Linotype

[Mark Daiute]

Saturday morning

[fredj338]

Nice haul but why melt down lino? I just leave mine in type form & add it as needed.

[dtknowles]

I agree with Fred. Don't melt lino into ingots.

Tim

[Beagle333]

Nice haul!
You can mail it to me in ingots if you want to...... as long as you do MAIL IT TO ME!!!!

[Mark Daiute]

It was a matter of storage. I'm trying to standardize my alloys and how I store them. The other reason was that this lino had been outside, was in buckets, was wet and dirty. Now it is dry and clean and in uniform units. And it made me feel good.

[truckerdave397]

Nice haul but why melt down lino? I just leave mine in type form & add it as needed.

The linotype that I have is in ingots from the print shop it came from. Is that bad? They are about two foot long with a hole in one end.

[Mark Daiute]

The linotype that I have is in ingots from the print shop it came from. Is that bad? They are about two foot long with a hole in one end.

very bad. send to me for recycling. I can use them in 2-foot increments. and I can stack 'em like chordwood.

[RogerDat]

The linotype that I have is in ingots from the print shop it came from. Is that bad? They are about two foot long with a hole in one end.

As the bars with the hole in the end, or actual strips with type on them are "known" forms of linotype alloys having them in that form is good. You can see what they are at a glance, no need for labels or chance of mixing them in by accident. The big advantage of keeping them in that form is it makes selling or trading them easier. Keep the hole end of the bar and break off chunks as needed from the other end.

Most people would much rather purchase lead in a form that they know what it is than in anon ingots that say "Lee", "RCBS", or came out of a muffin tin and could be anything.

[madsenshooter]

I think it would be best to put it in ingots. I recently cast some bullets for a fellow using the lines of type he sent. They were all from the same MI shop, but spread over a period of several years. I added a few more lines whenever I needed to, and the weight variation was substantially more than what I usually get. I don't think there were many people refreshing or rejuvenating their lino during the period of time that the lines were cast, 70s-90s. The formula varied over the years. I wish I'd melted it all down into ingots before starting the project, though the fellow is happy with them as is. The bullets shoot great groups out of his K31, as they do mine.

[RogerDat]

There is that variable alloy mix aspect of things that madsenshooter brings up to consider. Melting the thin strips into ingots would tend to balance it all out to a common alloy if done in large batches. Guess it depends on if you have enough you might be trying to swap/sell some off or are going to use it all yourself. I would tend to leave the heavy bars of linotype in raw form since it is already something of an ingot and breaking a chunk off as needed is pretty easy.

[bruce381]

"makes selling or trading them easier"

What never thought of that all i do is find it cast it then shoot it and stock pile it like it will gone some day

[RogerDat]

"makes selling or trading them easier"

What never thought of that all i do is find it cast it then shoot it and stock pile it like it will gone some day

Sometimes one has more than they need of one specific alloy so a little horse trading or selling to get something they are short of can work out pretty decent. I'm betting some of the pewter sold on the forum the money turns right around to get some lead. Not so much diminishing the stock pile as balancing it.

[John Boy]

Don't melt lino into ingots.

Mine came to me in ingot form ... six 50 pounders! Same shape as pig lead

[fredj338]

The linotype that I have is in ingots from the print shop it came from. Is that bad? They are about two foot long with a hole in one end.

Not at all, I used to get mine that way. I just don't see re melting it, if it is already in manageable units like type. There may be a small variation from one lot to another, but I like easy, re melting is not easy.