Hardness of different Pb products....

[HammerMTB]

I am collecting all the Pb I can get my hands on. I read here and elsewhere of the hardness qualities of different alloys.
Let me give you a few of my results, and if you'd care to, chime in with some of yours.
From some very old WW that were in a shed for years, then smelted by me: 17-18 BHN, after 3 weeks to age! Can that be right?
From x-ray backers, all smelted down: 8 BHN
From some stick-on WW- less than 5 BHN. I thought 5 BHN was pure lead. This stuff measures softer than that. Izzat right?
From a recent WW smelt: 10.5 BHN. I am going to let these age harden to see if they rise much. (oops, typo- corrected to 10.5 BHN)

Casting some of this stuff, it looks to me like I could stand to add some tin. Guess I'll head for the hardware and see if I can still buy 50/50 solder.

What have you found?

[44man]

Hardness testers seem to get unreliable, mostly when lead gets too soft.
But, yes it is common to have WW's different in different times and other parts of the country. There is no standard for the mix. When they melt them to make new ones, they throw everything in.

[HeavyMetal]

1.5 BHN??
Hope that's a typo. Everything else you've run into is about right.

I add a little tin to a lot of my alloy but not to harden, it helps fillout by allowing the alloy to flow better.

You'll also find a few guys on site that will mix alloys for specific "power" levels and some that don't.

The "informed" advise is that clip on type WW's contain some Antimony, which is needed for hardening, and very little tin. Stick on WW's are pretty much "pure" as your 5 BHN reading confirmed.

I have used striaght clip on WW's for years in pistol boolits with no issues and only started mixing alloys as an experiment looking for better accuracy and performance.

Some times I get it and some times I don't the fun, of course, is in the doing!

As for the hardness testers? Just like any other tool it depends on the person using it which is why, I think, we see so many variations on the same basic lead alloy.

[montana_charlie]

What have you found?
I found this...
http://www.lasc.us/Shay-BHN-Tester-Experiment.htm

Seems like most people, using most testers, come out with BHN readings higher than a lab would get. If your technique results in seeing pure pb as softer than 5 BHN, you probably have good technique.

Dan Theodore (running a months-long experiment to see how alloys harden over time) found certified pure pb to measure 4.5 BHN. He also listed much-reduced hardnesses for some well known alloys...like '7.8', instead of '10', for 20-1 lead/tin.

He uses a Lee tester, but has compared it's readings against a Cabine Tree so as to have a 'second opinion'.

CM