with 1 inch. The longer is folded over the shorter,
then both are bent over and soldered along the seam. The pieces are joined
together in that manner into larger sections representing bottom and
sides, which are crimped together and soldered.

Can sheet-lead still be purchased? Would the lead surface oxidize over
time, as in pipes? The book says this will not harm fish, so I assume
either they're are lying, they never tried it, or some sort of patina
develops to prevent lead leaching into the water.

The book says copper can be substituted for lead, but from what I've read
this would also unhealthy for the creatures living in it.

What are your thoughts?