ive been exposed to linotype!!!

[mainiac]

I figured some day i would get ahold of some linotype. Finally casted some today with the 225415 mold. Bullets shine just like a mirror, and have perfect band fill-out. Just what is it, that makes lino so shiny? Noticed the shine when i play with babbit also. This mold is one of the best molds i own as far as hassle free. WW alloy and the boolit falls out when opening...... But, when i went to this straight lino, i had to start pounding on the hinge pin, to get the damn thing to fall out. Why do you suppose this is so? Also, it takes alot longer for the sprue to freeze. Is this normal, or do i have to turn heat way down? thanks,mark

[felix]

The lino cooled too quickly (very probable in 22 caliber) and the expansion of the boolit(s) got ya'. Make darn sure your mold is spike free. Let your watch jewler friend down the street use his 10X contraption to slice off the micro-burs with an extremely sharp exacto knife. These burs will surely hold a light boolit like a 22 from falling out of the mold. The normal recommendation is to turn a boolit in the mold cavity with some polishing cream. That's OK for a mold with a large diameter boolit, or a small caliber mold that is messed up anyway. ... felix

[Ricochet]

What makes it so shiny is the tin content, mainly. It takes a long time to solidify because it's approximately a eutectic mixture. That means it's at the proportions that give the lowest melting point. Also, it all solidifies at once, without going through a "slush" stage.

[Shiloh]

Lino makes a pretty boolit that shines and fills out perfectly. I don't ever have enough to use it straight, so I use it to "sweeten" the WW alloy for my rifle boolits.

Helps the mold fill-out and hardens them a bit.

Shiloh :castmine:

[Dale53]

I use straight lino for .22 and .25 bullets because they use so little alloy (light weight bullets) and fill out perfectly. The alloy can be cast at much lower temperatures than WW's. Turn the pot down to a max of 600-650 degrees.

The bullets will be larger than WW bullets due to their much higher antimony content (lino bulllets shrink a good bit less than ww's).

This alloy was created for the printing industry many, many years ago with specific characteristics (one of which is perfect casting of very small print type). It is called "linotype" because it was used in linotype machines... A eutectic alloy, which lino is, is one where the "liquidus and solidus" of the metal occurs at a single temperature (it is either liquid or solid with nothing in between).

It's brinell hardness is normally given as 22 when cast and air cooled.

I have a jealously guarded supply that only gets used as a sweetener for other alloys or I DO use with the smaller bullets (.22 & .25's).

Dale53