marking ingots

[686]

if you were to mark your bullet ingots, what yould you mark? i make 5 lb ingots when i mix my lead for my bullets. thought it might be nice to mark them as not to forget which is which. if it were wheel weights you could put W or WW. WHAT ABOUT BULLET MIX. i was also wondering if i could put a weld bead in the bottom of my ingot mold so they would be marked as i cast them. i would like to use as few of letters as i can. maybe B for bullet or H for hard. has any one done this? thanks for your help

[Ricochet]

I use a black marker, with alloy initials I hope to remember.

[pumpguy]

What ever you do, make a key to the abbreviations and keep it somewhere safe. You would hate to forget what you were doing a couple of years down the road.

[Johnw...ski]

I just stamp them with a single stamp, 1,2,3, A,B,C, etc. I have a file in my computer where I keep my loading data an there I have a folder with my lead data. So for example an ingot marked "1" would be a 30 to 1 Pb to Sn mix or "L" would be linotype.

John

[Boerrancher]

I for most of my shooting I use WW and range lead. I have a pile of range lead ingots and a pile of WW ingots. I pull the number of range lead and number of WW ingots I want and put them in the furnace to make my alloy. I also have Lino ingots that are completely different in shape from anything else. If I want an extra hard boolit I toss in the proper poundage of Lino into the pot.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[imashooter2]

I use a black permanent marker same as Ricochet.

[Old Ironsights]

I have a pile of WW and a pile of pb.

I mix at the point of casting and cast until dry.

No point in confusing things.

[cabezaverde]

I just hit them with a little shot of spray paint. Not the whole ingot, just a thin stripe.

Yellow is pure, green is lino, black is range scrap, unpainted is ww.

[GabbyM]

I've an old galvanized steel trash can. a couple of five gallon buckets and a wood box. I mark the containers and dump them in. Spray paint sounds doable. But I'm to cheap to buy paint.

At the moment I've a pile of 2/3 alloy ingots just laying where they fell. I'm working off the top of the pile. It's lead you know. Hard for an old guy to move about several times.

[MT Gianni]

I take a screwdriver and etch WW ,#2, or PB in them.

[357maximum]

I use a set of comunist block el cheapo metal stamps for special alloys..... everything else is in it's appropriate pile/ or /container

[largom]

I probably go overboard but I use metal number and letter stamps to mark base metals and alloys. I melt the base metals [lead, wheel weights, lino] in a 100 lb. pot, pour into ingots and then stamp the ingots according to metal and BATCH No. Each 100 lb. pot is a different batch No. for that metal. EX: WW Bat.2 is wheel weights batch No. 2. PB [lead] Bat. 1 is lead batch No. 1 , L [for Lino] Bat. 1 .
Alloys are stamped A [for alloy] and a number. The alloy number only changes if the mix changes. The alloy numbers are kept in my load book and tell me what percent of each base metal was used and what BATCH No. the metal came from.Hopefully this allows me to duplicate alloys more precise.

Larry

[cohutt]

mark container for small ingots, mark big ingots directly with a marker that smells like

ww= obvious, wheel weights
pb= soft seals flashing etc
pb al = pure lead (al is code for the source)


from a while back before i reorganized :

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m284/cohutt/pb/misc104.jpg

[jawjaboy]

Heap a good ingot ID soloutions here. The key is to remember your code, whatever it may wind up being. Already been said, but it a be the key to your memory 30 years down the road. :wink:

[twotrees]

A Schmidty alloy then ???[smilie=1:


LOL

Neater than mine by a mile.

I put them in stacks and hope I remember what is what.

[Typecaster]

I basically like Richochet's plan, except I can't that I can't even remember my own initials now that it's happy hour and I've topped off my first martooni (by topping 'em off, I don't have to keep an accurate count).

I have found that solvent markers (marks-a-lot and sharpei) in colors other than black do tend to fade. Blue seems to be the worst.

My dad (97+) has a simple formula: he uses a cold chisel to mark "WW" for WWs, or "L' for lno I gave him. He has a lot more spare time than I do. If it's an unmarked ingot, it had better be (foundry) pure lead (at least soft).

Being a shiftless and lazy Irishman, I use a black Sharpie, but store almost all ingots in ammo cans, so they won't fade. If I mix a specific alloy, I use 357maximum's tehnique of the disposable stamps. Even HF stamps will mark ingots.

Cheers—
Richard

[mooman76]

i also use Majic marker for marking. WW a SL for Soft lead.

[HeavyMetal]

I have used "permanet" marker but it will fad sooner or later.

Currently will start using the metal stamps to number things this is much more "permanant" and I won't have to worry about fading marks.

for wheel weights I'll use WW, for Lead I'll use PB, and if I make an alloy, such as Lyman # 2, I'll mark it 9-5-5 on the ingot. Different alloys will get the correct numbers.

Lino or foundry type I'll leave in it's original print form until I need to blend it!

Seems pretty simple!

[38 Super Auto]

I just hit them with a little shot of spray paint. Not the whole ingot, just a thin stripe.

Yellow is pure, green is lino, black is range scrap, unpainted is ww.

