I received a brass pepper grinder like this:  Maybe it's a modern reproduction but it certainly has patina and does not look like Pottery Barn. Unfortunately the giver helpfully melted scrap lead and poured some into the base to make it heavier and to keep it from toppling over as these things tend to do. Unfortunately lead metal is easy to buy and melt and they did not realise that the kitchen is the last place you want it. I'm not about to use it with solid lead in the part that collects the pepper. What can be done to make it usable again? Would covering that lead with some food-safe epoxy be enough? It is never going to be heated or washed, I just want to grind pepper - especially when you want a lot of pepper, like for salt & pepper squid - and then be able to tip it out and use it. (The giver would really like to see it on the kitchen table...) 
On this site, when it comes to questions about food safety we defer to official guidance (overcautious though it may be). In this situation, you won’t find much official guidance, simply because the idea is absurd. Lead has been banned in cookware for (IIRC) more than a century. While creating an epoxy barrier might be sufficient, it would be difficult to ensure that this was done correctly, or that the barrier did not crack or otherwise fail over time. It's a nice looking grinder. Use your epoxy to glue it shut so it can never be accidentally used (remove and discard the grinding surfaces, just to be certain), and put it on a display shelf. That, at least, should be safe. 