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Thread: First Time With Pure

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    First Time With Pure

    I am glad I had this opportunity to mess with some pure lead. The properties are dramatically different than alloys.

    Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

  2. #2
    Boolit Master


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    That purple color is something, ain't it ? First time I rendered pure, I got it far too hot, and ended up with purply (that's a word, right?) ingots.
    Keep the heat a bit lower next time, they'll look a lot different.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master 308Jeff's Avatar
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    One of my roofing subcontractors gave me a brand new 50lb roll of flashing. My ingots came out with that same purple hue. The pot never even reached 700 degrees, so I suspect it's just a byproduct of clean and pure lead?

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I surmise it may be oxidation since the lead was quite silvery until I began to ladle it out. It was very enjoyable to me. 8)

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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by 308Jeff View Post
    One of my roofing subcontractors gave me a brand new 50lb roll of flashing. My ingots came out with that same purple hue. The pot never even reached 700 degrees, so I suspect it's just a byproduct of clean and pure lead?
    My uneducated guess as well, i had some pure plumbers lead recently do the same thing

  6. #6
    Boolit Bub
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    I lucked into about three hundred lbs of rolls a while back. When I saw the purplish color I thought it was some kind of vinyl coating or something then realized it was too hot. Once I found the right temp it was a dream to cast with. Love the stuff.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master


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    The Latin word for lead is 'plumbum'. It refers to the color. Pure Pb is purplish when heated hot.

    That's where we get the word for a 'plum', the fruit - the color of lead.

    That's why plumbers are called plumbers - from the Latin word for lead. Plumbers work(ed) with lead pipe.

    I knew those 2 years of Latin I struggled through 45 years ago would come in handy some day.

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Pure lead melts at 627 F
    Regards
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  9. #9
    Boolit Master Oklahoma Rebel's Avatar
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    how much does tin melt at I cant remember, i'll venture a guess at 421'
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  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    A friend, a plumbing contractor, gave me about 800 lbs of pure lead sheets used in a hospital x-ray room walls. My question is what/where should I add to it that is free/cheap/easy to get to bring the BHN scale up to where WW would be?

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Lead will turn all colors of the rainbow! I have seen it red, purple, gold, blue, etc. the hotter you get it the more it turns colors. Does not hurt anything. Once you put some Sn in there, it all goes nice and sliver!

    Most of my pure Pb ingots are "technicolor".

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Ive noticed that pure lead is shiny like chrome even when water quenched.my WW lead is a dull silver. Night and day visual difference.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master Sasquatch-1's Avatar
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    Try offering it for trade to someone who cast for muzzle loaders or someone who swages. For me, the dead soft is a lot harder to find. I use range scrap, that is a bit on the hard side, for most of my casting. I only have about 60 or 70 pounds of soft that I use in swaging.


    Quote Originally Posted by GSSP View Post
    A friend, a plumbing contractor, gave me about 800 lbs of pure lead sheets used in a hospital x-ray room walls. My question is what/where should I add to it that is free/cheap/easy to get to bring the BHN scale up to where WW would be?
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  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by GSSP View Post
    A friend, a plumbing contractor, gave me about 800 lbs of pure lead sheets used in a hospital x-ray room walls. My question is what/where should I add to it that is free/cheap/easy to get to bring the BHN scale up to where WW would be?
    Download the free alloy calculator spreadsheet on this site.

    All will be revealed!

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    That purpley color only means that pure lead oxidizes really fast. Not an indicator of having been too hot but indicates pure lead.
    It won't do that if you pour in in a cold mold but your ingot might be ugly.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check