I like this.


I alloy up 125-150# and place a cardboard ID with the allow/hardness info in the bucket. I have a hard alloy for 38 super, 357, a much softer alloy at BHN~10 for 45 ACP and W/Cs and an extra hard alloy for .308

Based on input from this forum, I keep three alloys around for my three primary applications and cast up a new batch when it's spent. I obtain more uniform bullet weights by alloying up larger batches rather than alloying in the lead pot.

[Bill*]

I use small office stickers, but I don't mark them with the Material. I mark them (all 1 lb ingots)with a hardness number. I only have to test one from each "smelt". Each batch gets piled on a shelf so I just need one sticker on the whole row. If I want a certain BHN I can get close by using, say, 3 #11s and 1 #22 to get approx BHN 13.75. "Works Fer Me!"

[powderburnerr]

I mark my 16 pound ww ingots with an axe and my 2 pound lead ingots with a hammer mark.......Dean

[Echo]

For alloys: with a Sharpie (invented by my Great Uncle Stonebender Sanford*)
WW Obvious
WW-L WW's & Lino Equal amounts
WW-T WW's & Stereotype Equal amounts
WW-F WW's & Foundry Type Equal amounts
WW+ WW's plus a tad of Tin
Pb Obvoious

And I also generally keep the type metals in their original form until I decide to alloy them with WW's.

I also have some eutectic solder (63-37) in ingot form that I can use to sweeten up a pot that is being contrary.

* That's a lie...

[Junior1942]

I have only 3 raw bullet metals--pure lead, wheelweights, and used shot. So I use metal letter punches and a hammer and mark the ingots L, W, or S. Simple and easy.

I also have some 1 1/2 lb babbit ingots, but they're oddly shaped and need no marks.

[rusty marlin]

I use different ingot molds, plus metal number/letter stamps.

Pb is cast in half round cornbread pans.
20:1 is too, but kept separte in a marked ammo can.
Straight WW are unmarked and cast in the standard 1 pound trapazoid molds.
Lyman #2 gets a "2" stamped in the ingots and if I'm not in a hurry to empty the pot, only poured in the LYMAN ingot mold.
My hollow point alloy is Lyman #2 mixed 50/50 w/ Pb it gets this stamp, 2 50PB.
My heavy duty alloy is a 4/4 alloy and it gets stamped "44".

[sniper]

I used a big screwdriver as a punch, and I marked my Wheelweight ingots With a W, my lead with an L, and my #2 alloy with a II. SIMPLIFY:-D!

[686]

THERE a lots of good ways here. i do have a stamp set, and may go that way. just thinking of what i stamp them with. my bullet mix is harder than lyman #2 so #2 would not work. i think my bullet alow would be my most important. i do ingot up soft lead, range lead, and ww. i to leave my liontype in type untill i mix it. if i pot a weld beed in the bottom of my 5 lb ingot mold , i would not have to mark each one. also if i made some a little softer or harder i guess i could add a stamp extra to those ingots. i knew there were others marking there ingots before i thought of it. thanks for the help.

[ANeat]

I use the letter stamps, WW, PB (lead) Lino, Anything else I use a sharpie

[Bluehawk]

I use the big screw driver as a stamp method L for pure lead WW for wheel weights WW + for wheel weights Plus tin . WW+L for Wheel weights plus Pure lead ETC . Usualy I mix as I cast so the ingots of mixes are usually rare

[686]

i try to make ww ingots - range lead, and soft lead ingots. i keep them staked with a sign. i them mix my bullet lead in a big run. i cross mix with 3 pots to help keep it as close as possible.

[cabezaverde]

You guys might be saving the cost of a little bit of paint - but you are sure using a lot of time stamping every ingot. I haven't used a full can of any color, and I smelt a fair amount.

As mine pop out of the mold, I give them a stripe. No need to hunt around a find where the ingot is marked.

[Tom W.]

I'll use my Lyman ingot mold for w/w, and the old corncob cast iron mold for babbitt. pure lead gets the corncob mold and engraved "pure" on it.

[686]

if i can not put a weld bead in the bottom i may try the spray paint thing. what mess does the paint make in your casting pot when you melt it? stamping by hand could get old as i make 100-300 at a time. i guess i could get the grandkids to do it.

[cabezaverde]

if i can not put a weld bead in the bottom i may try the spray paint thing. what mess does the paint make in your casting pot when you melt it? stamping by hand could get old as i make 100-300 at a time. i guess i could get the grandkids to do it.

None at all - turns into ash just like the other schmutz. I wouldn't paint the ingot, just a little dot or stripe.

[cohutt]

uh.....

why not etch or score the inside of the molds with the reverse of the letters?

do it once...?

[imashooter2]

uh.....

why not etch or score the inside of the molds with the reverse of the letters?

do it once...?

Because then you need to buy/make entire sets of ingot molds for each alloy you wish to use.

You may not have noticed, but as a whole, casters are amongst the most frugal men on the planet...:-D

[Down South]

I use use muffin pans for WW and a cornbread mold for pure PB and range scrap.

[testhop]

i use a corn bread castiron mould for dead soft lead
for ww i put a steel clipin the top sticking out
range pickup is casted in a v shaped mould
so i can keep them stright

[hunter64]

I just bought a cheap set of metal stamps 8.00 if I remember right and I use them to mark my large ingots, WW, PB, L (Lino), 2 (Lyman #2). You don't have to remember any special code or color system and you can mix and match them as much as you like and wont get fooled. I also mark them with month/year just for the heck of it to see how long I have stored them. I have about 3000 lbs in 25 pound ingots lined up against the wall in the garage, man I wish they were Gold ingots.

[imashooter2]

I have about 3000 lbs in 25 pound ingots lined up against the wall in the garage, man I wish they were Gold ingots.

LOL! I was showing a friend this pic at work when an Engineer happened by and asked me if they were silver bars. Like you said... I WISH!!!

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/smelt1.jpg

[RugerFan]

I use a black marker, with alloy initials I hope to remember.

Ditto. WW for wheel weights, RS for range scrap, LT for linotype, 3:1 for that ratio of WW to Lino, etc.

[Down South]

I have about 3000 lbs in 25 pound ingots lined up against the wall in the garage, man I wish they were Gold ingots.

I wish so too. I have about 2000 lb in muffins. If I stopped collecting WW today, that would last me a loooong time. But I'll collect WW as long as I can fine them.

[Lumpie]

This solution is simple. Leave the wheel weights,trash lead, and range scrap lay like a sick dog. Use only Nickel Babbit, and pure lead to cast. 9-1 mixture. Don't need any tester. It will always replicate its self. Mark L for lead, mark VB for Babbit. Mark B for finished alloy! If you want to shoot this in a hand gun, then use a 15-1 mixture. Don't have to heat treat, or anyother waste of your time. And for those that remember the Lone Ranger, you are now It. Lumpie PS. I shoot this metal 2750fps. In a 1903 match Springfield 173gr bullet casted from a 8 cavity Ideal U.S. Property Ideal armory mold, it will consistantly shoot sub minute groups. Ditto in a 1917 Enfield.

[686]

still more good ideas. COHUTT that is what i am thinking of, to mark the bottom of my 5 lb molds for my bullet lead. if i wanted to make a little softer or harder i could stamp them. any thoughts on how to mark the mols? my first was to put a weld bead in the bottom. what would be a good letter or letters to use? B, BU , BL, OR WHAR ? thanks again.

[rusty marlin]

This solution is simple. Leave the wheel weights,trash lead, and range scrap lay like a sick dog. Use only Nickel Babbit, and pure lead to cast. 9-1 mixture...

Copied from web


XXXX Nickel Babbitt is the result of over sixty years constant effort to produce the best bearing alloy, regardless of cost. Today it stands supreme in the field of high-grade bearing metals. It is made only of carefully selected virgin materials and each element is subjected to scientific treatment during the alloying process. XXXX Nickel Babbitt lasts longer under severe service, because, -It holds the oil film -It pours freely and fills all liner crevices -It's anti-frictional -It cannot cut the shaft -It resists high temperatures -It has high thermal conductivity. XXXX Nickel Babbitt is recommended for use in: Blowers Dredges, Lumber Mills, Rock and Gravel Machinery, Cement Mills, Electrical machinery, Marine Service Steel Mills, Clay Working Machinery, Electric Railroads, Mining Machinery, Sugar Mills, Compressors, Engines, Internal Combustion Paper Mills Turbines, Crushers Engines & Steam Pumps.

Nickel Babbitt contains: Tin, Antimony,Zinc and about .5% nickel


I thought Zinc was death to boollet casting alloys:?::?::?:

[Tom W.]

Don't be deceived... I've been using #4 Nickle Babbitt for many years.. it's about 95% tin, and has traces of copper, as well as zinc. The stuff we used was lead free as per OSHA's regs. Cast straight it makes a light and very hard bullet, mixed with lead or w/w it still makes and excellent bullet. Never had any problems pouring it once the mold got up to temp.


I get mine from Southern Accusaw and Supply in Abbeville, Alabama, as they were the suppliers to the sawmill where I worked.

[dragonrider]

I found a 3/8" "W" stamp, welded it to a piece of rod in a "T" shape and use it like a hammer, whack, whack=wheelweights.

[Uncle Grinch]

I tried marking with screwdriver, labels and magic marker. Wasn't happy with any of these.

Finally, I decided on....

wheelweights.... muffin ingot

lino.......corncob ingot

soft alloy......Lee ingot

harder alloy.... Lyman ingot

Simple enough for me... no labels to fall off or ink to smear or tool indentions to get deformed.

[FWAddit]

A friend and I bought a supply of alloy at an auction for the estate of a bullet caster. Some was solder in the bar form it was originally sold in (and so already marked), but most was alloy of unknown content that had been cast in various ingot molds. I used a Lee hardness tester to determine the hardness of samples from each batch and marked them with metal stamps. The Ohaus ingots, for example, are BH 9, while the Lymans are 12.

Now I no longer mark my own ingots WW, H, or S. I stamp the BH number only, except I still use Pb for pure lead.