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jnovotny
11-12-2008, 08:58 PM
Can anyone help I was smelting all my ww and soft lead scrap into ingots and I have one large ingot of unknown metel. It was about 12"x18" and had PRIME WESTERN stamped into one side. It took a little more heat to get the stuff to melt and when I poured some ingots they weigh about half of what my ww ingots wiegh. They seem to be quite a bit harder than ww also. The ingots are also about the color of aluminum.

WildmanJack
11-12-2008, 09:18 PM
Sounds like might have been ZINC to me.. But I've been wrong before.. If it is.. DON'T mix it with your lead..
Jack

jnovotny
11-12-2008, 09:29 PM
I'm keeping this stuff seperate util I know what it is.

454PB
11-12-2008, 10:51 PM
If it's half the density of lead, it's not zinc.

jnovotny
11-12-2008, 11:05 PM
any idea what it could be?

uncle joe
11-12-2008, 11:28 PM
this may help
http://www.astm.org/Standards/B960.htm
http://www.smm.co.jp/E/product/metal/zinc.html

shotman
11-13-2008, 02:54 AM
zinc is about have in weight but the melt temp is about 850 so it will float on lead at 650 and not melt

arclight
11-13-2008, 03:27 AM
Could be Kirksite, or a similar alloy. These are low-melting alloys used for making stamping dies, fixtures for holding parts for machining, etc. Usually they use that sort of thing for smaller runs of parts that don't justify a high $$$ tool steel item.

The density sounds about right:

http://www.eazall.com/moldbase.aspx

Ultimate Tensile Strength 35,000 psi
Elongation in 2" 2.0%
Impact Strength 6 ft-lbs
Melting Range 717-745°F
Density 0.25 lb/cu in
Brinell Hardness 100
Solidification Shrinkage 0.14"/ft

454PB
11-13-2008, 05:09 PM
Zinc is 63% of the density of lead, so it could possibly be zinc if your weight is "ballpark".

jnovotny
11-13-2008, 07:20 PM
thanks for the info this is a really great site with a bunch of good people

mikenbarb
11-15-2008, 05:24 PM
Alot of guys will buy or trade lead for zinc because they use the zinc for cannonballs.:-D

jnovotny
11-16-2008, 07:31 PM
I probably have 40 or 50 lbs of this stuff if some one is interested I'd just about give it away.

John Boy
11-16-2008, 09:13 PM
MSDS FOR ZINC METAL: PRIME WESTERN ZC-M001
http://www.horseheadcorp.com/admin/_images/MSDS/MSDS%20for%20PW.PDF

MtGun44
11-17-2008, 10:06 PM
Put a couple of drops of muriatic acid on it. If it bubbles like mad -
it is NOT lead alloy. Probably zinc, aluminum should bubble a lot less.
Lead alloys will do nothing, act like was water.

Bill

jnovotny
11-18-2008, 08:46 PM
Thanks for all the info , I'll try the muratic acid on this stuff before the week is out . Lett you know what happens . Can't get over how good this site is and all the folks!!! Thanks again.

J

glicerin
11-26-2008, 11:07 PM
I had an ingot about your size, marked prime western, from a B.C.,Canada co. It referred to an impure zinc alloy maybe 95%. It should ring when struck, and if you smash a corner off with axe or hammer it should show crystal structure like small broken glass.

jnovotny
11-26-2008, 11:25 PM
I made some ingots and broke one in half, that's exactly how it looked.

Paul Tummers
11-27-2008, 02:37 PM
I am always told, the gasses of heated zinc are very dangerous, be careful with having enough ventilation when melting it, stay up wind.

Gerry N.
01-22-2009, 03:08 AM
I bet you've got some old gas company anti-corrosion anodes. Likely mostly zinc with some magnesium added. I dunno why, just is. A knowlegeable junk dealer might know what you have and if it has any value.

Gerry N.

357maximum
01-22-2009, 03:35 AM
Start a hotttttt campfire and toss it in...if it burns like mad and looks like a welder ...it used to be magnesium:evil:

Caution if you get annebriated and then throw 7 - 17 pound magnesium pipeline anodes in a roaring campfire you had better be a safe distance from flammables (vinyl siding melts right before it burns) and also be prepared to talk to local law enforcement, and the fire chief.[smilie=1:

Refraktorius
01-22-2009, 05:17 AM
Magnesium is easy to identify:

Scrape a spot clean and apply a drop of vinegar. If it starts bubbling, its magnesium.

Aluminium and zinc will not react with vinegar.

jnovotny
01-22-2009, 07:28 PM
we came to the conclusion that this stuff was zinc I sent it to Double d he's gonna make some cannon balls

briang
01-22-2009, 10:00 PM
Start a hotttttt campfire and toss it in...if it burns like mad and looks like a welder ...it used to be magnesium:evil:

Caution if you get annebriated and then throw 7 - 17 pound magnesium pipeline anodes in a roaring campfire you had better be a safe distance from flammables (vinyl siding melts right before it burns) and also be prepared to talk to local law enforcement, and the fire chief.[smilie=1:

Sounds like one h*** of a Friday night to me. :-D

Charlie Sometimes
02-03-2009, 10:43 PM
That magnesium episode sounded like a personal experience. :shock::oops:
I melted some old trophies down one time- they were so old some were beginning to crumble. I poured them into Lyman ingot molds and when they cooled they were about 60% the weight of lead. I figured they were die cast metal (zinc). Tried to cast some 30 caliber rifle bullets from it- VERY hard to cut sprues, and of course they were too light to actually use for most load combinations. I have heard of some people actually using this alloy for bullets, but never met anyone except the cannoneers. Some of those guys use pop cans full of concrete as projectiles, too. I'll bet that stuff would have made great cannon balls. [smilie=w: