Boolit Master??!?

[mikeym1a]

I just asked a question, and happened to notice that I had reached 'Boolit Master'. Quite a honor for one so ignorant! Maybe one day I'll be smart.;-)

[mikeym1a]

So much for being a 'Boolit Master'. Here's a question for someone, anyone, smarter than me. (that could be most anyone!)

What are lead pipes made of? I know, LEAD!!! But, what else? I'm getting a dull grey scum on top the pot, and the temp is only 640 according to my Lyman lead temp guage. The last pot I fluxed with sawdust 3 times, and finally got something that looked like shiny lead. And with each flux, the sawdust came away with a lot of grey sludge. This is the first time I rendered down old lead pipe, and am confused. Any Ideas??

[NoZombies]

Lead pipe is most often pure lead. Lead pipe joints however, and some cast parts will have tin content.

The scum you're getting is most likely the residue from oxidation. You may or may not be able to reduce more of it back into the melt with more flux.

[1500FPS]

Don't forget there can be lots of crud on the inside surface of the pipe in-addition to corrosion everywhere on it. I believe there is antimony in some lead pipe to aid in extruding it. Very little.

[Mal Paso]

Not all the "Slag" will reduce and the crud that remains needs to be removed and properly disposed of.

[captaint]

What Mal said. At least the pipe lead, sheet lead, most of it anyway, is fairly soft. I pretty much just consider it "pure". It's about as soft as any lead we are gonna get for free, save maybe stick on WW's. Those things are dead soft. Mike

[mikeym1a]

Okay. I did reduce the heat of the melt from about 720 to 640. I do get a brownish haze on top, that turns purple if I leave it very long. BUT, adding more flux does get rid of it. I had lead pipe, some diver's weights, three ingots of metal from unknown sources. It's not as clean as the stuff I got the day before, and was wondering. STILL waiting on my Lee Lead Hardness Tester. There is a formula on Wiki that is supposed to give you the Binnell hardness of a material. I'm gonna rig me a press, using a bathroom scale, and a ball bearing, and a lever actuated press and see IF I can get a stable reading.

[mikeym1a]

Not all the "Slag" will reduce and the crud that remains needs to be removed and properly disposed of.
When this bucket if full, my son and I will empty it onto a sheet of OSB, and break it up, and sift it. I will already have a pot of molten alloy, and anything grey will go into the pot. The WW clips will go into a seperate bucket for recycling, and the dross from this rendering will go into a seperate bucket for deposit at the landfill. (Don't know what else to do with it.) Each time I skim, it seems a small amount of good alloy goes into the bucket with the trash. I try to get that back.

[Vinne]

I just asked a question, and happened to notice that I had reached 'Boolit Master'. Quite a honor for one so ignorant! Maybe one day I'll be smart.;-)

Stick with this site and you'r well on your way.