Boiler plate lead?

[Blackwater]

Some time back, I picked up some lead that was said to be scraps from an old boiler. I have a fair amount of it, but haven't melted much. Of the little I have, one friend told me that at least parts of it are "hard as a woodpecker's beak." I don't have a clue about what's in the alloy, but if it's that hard, I'm suspecting it'll need a good dose of tin to keep the bullets from shattering when they hit something. What little I've melted into other alloy has seemed to be slower in melting than WW's or near pure lead, and that's the extent to which I've researched or tested it. There are sections of lead pipe, and the joints, which are separated, and seem to have been sawed off from the rest.

Anybody got a clue about the composition of this stuff? There's the pipe, which I assume isn't very hard, and the joints, which appear to have been poured to seal the joints. I can just melt it and try some, but thought I'd ask here in order to get as much info as I can, in hopes of making better bullets. If anyone knows what these have typically been composed of, I'd appreciate your expertise in this.

[Tatume]

Boiler plate refers to plates of type that were made up and shipped around the country to be used for printing posters and advertising (maybe 1800?), rather than printing the materials and shipping the posters themselves. The plates were usually made of steel, to better survive the shipping process, but I suppose they could have also been made of very hard lead alloy. These plates are the origin of the modern term "boiler plate" used in contracts, because the purpose of them was to ensure that the language was used as written, and not modified.

Since you have already established that you can melt it, I suggest making up a batch with 80% soft lead, and then do a hardness test. That won't really tell you what is in the alloy, but it will tell you if it can be used for bullet making. It probably has a lot of antimony, and a fair amount of tin. So just dilute it until you get the hardness you want, and I suspect it will cast pretty bullets.

[skeettx]

rather than boiler plate lead, I would bet it is printer plate lead and therefore Monotype or similar

See here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_metal

So it has LOTS of tin :) and will need lead added to soften it up.

All the better

Mike

[RogerDat]

My guess is the same, hard lead plates would already be over rich in alloys. Cut it with some plain, or SOWW's and see how far it will go toward making lots of plain lead into good bullet alloy.

Me I would start with 4 parts lead to one part of your hard lead and see what you have for hardness and casting flow. If too soft add measured amounts of the hard lead until you get the hardness you need. Since you know what you started with by the end you will have a ratio of X pounds of plain lead to Y pounds of your unknown hard lead = good bullets. There you have it. Increase amounts by even multiples and repeat as needed.

You may find you need a little tin sometimes in order to maintain a good ratio or balance between tin and antimony. Linotype to Lyman #2 requires a small percentage of added tin to hit the #2 alloy ratios. But I'm betting your stuff if plate is richer than linotype.

[bangerjim]

Forget all the guessing!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a hunk of it to a local scrap yard and have an x-ray gun analysis done. I cannot understand why more people do not do that simple procedure, rather than asking all of us to guess as to what the composition is. I know EXACTLY what the make-up of ALL my alloys are from the x-ray gun shoots I have done.

Even if you have to pay for the gun shoot, it will be well worth the few $$ you spend to know EXACTLY what you have and can plug those EXACT %'s into the free alloy calculator found on here.

banger.

[Bodean98]

Blackwater,
Member BNE offers this service for the measly sum of 1lb of lead/sample tested. Shoot him a PM and get the particulars.
I must live in an area where the scrap yards don't care about the content of the metals because I have not been able to find one that has an x-ray gun. BNE's service is timely and inexpensive and as best I can tell, accurate.

[retread]

Forget all the guessing!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a hunk of it to a local scrap yard and have an x-ray gun analysis done. I cannot understand why more people do not do that simple procedure, rather than asking all of us to guess as to what the composition is. I know EXACTLY what the make-up of ALL my alloys are from the x-ray gun shoots I have done.

Even if you have to pay for the gun shoot, it will be well worth the few $$ you spend to know EXACTLY what you have and can plug those EXACT %'s into the free alloy calculator found on here.

banger.

That would be my preference but the "local scrap yard" in my area is about a 2 hour drive. :cry:

[bangerjim]

That would be my preference but the "local scrap yard" in my area is about a 2 hour drive. :cry:

Save up for a road trip! Well worth it if you have a bunch of that lead. I sure would. Rather than playing a guessing game.

[rbuck351]

I'm probably 2000 miles from a scrap yard with one of those things but BNEs service would be easy and well worth using especially if you don't have a lead hardness tester.

[bangerjim]

I'm probably 2000 miles from a scrap yard with one of those things but BNEs service would be easy and well worth using especially if you don't have a lead hardness tester.

Aren't you about 2000 miles away from just about EVERYTHING up there?????? HA......ha!

banger

[rbuck351]

Yeah, I'm about 2000 miles from a lot of stuff most of you take for granted. But not for too much longer.

[Blackwater]

Thanks to jim and bodean for the sage advice. I'm pretty certain the local junk yard doesn't have any kind of analysis stuff. The bullets I made from the soft/plate lead turned out very nice, so there's not been a whole lot of motivation to find out the actual particulars, but all responses were well taken and appreciated.

I was given to understand it was a water tank that was heated and/or under some sort of pressure. I'm pretty certain it was very old, and from a whole 'nother era than our own. It just finally found its way to the junk yard, and I scarfed it up, and glad to. The poured joints came off, apparently, pretty intact, and seem to be the hardest of the lot, with the plate sheets at least a bit softer. Sure is good to have some hard stuff, at least, though I'll alloy it to be softer.

These days, ANY lead is good lead!

[Lloyd Smale]

I worked on and operated boiler for 14 years of my life and have never seen anything made of lead in use on any of them. Now I'm talking power plant sized boilers not home heating. I cant even dream up any use for a lead water container on a boiler. Steel is lighter stronger and cheaper.

[Mal Paso]

I worked on and operated boiler for 14 years of my life and have never seen anything made of lead in use on any of them. Now I'm talking power plant sized boilers not home heating. I cant even dream up any use for a lead water container on a boiler. Steel is lighter stronger and cheaper.

That's what I was thinking. It's probably some old nuclear reactor thingy. Got a Geiger Counter? :bigsmyl2: