Smelting Question

[Preacher]

Hey folks; I have some 5 lb. lead ingots that are very hard. Most likely lino. It throws perfect boolits but they''re about 15 grs. or so lighter then what I need. I've been cutting it 3-1 with WW's (got my 15 grs. back) and am going to try 3-2 with pure lead. I guess my question is when smelting the lino into 1 lb. ingots will it soften the batch if I skim off the tin on top rather then fluxing it back into the mix? I know tin is important but wondered ifgetting some of the tin out might reduce the hardness. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Preacher

[1Shirt]

For what ever it is worth, I just flux by sturring with a wood dowl, and I leave the crud on the top to the end and then skim it off. I stur about every 10-15 min or so, and have been doing so for some time. Works for me, and consistancy of blt weight is quite good. Good luck.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[runfiverun]

tin bonds with the antimony forming a longer and stronger chain than either alone could.
however i doubt you will take very much tin outta your mix by just skimming off oxides.
if you are looking for softer boolits you gotta count the antimony, the tin really just helps you pour good boolits.
and adds to the bonding mentioned earlier.
but 3 parts lino to 2 parts pure will still be a very hard boolit.
i would suggest 1 part lino to 3 parts pure and if you want a hard boolit.
then waterdrop them you should get a bhn of 16 - 18 same as your 3-2 mix
or just air cool for good boolits in the 11-12 bhn range.

[454PB]

It's the antimony, not the tin that makes linotype hard. Even if you wanted to, you can't "skim" the tin off the top. Do what runfiverun says and dilute it down with pure lead.

[Preacher]

Thanks for the advice. I guess 3-1 it is and a search for some more pure lead plus a few more pcs. of equipment. One really does need a thermometer and hardness tester if we get in to this boolit making too deep. Plus a little bit of science! Again, thanks much.

Preacher

[cbrick]

Preacher,

runfive and 454 are correct, you do not want to remove the tin and you could only reduce the percentage of antimony (mostly antimony) and tin a bit. Tin is both valuable in the alloy and expensive and very little of the hardness is from tin. Leave it there, flux it back in.

Here's an article that may give you some tips on alloys, fluxing etc.

Cast Bullet Alloys (http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm)

Hope this helps,

Rick

[Preacher]

Rick, You are the man!! Thanks much for the superb article. Cleared up a lot of questions and a wealth of good info. Thanks again. It's folk like you Rick who make this Forum so great.

Preacher

[cbrick]

WOW . . . look at me standing here on this pedestal. [smilie=1:

Thanks Preacher, glad you enjoyed the article. It was written with new casters in mind and to give them a good footing on the alloys and their properties. With this info they can get started casting from the very basic or have a starting point to take it as far they like.

Rick